This chapter focuses on the correlates of presidential success and failure in policymaking. It studies the factors affecting presidential leadership, also explaining how presidents help and hurt themselves in their efforts to lead the country. These are the main points of the chapter:

No president has come close to winning approval of all the programs he has placed before Congress, but presidents’ records of success have varied considerably. Thus Lyndon Johnson had a very high success rate with Congress in 1965 (Democratic majorities in both houses), while Reagan and Bush, Republican presidents, had problems in the 1980s. The factors in a president’s success include the presence or absence of national conditions that require strong leadership from the White House; the stage of the president’s term (success usually comes early, especially during the "honeymoon period"), the strength of the president’s party in Congress; and the focus of the policy issue (presidents do somewhat better in the area of foreign policy than in domestic policy). Wildavsky’s somewhat time-bound concept of the "two presidencies" was particularly relevant in the aftermath of World War II and the perceived threat of international communism. Today, with the demise of the cold war, presidential power seems to be diminished in both the domestic and the foreign policy sphere. Also, the War Powers Act remains a symbol of potential congressional authority in constraining the president’s decision to send troops overseas. Still, the president’s advantage in foreign policy is likely to continue, especially with his advantage of access to a variety of intelligence agencies in the national government.

As sole chief executive and the nation’s top elected leader, the president can always expect that his policy and leadership efforts will receive attention. This is especially true given the president’s almost guaranteed access to the media, especially television. However, other institutions, particularly Congress, have the authority to make his leadership effective or ineffective. If the president is to succeed over the long run, he must have a proper conception of the presidency and understand that the power of the presidency is the "power to persuade" (Richard Neustadt).

Even more important, he must have the help of other officials, and to get their cooperation he must respond to their concerns. The president operates within a system of divided powers, and if he tries to go it alone, he is almost sure to fail.

To retain an effective leadership position, the president also depends on the strong backing of the American people. While many presidents have high support ratings early in their administrations, these ratings invariably decline due to disappointment, scandal, or general disillusionment. Unfortunately, the public expects far more from the president than he can deliver. The media is also a problem here, as it tends to dwell on "negative spin" regarding presidential "broken promises" or difficulties rather than what the chief executive has actually accomplished. President Clinton found this out during his first few years in office.