The Trump First Term
Appraisals and Aftermath
Published on 7. April 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
328 pages
978-0-7006-4118-5 (ISBN)
Description
An insightful and nuanced examination of a controversial and consequential presidency, written by some of the top presidential scholars in the nation.
It was the election result that shocked the world.
In November 2016, Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton to become the forty-fifth president of the United States, thereby bringing an end to the political power of one family and, in retrospect, beginning the era of his own family's dominance. At times, Trump's presidency posed new, sometimes unprecedented, challenges to the constitutional order, while in other respects he continued the trajectory toward greater executive power that had been decades in the making.
In this latest installment in a series that began with the George H. W. Bush years, the nation's leading scholars of the American presidency assess Donald J. Trump's first term-what many assumed would be his only term, following his loss to Joe Biden in 2020. Divided into five parts, the authors examine Trump's first four years in terms of electoral politics, public politics, national institutions, and policy outcomes, with a final section placing Trump in the context of the larger story of American politics.
In addition to the volume editors, the book includes chapters by Kelly Dittmar, John D. Graham, David Patrick Houghton, Nicole Mellow, Molly Reynolds, Brandon Rottinghaus, Theda Skocpol, Candis Watts Smith, Sharece Thrower, Alvin B. Tillery, Jr., and David Yalof.
Ideal for use in the classroom, this volume will be the definitive scholarly resource on Trump's first term for years to come.
It was the election result that shocked the world.
In November 2016, Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton to become the forty-fifth president of the United States, thereby bringing an end to the political power of one family and, in retrospect, beginning the era of his own family's dominance. At times, Trump's presidency posed new, sometimes unprecedented, challenges to the constitutional order, while in other respects he continued the trajectory toward greater executive power that had been decades in the making.
In this latest installment in a series that began with the George H. W. Bush years, the nation's leading scholars of the American presidency assess Donald J. Trump's first term-what many assumed would be his only term, following his loss to Joe Biden in 2020. Divided into five parts, the authors examine Trump's first four years in terms of electoral politics, public politics, national institutions, and policy outcomes, with a final section placing Trump in the context of the larger story of American politics.
In addition to the volume editors, the book includes chapters by Kelly Dittmar, John D. Graham, David Patrick Houghton, Nicole Mellow, Molly Reynolds, Brandon Rottinghaus, Theda Skocpol, Candis Watts Smith, Sharece Thrower, Alvin B. Tillery, Jr., and David Yalof.
Ideal for use in the classroom, this volume will be the definitive scholarly resource on Trump's first term for years to come.
Reviews / Votes
"Donald Trump opened his second term by testing the guardrails of American constitutional government. This book looks back at his first term, and with each chapter, written by leading scholars of American politics, shows how its conflicts and choices continue to shape today's political battles. Accessible, insightful, and extremely interesting, this book will find a home in classrooms and on the shelves of scholars who will be trying to understand this presidency for years to come."-Daniel E. Ponder, author of Presidential Leverage: Presidents, Approval, and the American State"Three of the leading presidential scholars, Azari, Rockman, and Rudalevige, have pulled together some of the top political scientists to provide the first comprehensive assessment of Donald Trump's first-term presidency. Their book confronts many of the traditional aspects of presidential performance while also zeroing in on Trump's norm breaking behavior. For anyone looking for a thoughtful and comprehensive assessment of presidential politics in the age of Trump this book is an essential read."-Mitch Sollenberger, coauthor of The Unitary Executive: A Danger to Constitutional Government
"This volume makes an original scholarly contribution to understanding the unique first term of the Trump presidency. Major topics include elections and party leadership, public opinion, institutional conflict and cooperation, policy making, and Trump's enduring legacy in American politics. With richly detailed analyses by a broad group of presidency experts, the comprehensive study will be highly instructive for courses and scholarly research."-Meena Bose, author of Pragmatic Vision: Obama and the Enactment of the Affordable Care Act
"The Trump First Term is a strong addition to the series of volumes on US presidential administrations that Bert Rockman has helped shepherd since the 1980s. Focusing on a controversial and provocative president, the book's essays, written by an impressive range of scholars, contain insightful analyses and trenchant observations, yielding initial assessments of Trump's consequential first term, and the lessons, risks, and opportunities that it produced for a once improbable second term."-Karen Hult, author of "Assessing the Trump White House," Presidential Studies Quarterly 51 (March 2021): 35-50
"This collection of essays by an extraordinary group of scholars examines the policies and principles, if one can label them as such, animating the nation's 45th presidency. Donald Trump followed a somewhat typical presidential trajectory during his first term, although the authors remind us of the serial shattering of traditions that began at this time. These penetrating essays should be read by all conscientious citizens concerned about the perilous state of the American republic during the age of Trump."-Stephen F. Knott, author of The Lost Soul of the American Presidency: The Decline into Demagoguery and the Prospects for Renewal
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Kansas
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
17 Figures - 8 Tables, unspecified
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
587 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7006-4118-5 (9780700641185)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
04/2026
University Press of Kansas
€38.99
Available for download
Persons
Julia Azari is professor of political science at Marquette University. She is the author of Backlash Presidents: From Transformative to Reactionary Leaders in American History.
Bert Rockman is professor emeritus of political science at Purdue University. He is the author and coauthor of several books, including In the Web of Politics: Three Decades of the U.S. Federal Executive.
Bert Rockman is professor emeritus of political science at Purdue University. He is the author and coauthor of several books, including In the Web of Politics: Three Decades of the U.S. Federal Executive.