The Impossible Presidency with Dr. Jeremi Suri

On September 13, Dr. Jeremi Suri will discuss his new book The Impossible Presidency, due out on September 12 from Basic Books. In the book, Suri charts the rise and fall of the American presidency, from the limited role envisaged by the Founding Fathers to its current status as the most powerful job in the world. He argues that the presidency is a victim of its own success-the vastness of the job makes it almost impossible to fulfill the expectations placed upon it. As managers of the world's largest economy and military, contemporary presidents must react to a truly globalized world in a twenty-four-hour news cycle. There is little room left for bold vision. Suri traces America's disenchantment with our recent presidents to the inevitable mismatch between presidential promises and the structural limitations of the office.

Dr. Suri holds the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is a professor in the University's Department of History and the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. The author and editor of nine books on contemporary politics and foreign policy, he also publishes articles regularly in blogs and print media. Professor Suri is a frequent public lecturer and guest on radio and television programs. Professor Suri's research and teaching have received numerous prizes, including Smithsonian Magazine’s "Top Young Innovators" in the Arts and Sciences.