"The Environmental Presidency develops a systematic understanding of how presidents have influenced the development of environmental and natural resource policy through an examination of environmental behavior and interaction patterns between the president and the American people. Looking at five presidential roles - Commander in Chief, Chief Diplomat, Opinion and Party Leader, Chief Legislator, and Chief Executive - the authors show how the modern presidency has redefined the relative strengths of each role in response to the political salience of the environment."--BOOK JACKET.