The Character Factor: How We Judge America's Presidents

Notes

N O T E S Chapter . Judging Presidential Character . William Safire, Safire’s New Political Dictionary (New York: Random, ), p. . . Peggy Noonan,“Ronald Reagan,” in Robert A. Wilson, ed., Character above All (New York: Simon, ), p. . . See the insightful analysis of Richard Reeves,“John Kennedy,” in Robert A. Wilson, ed., Character above All (New York: Simon, ), p. . . James Davison Hunter and Carl Bowman, The Politics of Character (University of Virginia: Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, ), pp. –. The authors conclude: “On the one hand, there is no question that the American public recognizes democracy’s need for strong moral character and its attendant virtues. . . . At the same time, large sectors of the American public lack discrimination and reveal a surprising level of confusion and contradiction in their thinking about character. Character seems to be a catch-all for everything—for anything— commendable or simply positive” (p. ). See also James Davison Hunter, The Death of Character (New York: Basic, ). . Quoted by Michael Beschloss,“George Bush,” in Robert A. Wilson, ed., Character above All (New York: Simon, ), p. . . See Greenstein’s Foreword to Alexander L. George and Juliette L. George, Presidential Personality and Performance (Boulder: Westview, ), pp. ix–x. For Greenstein’s analysis of President Clinton’s personality see “There He Goes Again: The Alternating Political Style of Bill Clinton,” P.S.: Political Science and Politics (June ): –. . Robert Shogan, The Double-Edged Sword (Boulder: Westview, ), p. . . George and George, Presidential Personality and Performance, p. . . Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince and the Discourses (New York: Modern Library, ), particularly chap. , pp. –. See also Richard A. Posner, An Affair of State (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, ), chap. ,“Morality, Private and Public,” pp. –; and J. Patrick Dobel,“Judging the Private Lives of Public Officials,” Administration and Society , no.  (May ): –; Deborah Rhode, “Moral Character in the Personal and the Political,” Loyola University of Chicago Law Journal (fall, ): –. . See Reinhold Niebuhr, Moral Man and Immoral Society (New York: Scribner, ), pp. –. . Posner, Affair of State, pp. –. . See J. Patrick Dobel,“Political Prudence and the Ethics of Leadership,” Public Administration Review , no.  (Jan./Feb. ): –. . See the insightful analysis of Andrew Stark, Conflict of Interest in American Public Life (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, ), pp. –. . See Posner, Affair of State, p. . . This discussion is based on the formulation of Michael Josephson, Making Ethical Decisions: What Are You Going to Do? d ed. (Marina del Rey, Calif.: Josephson Institute of Ethics, ). . Quoted in Time, Sept. , , in the “Verbatim” portion of the “Notebook” section. . Quoted in U.S. News and World Report, May , , p. , in the “Washington Whispers” section. . Quoted in U.S. News and World Report, May , , p. , in the “Washington Whispers” section. . “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do.” From Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance and Other Essays (New York: Dover Publications, ), p. . . For a careful analysis of prudence in political life see Dobel,“Political Prudence and the Ethics of Leadership,” pp. –. . For a discussion of some of the psychological approaches to presidential character see James P. Pfiffner,“Judging Presidential Character,” Public Integrity , no.  (winter –): –. Some treatments of psychological aspects of character include Harold D. Lasswell, Psychopathology and Politics (New York: Viking,  [first copyright ]); Alexander L. George, Presidential Decision Making in Foreign Policy: The Effective Use of Information and Advice (Boulder: Westview, ); George and George, Presidential Personality and Performance; Stanley A. Renshon, High Hopes: The Clinton Presidency and the Politics of Ambition (New York: New York University Press, ); James David Barber, The Presidential Character: Predicting Performance in the White House, th ed. (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice, ). . See especially Robert A. Wilson, Character above All (New York: Simon, ). Wilson asked eminent presidential biographers to write analyses of the character of a president. The chapters include Doris Kearns Goodwin on Franklin Roosevelt, David McCullough on Harry Truman, Stephen Ambrose on Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Reeves on John Kennedy, Robert Dallek on Lyndon Johnson, Tom Wicker on Richard Nixon, James Cannon on Gerald Ford, Hendrik Hertzberg on Jimmy Carter, Peggy Noonan on Ronald Reagan, and Michael Beschloss on George H. W. Bush. What is striking about these insightful essays is that though each writer focuses on presidential character, each has a different definition or approach to character. There is no consensus or common theme to the essays. 172 : Notes to Pages 9–16 Chapter . The Nature of...