Barilleaux, Ryan J. 1957–

PERSONAL:

Born June 15, 1957, in Lafayette, LA; son of Ira C. and Joanna Barilleaux; married Marilyn Wasick, May 23, 1981; children: Gerard, Madeleine, Christine, Paul, Thomas, Michael. Education: University of Southwestern Louisiana, B.A., 1979; University of Texas, M.A., 1980, Ph.D., 1983. Religion: Roman Catholic. Hobbies and other interests: Reading, camping, scouting.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Department of Political Science, Harrison Hall, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056. E-mail—barillrj@muohio.edu.

CAREER:

Intern/aide to Senator J. Bennett Johnston, Washington, DC, 1977-78; University of Texas, El Paso, assistant professor, 1983-87; Miami University, Oxford, OH, associate professor, 1987-95, professor of political science, 1995—, chair of department, 2001—. Steering committee member, Presidency Research Group, Washington, DC, 1993-95.

MEMBER:

American Political Science Association, Society of Catholic Social Scientists, Center for the Study of the Presidency.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Salvatori fellow, Heritage Foundation, 1994-95.

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION

The Politics of Southwestern Water, Texas Western Press (El Paso, TX), 1984.

(With others) The Presidency and National Security Policy, The Center (New York, NY), 1984.

The President and Foreign Affairs: Evaluation, Performance, and Power, Praeger (New York, NY), 1985.

The Post-Modern Presidency: The Office after Ronald Reagan, Praeger (New York, NY), 1988.

(With Barbara Kellerman) The President as World Leader, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1991.

(Editor, with Mary E. Stuckey) Leadership and the Bush Presidency: Prudence or Drift in an Era of Change?, Praeger (Westport, CT), 1992.

American Government in Action: Principle, Process, Politics, Prentice Hall (Upper Saddle River, NJ), 1996.

(Editor) Presidential Frontiers: Underexplored Issues in White House Politics, Praeger (Westport, CT), 1998.

(With Mark J. Rozell) Power and Prudence: The Presidency of George H.W. Bush, Texas A&M University Press (College Station, TX), 2004.

Catholic Social Science Review, editor in chief, 1999-2004.

SIDELIGHTS:

In Power and Prudence: The Presidency of George H.W. Bush, Ryan J. Barilleaux and his coauthor, Mark J. Rozell, assert that the elder Bush was a reasonably successful president, an opinion that stands in contrast to the low ratings Bush has received from some observers, who dismiss him as having played a mere "caretaker" role in his single term in office, from 1989 to 1993. The authors point out that historians and pundits often give the highest marks to presidents who served in times of upheaval and made sweeping changes in national policy. Barilleaux and Rozell consider this to be an unrealistic and "liberal" standard of judgment. Bush, they point out, served in a period that was relatively quiet, and his incremental approach to governing "largely suited his own goals and the nature of the times." His style, they note, was influenced by his upper-class background and long experience in the federal government, which made him wary of disrupting established institutions. His commitment to prudence, memorably lampooned by comedian Dana Carvey, was appropriate and realistic, the authors say. Further, they posit that Bush rightly showed caution in dealing with overseas upheavals, such as the disintegration of the Soviet Union, and chose appointees for their talent and character, rather than their ideology. According to Barilleaux and Rozell, all this was to his nation's benefit.

Several reviewers thought the authors had assembled a well-researched, readable study of Bush's presidency, even though some did not agree with their conclusions. The book is "a spirited and well-reasoned defense of the elder Bush's leadership style," remarked Jeremy B. Johnson in White House Studies, while Journal of Southern History contributor LeRoy Ashby found that Barilleaux and Rozell "have built a thoughtful case" and "present their arguments clearly."

Joseph K. Unekis, in a review in the Presidential Studies Quarterly, commented that the authors "have done a competent and professional job of demonstrating the consistency of the first Bush administration's commitment to an incremental style of leadership. The question remains whether they have succeeded in accomplishing their goal of embellishing his image for future historians and other scholars." Noting examples of Bush's secrecy and manipulation of the news media, Unekis concluded that he was left "with the image of an administration interested more in power itself and willing to obtain and maintain that power at whatever the cost might be to the larger society."

According to Ashby, although the authors acknowledge Bush's flaws, they "might have given more attention to Bush's constant failed efforts to court his party's right-wing ideologues and evangelicals, as well as his willingness to use nasty campaign tactics." Ashby and Johnson both remarked that George W. Bush has displayed a less cautious approach to the presidency than his father, with Ashby noting that readers may want to make comparisons, but as the authors themselves point out, the senior Bush did not want to promote democracy at the risk of war. Ashby deemed the work "overall … a fine book." Johnson concluded that it "provides an important contribution" to scholarship of George H.W. Bush and the presidency as a whole, and that it "is definitely accessible enough for the student and the educated general reader while containing theoretical content essential for scholars."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Political Science Review, September, 1989, Phillip G. Henderson, review of The Post-Modern Presidency: The Office after Ronald Reagan, p. 1011.

Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, May, 1989, James Combs, review of The Post-Modern Presidency, p. 165.

Bureaucrat, summer, 1990, Margaret J. Wyszomirski, review of The Post-Modern Presidency, p. 55.

Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, October, 2004, M.E. Bailey, review of Power and Prudence: The Presidency of George H.W. Bush, p. 371.

Journal of Policy Analysis & Management, fall, 1994, Walter Williams, review of Leadership and the Bush Presidency: Prudence or Drift in an Era of Change, p. 803.

Journal of Politics, February, 1990, Raymond Tatalovich, review of The Post-Modern Presidency, p. 265.

Journal of Southern History, August, 2005, LeRoy Ashby, review of Power and Prudence, p. 751.

New York University Journal of International Law and Politics, spring, 1986, review of The President and Foreign Affairs: Evaluation, Performance, and Power, pp. 1060-1061.

Political Science Quarterly, summer, 1989, Gary Bryner, review of The Post-Modern Presidency, p. 339.

Prairie Schooner, summer, 1989, review of The Post-Modern Presidency, p. 339.

Presidential Studies Quarterly, summer, 1989, review of The Post-Modern Presidency, p. 656; fall, 1992, Michael W. Link, review of The President as World Leader, p. 800; March, 2006, Joseph K. Unekis, review of Power and Prudence, p. 132.

Reference & Research Book News, November, 1998, review of Presidential Frontiers: Underexplored Issues in White House Politics, p. 140.

Western Political Quarterly, March, 1991, review of The Post-Modern Presidency, p. 221.

White House Studies, fall, 2005, Jeremy B. Johnson, review of Power and Prudence, p. 581.