This new first edition by nationally-recognized presidency scholar Shirley Anne Warshaw is an accessible and comprehensive introduction to the American Presidency that utilizes a distinctive theme—the keys to power—to examine the current advantages and constraints that presidents face in exercising leadership. As she explores the presidency and individual presidents through the "keys to power," Professor Warshaw draws a fascinating portrait of one of America's fundamental governmental institutions and gives students the tools they will need to both understand the presidency and to examine the issues and events surrounding it for themselves even after the course is done.