Dallek (History/UCLA; Lone Star Rising, 1991; Ronald Reagan: The
Politics of Symbolism, 1984; etc.) thoughtfully finds some common
denominators of effective presidential performance. Why have some
presidents become perennial heroes and others bywords for failure?
Dallek delineates five qualities uniquely important to presidential
leadership: vision, pragmatism, consensus, charisma (or the appeal
of personality), and trust. Dallek then shows how the greatest
presidents, like Washington, Lincoln, and Franklin Roosevelt, have
displayed these traits in responding to national challenges as
diverse as establishing the infant United States, waging the Civil
War, and ending the Great Depression. Dallek also shows presidents
failing by displaying an absence of these virtues: Herbert Hoover,
for instance, lacked pragmatic flexibility, and John Quincy Adams
failed to achieve consensus for his aim of advancing the prosperity
of American society. To some extent, Dallek recognizes, the traits
of success are contradictory and temper one another (a visionary
whose vision leads him too far ahead of the popular consensus will
fail, for instance); effective presidential leadership, he
suggests, consists of maintaining a delicate balance. Assessing
success or failure is also a matter of balance: The greatest
presidents have suffered policy failures, sometimes major ones.
Also, Dallek acknowledges that the qualities of presidential
greatness are ultimately more elusive than his checklist of virtues
would imply: Assessments of presidents while in office, have been
notoriously inaccurate (Dallek cites disparaging evaluations by
contemporaries of Washington, Lincoln, and FDR). Recognizing the
ever-changing nature and complexity of the president's task, Dallek
concludes that "the study of how past presidents made large gains
and suffered major defeats gives us little more than a useful
general guide to executive actions." A provocative analysis of
success and failure in the nation's most difficult job. (Kirkus
Reviews)
An examination of the presidency, the personalities who defined it, and the strategies that led to their triumphs or defeats.
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