When The Politics of the Presidency first appeared in print forty years ago, John Maltese was still a graduate student. He had no idea that he would eventually help steward that same textbook through decades of institutional change. Today, with the release of the fully revised 11th edition, Maltese marks his 25th year as a co‑author of a book that has become one of the most enduring and widely used resources for teaching the American presidency.
Its longevity is remarkable. Textbooks often come and go after a few editions, replaced by new frameworks or new voices. But Maltese, along with co‑authors Joseph A. Pika and Andrew Rudalevige, has helped shape The Politics of the Presidency into a staple of undergraduate and graduate classrooms across the country.
“One thing I am proud of,” Maltese says, “is that this is a book instructors have liked enough to keep using all these years. Generations of students have learned about the presidency from it.”
A Classroom Tool Built on History, Structure, and Clarity
At its core, The Politics of the Presidency is designed with the classroom in mind. Maltese emphasizes that it is not a current events book but a guide to understanding the presidency as an institution: its constitutional foundations, its evolution over time, and the forces—political, legal, administrative, and cultural—that shape it.
Because of that, students encounter a presidency that is both familiar and surprising. The book walks them through the origins of executive power, the expectations the Framers outlined, and the ways in which the office has expanded, contracted, and adapted across centuries.
“We want students to view contemporary events in a broader historical context,” Maltese explains. “The office is constantly evolving, but it doesn’t make sense unless you understand what came before.”
Instructors, he notes, appreciate the structure of the text. Each chapter weaves together constitutional language, historical examples, and modern illustrations. This makes the book highly adaptable: professors in introductory courses can lean on its clear institutional framework, while those teaching advanced seminars can use it to spark debate about the boundaries of executive power, the role of courts, or the importance of political norms.
One reason the textbook has lasted so long is the authors’ commitment to balancing stability with thoughtful revision. The broad outline remains consistent across editions, but the content evolves based on the changing needs of instructors and students.
Every new edition incorporates fresh examples, updated scholarship, and insights from faculty who use the book in their classrooms. Each author drafts chapters in their area of expertise—Maltese’s include the judiciary and the presidency’s relationship with the media—but all chapters go through multiple rounds of cross‑review.
This collaborative approach not only strengthens individual chapters but also ensures that the text speaks in a unified voice—something Maltese attributes to the close working relationship among the authors. Although they began as colleagues who barely knew each other, decades of writing, revising, and debating have made them, in his words, “a kind of family.”
A Legacy Built on Learning
For Maltese, the 40th anniversary is both a professional milestone and a reminder of the role the textbook has played in shaping how students understand American government.
“I never thought I’d be working on this book for 25 years,” he says with a laugh. “But it’s incredibly rewarding to know it has helped so many people think critically about the presidency—not just who occupies the office, but the institution itself.”
Looking ahead, he hopes to keep contributing to future editions, perhaps even making it to the 50th anniversary before handing the project to a new generation of scholars. But for now, he is excited to see the revised 11th edition make its way into classrooms this fall.
“This is a time when students are asking big questions about executive power, checks and balances, and constitutional design,” he says. “If the book can give them the tools to explore those questions thoughtfully, then it’s doing exactly what it was meant to do.”
