Presidential Press Conferences over Time

Scholars have debated whether the president's public activities are a function of political and economic factors (presidency‐centered variables) or individual presidents and their administration's tendencies (president‐centered variables). This article examines one of the only quantitative studies that assesses the influence of these variables on presidential press conferences over time. I replicate this study ( Hager and Sullivan 1994 ) and find the authors' conclusions to be misleading. I then present methodologically correct analyses that show—consistent with the qualitative evidence—that the behavior of individual presidents offers the best explanation of press conferences over time.