Hail to the Chief: The Making and Unmaking of American Presidents
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- Synopsis
- As the highest office in the American political system, the presidency has throughout its history been subject to the most intense scrutiny of scholars, pundits, and the public alike. Our expectations of our leaders have only added to the burdens of a position that Thomas Jefferson considered "a splendid misery" and Andrew Jackson called "a situation of dreadful slavery," to the point that the job has threatened to become an unmanageable institution that inevitably invites failure. Yet while some presidents have in fact proven to be unfit for the rigors of the Oval Office and have either been vilified or managed to slip into a comfortable obscurity, others have risen to the occasion and left a legacy of remarkable accomplishments. For every faceless chief executive like Millard Fillmore or Warren Harding we have been fortunate to have as leaders such consummate statesmen as Washington, Lincoln, and FDR. What, finally, accounts for success or failure in the presidency, and how have our greatest leaders shrewdly used the office as the most powerful instrument of political practice? In Hail to the Chief, Robert Dallek, award-winning historian and acclaimed biographer of Lyndon Johnson, offers an unprecedented and engaging examination of presidential excellence--and its less distinguished counterpart. Dallek addresses five themes that have been typically manifested in successful administrations--vision, pragmatism, consensus, charisma, and trust--and traces how they have been played out by the forty-one men who have attained the highest rank of public service. From James Madison's facing the War of 1812 to Lincoln's leadership through the greatest crisis of the nation's history; from Hoover's inability to overcome the challenges of the Great Depression to LBJ's tragic miscalculations in Vietnam and his achievements in advancing civil rights; from the beneficent paternalism of FDR to the ruthless cynicism of Richard Nixon, Dallek offers a penetrating analysis of the presidency, the personalities who have defined it, and the strategies that led to their triumphs or defeats. An illuminating and provocative work of history, Hail to the Chief is valuable both as an astute reading of the past and as a set of guidelines for enlightened leadership for the future. Robert Dallek has taught history at several universities including Columbia, UCLA, and Oxford. He is currently a professor at Boston University. He is the author of several books including the New York Times Notable Book Lone Star Rising: Lyndon B. Johnson and His Times, 1908-1960, and Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Foreign Policy, 1932-1945, the winner of the Bancroft Prize and a nominee for the American Book Award in History. He lives in Washington, D.C.
- Copyright:
- 1996
Book Details
- Book Quality:
- Excellent
- Book Size:
- 233 Pages
- ISBN-13:
- 9780786862054
- Publisher:
- Hyperion Press
- Date of Addition:
- 09/14/15
- Copyrighted By:
- Robert Dallek
- Adult content:
- No
- Language:
- English
- Has Image Descriptions:
- No
- Categories:
- Nonfiction, Biographies and Memoirs, Politics and Government
- Submitted By:
- Approval Queue Volunteer 4
- Proofread By:
- Sue Stevens
- Usage Restrictions:
- This is a copyrighted book.