The Presidential Difference: Leadership Style from FDR to George W. Bush

Presidential Difference Project

by Fred I. Greenstein

For a quarter-century, Fred I. Greenstein has been one of our keenest observers of the modern presidency. Here, he provides a fascinating and instructive account of the qualities that have served well and poorly in the Oval Office, beginning with Franklin D. Roosevelt's first hundred days. Newly expanded, this second edition now covers the momentous events of George W. Bush's administration--from his handling of the events of September 11 to the war with Iraq.


Throughout, Greenstein offers a series of bottom-line judgments on each of his twelve subjects and a bold new explanation of why presidents succeed or fail. He surveys each president's record in public communication, organizational capacity, political skill, vision, cognitive style, and emotional intelligence--and argues that the last is the most important in predicting presidential success.

Genres: Politics, History, Nonfiction, Political Science, Leadership, American History, Presidents

328 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

An American political scientist, known for his work on political leadership and the US presidency, Fred Irwin Greenstein (September 1, 1930 – December 3, 2018) was an emeritus professor of politics at Princeton University.

Reviews

[Dave Schoettinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Professor Greenstein wrote this book more than twenty years ago so, necessarily, the most recent four presidents have not been included. He discusses the eleven presidents who held office during the last two-thirds of the twentieth century and while there are a number of comparisons between them, Greenstein makes no attempt to rank them as other scholars have. The book is a very readable 200 pages which is well organized and easily understood by the reader.

What struck me most profoundly in reading this work is that if the author has partisan views on these presidents, he kept them to himself. He points out the strengths and weaknesses of each, but does not seem to have an agenda other than providing future presidents with guidelines of what worked for these 11 and what did not. It is not often in recent years that I have read anything about political figures that was objective and non-partisan. I found that I preferred this form of presentation and wish that there was more of it around. I may have to check around and see ikf Greenstein has updated his work to include W through Joe.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for Political Science Class

Review to come

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fred Greenstein is one of those historians who made it to the top of the profession: he evaluated an interesting topic in a new way that became the "new conventional wisdom." (He's a political scientist by trade, but I won't hold that against him.) Greenstein's The Hidden Hand Presidency rescued Dwight D. Eisenhower from obscurity and gave him credit for his style of administration and effectiveness. (Eisenhower was largely seen as "absentee" prior to a closer examination of the records.)

This book is about 10 years old now, and Greenstein has put out an updated edition (or two) with information on George W. Bush.

It was definitely an interesting read, and a short one, too; I tore through it in a couple of days. Greenstein avoids the ends that the various presidents sought, focusing on means. He uses various anecdotes to analyze the aptitudes of the presidents in six dimensions:

- Public Communication
- Organizational Capacity
- Vision
- Political Skill
- Cognitive Style
- Emotional Intelligence

Every president from FDR to Clinton has strengths and weaknesses. Truman was very good on the organizational side, but lacked vision. JFK was a brilliant communicator but did not organize his White House effectively. Carter neglected the political elements of the job. LBJ, Nixon, and Clinton all had clear emotional intelligence problems (which Greenstein seems to think is the most critical).

The book also furthered my appreciation for good old Gerald Ford, who I have maligned in the past, but who looks better and better every time I reevaluate him/read more about him.

This is a worthwhile read if you're interested in how presidents manage the institutional side of the presidency, rather than the institutional side itself. I enjoyed it.

[Brett · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is a great struggle to find a way to evaluate presidencies that is not colored entirely by our own political inclinations. As a lefty, I tend to see liberal presidents with liberal achievements as the good presidents and conservative presidents as the bad ones; however, Greenstein is trying to develop a framework of judging presidencies based on factors that are not connected to ideology.

The framework he develops makes a good deal of sense. It measures six dimensions of presidential leadership, including vision, cognitive ability, emotional intelligence, and political skill.

It's the execution that bothers me more than the device. The chapters are too short to really dig into why any particular president is considered to be successful or not, and the application of each category feels arbitrary. In addition, by seeing a presidency only through these six lenses, most of the responsibility for the presidency falls only on the shoulders of the individual president, rather than acknowledging the importance of external events and the zeitgeist of the times that can be important factors.

Greenstein's framework can be a valuable tool, but I think it is up someone else to take the ideas he has developed and further improve them. The project of finding objective ways to judge presidencies is a very difficult problem to solve, and this book is a step toward that goal, but we still have some ways to go.

[Dana Randall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a sucker for all things American Presidential History so I loved this book. Greenstien’s model for effective leadership is great and helps provide a nonpartisan review of the first 44 presidents of the US. The “cognitive style” metric rubbed me the wrong way at times as it seems impossible to really gauge and overlooks a lot if recent educational and neurological data we continue to develop.

[Wendy Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I liked that it wasn't weighed down with quotes and academia. Greenstein made it approachable to a broad audience by writing it with broad strokes.

[Naomi Lambert · Rating 4 out of 5]

With useful brief reviews of modern Presidents (FDR on) with opinions on their most important character traits, this was worthy of a read in 2020.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oversimplified and gimmicky. And using FDR as a benchmark has its own set of challenges, scholarship-wise.

[Olivia Atkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

finished my class weeks ago. up next the enthralling notes of James Madison on the constitution 😴

[Natalie Mazzini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great analysis of the modern presidents!

[Casey Wellock · Rating 1 out of 5]

Do you remember Marvel trading cards? They'd have categories for will power, endurance, intelligence etc. and then give a ranking from one to ten. That's what this book does only with presidents. You'll be surprised to learn Lyndon Johnson had an above average memory.

[Kristofer Petersen-Overton · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lousy book. Reads like it was written without any significant research beyond the authors basic historical knowledge of the issues in question. It was probably written in a matter of days, considering the amateurish assessments of each President at the closing of each chapter. This was on the reading list for the American Politics comprehensive exam for the doctoral program in political science at the CUNY Graduate Center. Why? It's not really an academic text - and it doesn't even succeed at being pop history.

[Robquarles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great and easy read! I particularly liked the methodical approach of evaluating each of these presidents in this time period. Interesting and not often observed guages by which the author evaluates these men include 'emotional intelligence.'
The author catalogs key, and turning points of each of these president's with great sidebar details.
I did not know that FDR loved to create rivalries within his own administration as a managing device.

[B. P. Rinehart · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was read for my class on the US presidency. Unlike that book, I felt this one did not really analyze what counts in a president and dealt more with a very untenable ideal that most humans, as well as presidents, cannot completely measure up to. This book only works if you buy the argument that a certain psychological, instead of political, ideal is what makes a good president. I don't buy it.

[Mike Emett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for my Executive Branch class. The edition we had included the author's analysis and ratings for Obama a month after his Inaugural in 2008-which was both pointless and DUMB! He have Obama a friggen perfect score and he had not been president for month! The author was also hypocritical in a few areas for a few presidents. Overall in was interesting.

[Joe Fraser · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read this for a foreign policy leadership class with Professor Nye.

I would recommend this to anyone interested in a brief, yet comprehensive overview of Presidents and their leadership styles post-WWII.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice, concise summation of 60 years of Presidential history.

[Callan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book will help you be a more informed citizen, and make better choices in presidential races. It is excellent. Read it.

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

if you want my review i'll email it to you.

[Candace · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you love politics, you will love this book!

[Jonathan]

None

[Steven Hummer · Rating 2 out of 5]

A simple read chapter sizes are reasonable.

[Kirk Bower · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looks at FDR to Clinton. Greenstein nice a nice job of looking at the presidents' strong and weak qualities and how they delt with each to form their personal styles.

[Neil]

Still tends to see the heroic individual leader, above shared leadership. Good to have some simple categorisation of the required skills to be a political leader.

[Kajsa Philippa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good first introduction to American policy during the different presidencies. Very interestingly written, not at all dull, but maybe sometimes a bit too polemic.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compelling inside look into the minds of America's most famous men.

[Eric A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very readable look at the characteristics that made up our Presidents from FDR through Clinton.

[AJ B · Rating 4 out of 5]

10:16 04/03/21
Kindle
Middlebury, VT

Interesting analysis in a Plutarch like style in which each president had a chapter dedicated to themself.

[Joe]

"Greenstein originally assessed presidents from FDR to Clinton on the basis of six qualities related to job performance in his 1996 book The Presidential Difference. The six are public communication, organizational ability, political skill, vision, cognitive style, and emotional intelligence."