Signing On and Sounding Off: Presidential Signing Statements in the Eisenhower Administration, 1953-61

This article represents an important step in understanding early, modern presidents' strategic use of signing statements by taking a sharp focus on the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower. In contrast to recent presidents who have used the instrument increasingly to challenge legislative provisions, Eisenhower's use of signing statements was rather complex-from political credit-claiming, explaining the provisions of bills to the American public, and reinforcing his views on the federal-state balance of power-to maintaining bipartisan relations on foreign policy, shaping implementation of congressional bills, and selectively criticizing Congress for overspending. The theoretical framework devotes particular attention to the interplay of contexts-electoral, institutional, and economic-on Eisenhower's use of signing statements by policy area across his two terms.