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How inzential are former American presidents? irhough entitled to s a k q stag and securip, on leaving ofice ex-presidents lose all formal governing powers. The power of ex-presidents therpfore resides in their capacity to exercise indirect and informalinflence in apoliticalsystem over which they no longer have direct, formalcontrol. irhe authors argue that the opportunities to exercise postpresidential power are greater than mer and may be expanding. Case studies of the postpresidentialactivities offormerpresidents Richard Nixon through Bill Clinton lead the authors to conclude that a new era ofpostpresidential influence is under way.

Four decades ago, at the height of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, Congress passed and the president signed landmark legislation to ensure voting rights, liberalize and expand immigration, and make higher education more accessible. In 2008, a coalition of minorities and upscale whites formed a coalition to elect Barack Obama to the White House. Although many of the Great Society goals remain elusive, the new Democratic majority assembled by Obama represents the emergence of a Great Society electoral coalition.

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