This book is an important contribution to the study of the U.S. presidency and especially the development of the “modern” presidency. As Saladin M. Ambar puts it: “The most basic contribution of this book is to fold the institution of governor into any analysis of the modern presidency, and to revise the tendency in the discourse of presidential studies to minimize the role of prior elective office” (p. xi). Although it is not unusual for scholars of individual presidents to note the importance of their previous elective experience—even that as governor—what is unique about Ambar’s study is that he seeks to look more generally and systematically at presidents who have been governors, particularly those who forged the modern presidency.

An introductory chapter lays out the plan as well as establishes the broad theoretical concerns of the book, principally that in the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, “[m]odern executive power was being created in the states first—from the ground up” (p. 8). The following chapters look more specifically at those governors who did indeed help to build up the modern American presidency. Chapter 1 is the broadest in that it looks not only at governor-presidents such as Rutherford B. Hayes and Grover Cleveland—and how their actions as both governors and presidents contributed to an emerging modern presidency—but also governors who did not become president, such as Wisconsin’s Robert La Follette, California’s Hiram Johnson, and New York’s Samuel Tilden. These governors who did not become president, we discover, nonetheless had an important influence on the modern presidency. For example, “[f]rom delivering his annual message to legislators in person to ‘reading the roll’ against members of his own party, La Follette established unprecedented executive practices in Wisconsin” (p. 43).

The subsequent chapters—one each on Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Franklin D. Roosevelt—are the true heart of the book, as they examine the gubernatorial experiences of each of these “modern” presidents, all of whom are in the “Hudson line” of governors or executives, as Ambar calls them. Although there is not a lot of new research in these chapters—most histories and biographies of these presidents do examine their careers as governors—systematically examining the similar experiences of each of these men as governors is instructive and revealing. We see across these chapters the underpinnings of the modern American presidency. All had tense relationships with their parties and had important tests of party leadership during their governorships. Each, as governor, would push the boundaries regarding executive intrusion into the lawmaking process. And each of these presidents as governor cultivated relationships with the press and public that would come to define the modern presidency. It is on this last dimension that Ambar does contribute new research. The chapters on both Roosevelts contain charts comparing New York governors across time in terms of newspaper citations. The same is provided for New Jersey governors in the Wilson chapter. It is fascinating how these presidents, as governors, dwarfed their fellow governors when it came to newspaper interest and coverage.

The final chapter addresses the larger theoretical implications of the modern and personal presidency that was first forged by our American governors in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It is here that Ambar advances the theme, only inchoate in the earlier stages of the book, that the modern presidency is as much to be feared as to be celebrated, concluding that in studying these key governors, “we can see not only the character of modern presidential power at its dawn, but also possible approaches toward its restraint” (p. 141).

In many respects, this book is a success, especially in directing attention to a little-studied dimension of presidential history. One wonders, in fact, why it took so long for such a book to be written. In a certain sense, much of what Ambar develops seems obvious when it is presented—and yet no other book has done so, which is an important achievement. Ambar is frequently insightful, and he draws a number of significant connections between governors and their later actions as president, such as their increased likelihood to give speeches, à la the so-called rhetorical presidency (p. 14), and their penchant for issuing vetoes. Regarding the latter, Ambar rightly suggests that “[a]t a minimum, the veto record of former governors in the White House begs a reconsideration of the role of executive background in presidential politics” (p. 35). Furthermore, he is gifted at turning a phrase and presenting his insights. Discussing how the threat of emergency has greatly increased the powers of the presidency, he notes that “[d]ispatch has proven to be as effective a fig leaf for unbridled power as any. Emergency must therefore necessarily be time-bound; to do otherwise is to blanket all political time as fearsome” (p. 135).

There are nevertheless some significant drawbacks to the book. Although frequently insightful and illuminating, Ambar is at other times curiously cryptic and incomplete in his discussions and descriptions. For instance, although the terms “First Republic” and “Second Republic” are used a number of times throughout the book, key information about these terms—namely, their precise definitions and the distinctions between them—is only provided in a footnote. In fact, there are a number of similar moments when footnotes are employed where more explanation in the actual text was warranted. To take another example, on several occasions the author mentions the annual “Governors’ Conference” that began in the early twentieth century but does not do enough in explaining to the reader why these conferences developed and what matters were discussed at these meetings. They seem like notable events—particularly for the topic at hand—but are not developed fully, which is surprising.

More substantively, although the individual case studies (of Wilson and both Roosevelts) are often illuminating and insightful, they have at times an anecdotal feel about them. Notwithstanding the newspaper citations charted in each chapter, there are few touchstones across the cases. Although these governors had similar experiences in battling party bosses and in communicating with the public, one wonders why there was no attempt to compare the three across other consistent points of reference, such as campaign speeches, gubernatorial addresses, or executive nominations. What is more, these cases would have been stronger if they had included some contrasting evidence from “nonprogressive” or conservative governors.

Finally, the author’s conclusion is somewhat peculiar, given the subject matter and all that comes before. Although it becomes increasingly clear as the book progresses that Ambar is no fan of the modern presidency, the reader is somewhat unprepared for the highly theoretical and critical perspective of the concluding chapter. What is more, the chapter lacks focus, trying to do too much, including in its orbit the American Framers, Tocqueville, Herbert Croly, Macbeth, Locke, and German statesman Otto von Bismarck. Not only is too much ground covered in too few pages, but also the opportunity to explore the impact of recent—and perhaps future—governor-presidents is, strangely, not taken.

Despite these drawbacks, How Governors Built the Modern American Presidency represents a significant contribution to presidency research, in particular in that it invites scholars to expand their approach to understanding the American presidency. Future research might, for instance, address later governor-presidents or even legislator-presidents, searching for patterns, continuities, and divergences. The book should be of interest not just to presidency scholars but also to political theorists and historians.