ABSTRACT
President Barack Obama was caught in his first term between two models of presidential politics. The first is that of a partisan majority leader who relies on his party's majority in Congress to enact a program that has general party and public support. The second is that of a leader without a strong partisan majority, in or out of Congress, who seeks bipartisan coalitions through bargaining, compromise, and agreement between his own party and the opposition. Obama and his advisers searched the evidence of past presidential victories to assess the possibility of a presidency of Reconstruction, as set out by Yale political scientist Stephen Skowronek. There have been five such presidents according to Skowronek's thesis: Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, and Reagan. Effective transactional leadership is difficult than ever, but that is the best strategy. The American health care system treats the insured well but at high cost compared to other industrial nations, and about 20 percent of the population.
