This book's title suggests two bold claims: first, that the presidency is quickly approaching irrelevance; second, that its impending demise is attributable to a stubborn disregard for the wisdom of the Constitution's Framers. Only in the last six pages does Rich explicitly address the former, beginning with the unexpected disclaimer: “This book is not an apocalyptic prediction about the death of the Framers’ plans for the presidency. It would be presumptuous to write a requiem for the office” (204). But this is soon contradicted: “The presidency, as we know it, is in an inevitable decline” (204); indeed, “We may be, one might say, in the last stages of the modern presidency” (208). Rich fingers various culprits over the course of the book: growing government intervention in the economy and foreign affairs, increased presidential staffing, media and technological changes, and declining ecclesiastical authority. The common thread, in Rich's telling, is that we were forewarned of these dangers by the Framers, yet foolishly chose to ignore them—and are now paying the price.

But are we to blame for flouting the Framers’ forewarnings? One might instead blame the Framers for not anticipating modern conditions that make adherence to their advice arguably impractical. Rich's analysis actuall