For many years, historians attempted to identify the so-called “great presidents.” At the recent Southern Political Science Association meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico, I had the honor of serving on a panel with three of the great scholars of the American presidency: Karen Hult, William Howell, and the main subject of the panel, George Edwards. The particular focus of the panel was to remember and honor the 40th anniversary of George Edwards’ seminal APSR article on presidential/congressional influence. In that article, Edwards not only presented an empirical analysis, he also identified the goals for a quantitative study of the American presidency. The article was an amazingly prescient work that surely encouraged other scholars to follow in George Edwards’ illustrious footsteps.
Over the past forty years no one has done more to advance the quantitative study of the American presidency than George Edwards. His APSR article did so by demonstrating that quantitative methods could be used to examine presidential influence, as well as pointing scholars toward a new direction in the study of the American presidency. Since then, in a series of books and articles, George Edwards developed a theoretical model of the American presidency, as a facilitator-in-chief, that is both compelling and edifying. In an accomplishment that was quite rare for its time, he continued to publish research on the American presidency in top political science journals such as the APSR, as well as writing a highly influential series of books. In such works, Edwards has impacted scholars and officials at the very highest levels of government and created new paradigms for research in American politics.
Yet George Edwards’ research, while certainly sufficient to justify a reputation as a great scholar of the American presidency, is merely the tip of the iceberg regarding his continuing influence on our profession. Over the years, as a teacher, he mentored a number of excellent graduate students who have become influential scholars in their own right. Additionally, his editorship of the Presidential Studies Quarterly utterly transformed that journal, making it a home for important empirical and theoretical writings on the presidency. George Edwards also has been kind and generous to young, emerging scholars. Over the years, he provided constant support and encouragement for my own work. I therefore see myself in many ways as a disciple of George Edwards.
No matter how many honors George Edwards receives, they will pale in comparison to the impact he has engendered on the study of the American presidency.
