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\nNew Jersey&rsquo\;s chief executive enjoys more authority than any\, but a handful of governo rs in the United States. Historically speaking\, however\, governors exerc ised less influence than met the eye. \; In the colonial period few pr oprietary or royal governors were able to make policy in the face of comba tive assemblies. The Revolutionary generation&rsquo\;s hostility to execut ive power contributed to a weak governor system that carried over into the 19th and 20th centuries\, until the Constitution was thoroughly revised i n 1947. \; Before that date a handful of governors made a meaningful i mpact on state affairs Since 1947\, New Jersey&rsquo\;s governors\, exerci sing considerable authority\, have ranged from the outstanding to the terr ible. The author of this book will talk about them.
\nPresented by: Michael J. Birkner is Professor of History at Gettysburg College\, where h e has taught since 1989\, chairing the department from 1993-2003 and servi ng as Benjamin Franklin Professor of Liberal Arts from 2001-2016. Birkner is the author or editor of fourteen books and many articles on 19th and 20 th century American social and political history. \; He has written an d lectured extensively on the presidencies of Dwight Eisenhower and James Buchanan\, as well as aspects of New Jersey history. \; In addition to coediting "The Governors of New Jersey"\, published in 2013 by Rutgers Un iversity Press\, he has published biographies of Samuel L. Southard (Fairl eigh Dickinson University Press. 1984) and Richard P. McCormick (Greenwood Press\, 2001)\, as well as a CHOICE Magazine &ldquo\;outstanding academic book&rdquo\; for 1994\, "A Country Place No More: The Transformation of B ergenfield\, New Jersey\, 1894-1994." \; \;He served for five yea rs as book review editor of New Jersey History and contributed to Maxine N . Lure and Richard Veit\, eds.\, "New Jersey: A History of the Garden Stat e" (Rutgers University Press\, 2012).
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