Leading from the Center

by Troy, Gil

• ISBN13: 9780465002931
• ISBN10: 0465002935
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-06-09
• Publisher: Basic Books

Summary

George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy-most would agree their presidencies were among the most successful in American history. But what made these very different men such effective leaders? According to presidential historian Gil Troy, these presidents succeeded not because of their bold political visions, but because of their moderation. Although many of the presidential hopefuls for 2008 will claim to be moderates, the word cannot conceal a political climate defined by extreme rhetoric and virulent partisanship. InLeading From the Center, Gil Troy argues that this is a distinctlyun-American state of affairs. The great presidents of American history have always sought a golden mean-from Washington, who brilliantly mediated between the competing visions of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, to Lincoln, who rescued the Union with his principled pragmatism, to the two Roosevelts, who united millions of Americans with their powerful, affirmative, nationalist visions. As America lines up to select a president for the future, Gil Troy astutely reminds us of the finest traditions of presidential leadership from our nation's past.

Author Biography

A native of Queens, New York, Gil Troy is currently Professor of History at McGill University. He is the author of several books, including Morning in America: How Ronald Reagan Invented the 1980s and Hillary Rodham Clinton: Polarizing First Lady. He comments frequently about the American presidency on television and radio, and has published articles in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, and USA Weekend.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Presidents as Muscular Moderates: A "Middle Course" for Our "Common Cause"	p. 1
Washington's Way: "Liberal Allowances, Mutual Forbearances, and Temporizing Yieldings on All Sides"	p. 19
Compromisers, Zealots, and Ciphers: The Blessing of Parties, the Challenge of Slavery, and the Failure of Presidents	p. 39
Abraham Lincoln's Middle Measure: A Cautious Politician's "My Policy Is to Have No Policy" Pragmatism	p. 57
Theodore Roosevelt's Democratic Two-Step: The Rise of the Romantic, Nationalist Presidency	p. 75
Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal: The Radical as Moderate	p. 93
Truman, Eisenhower, and America's Bipartisan Consensus: Building Political Unity through Cultural Conformity	p. 123
John F. Kennedy and Civil Rights: Moderation and the Challenge of Change	p. 147
The Consensus Collapses: Lyndon Johnson and the Limits of Moderation	p. 165
Learning from Losers: Where Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter Went Wrong	p. 183
Ronald Reagan's Moderate Revolution: Resurrecting the Center	p. 201
Bill Clinton and the Perils of Triangulation: The Need to be Muscular as Well as Moderate	p. 223
George W. Bush: Imprisoned by Conviction?	p. 247
Conclusion: Center Seeking in the Twenty-first Century: Is Political Moderation Possible in an Age of Excess?	p. 273
Acknowledgments	p. 287
A Note on Sources	p. 291
Notes	p. 299
Index	p. 327
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