Introduction : a counterfactual presidency / Bert A. Rockman, Andrew Rudalevige -- "Change we can believe in" meets reality / Joel D. Aberbach -- Strategic assessments : evaluating opportunities and strategies in the Obama presidency / George C. Edwards III -- Political forces on the Obama presidency : from election '08 to governing / James E. Campbell -- Public opinion and the presidency : the Obama and anti-Obama coalitions / Gary C. Jacobson -- Obama and the public presidency : what got you here won't get you there / Diane J. Heith -- The privileges of access : interest groups and the White House / Lawrence R. Jacobs -- Rivals, or a team? : staff and issue management in the Obama administration / Andrew Rudalevige -- Obama and the 111th Congress : doing big things / Barbara Sinclair -- Obama and the law : judicial restraint at the crossroads / David A. Yalof -- Ambition, necessity, and polarization in the Obama domestic agenda / Christopher H. Foreman, Jr. -- Continuity and change in Obama's foreign policy / Robert Singh -- Economic crisis and political change : a new new deal? / M. Stephen Weatherford -- Concluding thoughts : president, person, and system / Bert A. Rockman, Eric N. Waltenburg, Colin Campbell.