Patterns of Presidential Over-reach By Clinton, Obama and Trump Caused Backlash

Presidents almost always over-reach in their first two years in office because they feel they must solidify support from their base and “deliver” on promises made in the primaries. Bill Clinton’s first two years were a PR disaster, but his team didn’t realize it until too late, the fall of 1994. Republicans took the House for...

Essential Presidential Qualities in Turbulent Times

Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, discussing "Leadership in Turbulent Times," based on her book by that title, described traits of effective leaders, which include: “the ability to grow through adversity, humility and empathy”; learning “to control negative and unproductive emotions”; and transforming “an ambition for self into an ambition for the greater good.” How would Donald...

Any Common Ground After Mueller Report Release?

It is not currently in Democrats' political interests to impeach Trump, at least not until strong if not overwhelming evidence of "high crimes and misdemeanors" has been collected and aired. It is not in conservatives' interests to ignore an imperial presidency that is above the law. Principles first. Might partisans agree that it should be...

Historical Forces Greater Than A President Shape Events

Constant focus on the US President supports the flawed theory of the great and indispensable men and women, or evil ones, who shape events. The more I read of history, the more I believe that ideas, flawed thinking on the part of small-minded but well-intentioned people, social movements, economic forces, and technology usually shape events...

WSJ Editorial from 2009 Reveals Wrong-Headed Predictions

The Wall Street Journal, the flagship of conservative thought, has proven again and again to be wrong about Obama and the economy, but of course will not acknowledge it. "The Obama program is going to test the liberal faith, not observed since the 1970s, that deficit spending and easy monetary policy are engines of prosperity," the...

Presidents Must Use Rhetoric of Heroic Expectations

American presidents must "attempt to close the yawning gap between what the public expects and what political reality and the American system of government allows," write two political scientists. In The Rhetoric of Heroic Expectations: Establishing the Obama Presidency, they "argue that presidents justify their presidencies – both at the outset of their administrations and throughout...

‘Worst President in History’? Nearly All Presidents Have Been Called ‘the Worst’

Most presidents fall in the middle range when ranked by historians -- some good decisions and some bad decisions. But while they're still in office, their adversaries frequently say they are the worst in history. This is true of Obama, and was certainly true of George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.  The Washington Post compiled...

Books on the Presidency I’ve Studied

In college and grad school, these were some of the books we studied on the presidency: David Halberstam, The Best and the Brightest, on the origins of the Vietnam War. How did the smartest advisors to the president, who had graduated from the best schools in the country, make such poor decisions in Vietnam? How...

What is the True Power of the Presidency?

Guardian: In the 1950s, a number of biographies of strong presidents and academic treatises on the institution had stressed its powers and the variety of the president's roles, for example as head of state, head of government, commander in chief, party leader and "leader of the Free World." Richard Neustadt, who was for more than...

‘Transformational Leadership’ Is What America Needs in 2008

Every generation or so, America experiences a presidency that offers "transformational leadership" -- "a leader who takes a visionary position and inspires people to follow" (click to read more on transformational leadership). This leader is not simply a follower of polls, a politician trying to survive and maintain his position, an incrementalist, a triangulator, a...