Description: "Pragmatic Vision examines eight decisions by Obama that resulted in the landmark enactment of health-care reform, starting with his commitment to reform in the 2008 presidential campaign and concluding with his decision to allow for flexibility with its implementation, following technical hurdles and Supreme Court rulings. Meena Bose shows that Obama's steadfast commitment to the issue was crucial to its passing, especially after the Democrats lost their filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. Obama's direct engagement built key political support for the legislation, aided by the senior White House staff and Democratic leaders in Congress who skillfully navigated the bill to passage just fourteen months after Obama took office"--
Brief description:
Meena Bose is Executive Dean for Public Policy and Public Service Programs in the Peter S. Kalikow School of Government, Public Policy and International Affairs, and Director of the Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency at Hofstra University. She is also the author of Shaping and Signaling Presidential Policy and an editor of Executive Policymaking: The Role of the OMB in the Presidency.
Review Quotes:
Part history, part leadership exegesis, Pragmatic Vision walks readers from the origins of Obama's campaign commitment to reform the health care system through the legislative obstacles he faced as president and his willingness to adapt to new political conditions. Impressively researched and dispassionate in tone, this book is a model case study in presidential leadership."--Choice