Book Review: Presidential Greatness Robert Kennedy once said “Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total; of all those acts will be written the history of this generation”. Such truthful quotes like this need to be taken into thought, and our current or future presidents definitely need to take this quote into consideration. Our current and future presidents need to think how their actions will effect not only the present but the future of our country as well. Even if their endeavor may be small it will still be remembered in history of the people’s mind as a success or failure. But because our presidents don’t have a way of thinking that is similar to …show more content…
Americans forget how much past presidents’ laws, philosophies, and actions have effected this country greatly and how they have allowed almost everyone in the United States to have a comfortable carefree life. But though we may forget about them most of the time, we will always have books to remind us of our past presidents. One of those books is called Presidential Greatness by Marc Landy and Sidney M. Milkis. Presidential Greatness talks about 5 of some of our best and most influential former …show more content…
The two authors of the book spoke of the many accomplishments of George Washington. They conversed about how he defended that the one of the most important jobs for the president was managing the executive branch. And when Washington left office, the president became known as the “undisputed master” of the executive branch. George Washington was a man that defined an era of history, he was a man who did everything to benefit the United States for the future of his country. He wanted America to be the land of freedom that everyone could enjoy. George Washington will be remembered as not only our first president but he will always be remembered as one of our greatest
Out of the 43 presidents that have served for the United States, the most recognizable and exceptional president by far was Abraham Lincoln. Through childhood, Lincoln seemed always interested in politics, not knowing how much publicity and significance he would get. The three authors of the Grace Bedell and the President’s Beard, Lincoln’s Famous Address, and The Rise of a President all agree with the fact that Lincoln was a fanonimal president. During just four years of office, Lincoln made a memorable picture for himself, led a war between many different parts of the U. S., and made one of the greatest speeches the nation has ever seen.
Skowornek writes, “these presidents each set out to retrieve from a far distant, even mythic, past fundamental values that they claim had been lost in the indulgences of the received order, In this way, the order-shattering and order-affirming impulses of the presidency in politics became mutually reinforcing.” (Skowornek, 37, book). These presidents are in the best position not because they are exceptional at their job but because the time they came into office offered them the elasticity and authority to make new orders and be welcomed by the public because he is taking the country out of its troubles and challenges.
The U.S. president is a person deemed to be the most fitting person to lead this country through thick and thin. It’s been such a successful method that it has led to 43 individual men being put in charge of running this country. However, this doesn’t mean that each one has been good or hasn’t had an issue they couldn’t resolve when in office. But no matter what, each one has left a very unique imprint on the history and evolution of this nation. However when two are compared against one another, some rather surprising similarities may be found. Even better, is what happens when two presidents are compared and they are from the same political party but separated by a large numbers of years between them. In doing this, not only do we see the difference between the two but the interesting evolution of political idea in one party.
Throughout history, United-States citizens have elected several presidents, and each one of them are worth knowing for an event or an act in particular. There is an infinite amount of lessons that can be learned from other people’s mistakes, victories, and defeats. Theodore Roosevelt is one of the elected presidents, and he is worth knowing because he helped establish the Children's Aid Society, he facilitated the construction of the Panama Canal and he averted a national emergency by dealing with the 1902 coal strike. Roosevelt's had a profound impact on our society.
middle of paper ... ... a for presidents after him to follow. There are so many of his achievements we as Americans are still benefitting from today, and they are how Theodore Roosevelt earned his place on the face of Mount Rushmore. Works Cited Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia – American President Theodore Roosevelt http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/roosevelt/essays/biography/3 Theodore Roosevelt Association http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/life/biotr.htm Some of Theodore Roosevelt’s achievements http://www.nps.gov/history/logcabin/html/tr3.html U.S. Office of Personnel Management: Theodore Roosevelt Timeline http://www.opm.gov/about_opm/tr/phototimeline.asp
A successful president’s legacy is measured by his ability to address issues of public concern, rid the government of corruption, create reliable foreign affairs with existing countries and most importantly, act as a voice of the people. However, it appears that Warren G. Harding was more concerned with striving to satisfy many of his cabinet members priorities, without weighing the negative consequences it could have on his presidency. Additionally, his successor Calvin Coolidge was caught in the web of political corruption and sexual scandals that had surrounded Harding’s presidency. Many historians have accurately depicted Warren G. Harding as one of the least consequential president’s due in part to his various political scandals that defined his term; whereas Calvin Coolidge has been wrongly tarnished with the same reputation as his predecessor without sufficient evidence.
George Washington had character and was extraordinary. Ellis described Washington as an "incalculable asset." His leadership skills were unique. His actions were performed for his country, not for political gain. He was also directly associated with every major event of the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress, and the building of the new republic. Even the country 's new capitol had his name. These were some of the things that made him so special. Washington was not prideful and not easily led. He offered suggestions and warnings to his replacements and told the government to expand in a way that would keep the country standing; he was well aware of how dainty the country was. The United States would never have survived without him.
After all these years since the United States was born no one has forgotten the name George Washington. George Washington help the united states gain its independence. That wasn't all after we one independence George Washington was elected the first U.S. president. I believe that George Washington was the best president because he was our first its because of him how we are today even though the U.S. is going through a rough patch right now he left a great name for the United States Of America. George Washington was the right man for the job.
In chapter eight in The Balancing the Presidential Seesaw (2000), Vaughan offers additional observations and recommendations for future presidents. As a former president, Vaughan observation is clear that “presidency is not about headlines – whether to make or avoid them – it is about working hard day in and day out, year in and year out” to accomplish the community college’s goal (Vaughan, 2000, p.
The president has a significant amount of power; however, this power is not unlimited, as it is kept in check by both the judicial and legislative branches. The president is held responsible for passing legislation that will improve the lives of everyday Americans, even though he shares his legislative powers with Congress. The sharing of power acts as an impediment to the president’s ability to pass legislation quickly and in the form it was originally conceived. However, Americans do not take this into account when judging a president, as they fully expect him to fulfill all of the promises he makes during his campaign. By making promises to pass monumental legislation once elected without mentioning that Congress stands as an obstacle that must be hurdled first, the president creates unrealistic expectations of what he can fulfill during his time in office (Jenkins-Smith, Silva, and Waterman, 2005). A president is expected to have the characteristics that will allow him to efficiently and effectively lead the nation and to accomplish the goals he set during his campaign (Jenkins-Smith et al., 2005). There have been a handful of presidents that have been immortalized as the ideal person to lead the United States and if a president does not live up to these lofty expectations the American public will inevitably be disappointed. Since every president is expected to accomplish great things during his presidency, he is forced to created and project a favorable image through unrealistic promises. The combination of preconceived ideas of the perfect president and the various promises made by presidential candidates during their campaign create unrealistic expectations of the president by the American public.
Because of their positions in the government and their resulting influential abilities, presidents are either praised for advancing the nation, criticized for not doing anything to help the country, or even making the country’s situation worse. Their success as president is dependent on the success of the country. People don’t take into consideration the attempts presidents make, but only those things that help or hurt the country. This leaves room for there to be a good president who may not accomplish much and a bad president who may accomplish a lot.
Along with reforms by citizens the presidents of the Progressive era also fought to make things right. President Roosevelt was a war hero, and a great leader of the United States. During his role as...
There have been many presidents in the past, and some of them were iconic for their leadership and innovation, others for the controversies that they stirred up, and many were just simply run of the mill average. In honor of the great iconic ones we have built statues, dedicated whole individual days to them, and even made some blockbuster films. Though, one went on unjustly without as much as a wink or any recognition like passing breeze. Chester Alan Arthur is not known for seemingly anything, but he, however, played a huge role in the survival of what is now a free and dependable American government today. His story: a
Theodore Roosevelt stepped into head of office on September 19, 1901 when President William McKinley was assassinated. He was the youngest man to become president. His motto was “speak softly but carry a big stick.” President Roosevelt would come into power offering America the square deal. He would take the power away from the industrialists as he controlled big business from the White House. He would soon become known as a TrustBuster. Roosevelt used American power for American interests and was quoted as saying, “I am an American first and last. “ Although some historians argue that Roosevelt acted like a six-year-old throughout his presidency and that he didn’t think things through, ie “he thought with his hips”, one can admire the tremendous leadership qualities that Teddy Roosevelt had. First, he was a very bold man who graduated magna cum laude from Harvard. The average citizen was aware of what a “positive, warm and tough, authoritative and funny” president that they had leading them. His leadership qualities stemmed from his time as a New York state Assembly man, a deputy sheriff, a ...
One of the greatest presidents that The United States was president Calvin Coolidge. He improved the government in the the United States by influence in both domestic and foreign policies. He fought corruption and worked clean the government system from the practice. As president of the Massachusetts State Senate, he said “If it be to help a powerful corporation better to serve the people, whatever the opposition, do that.” In his moving he speech he sends out a message the touches every single. Whenever help is necessary, there must be someone who can assist who can knowledgeably step up to help. However, nowadays it’s more like give and take more than just give.