Presidents' Day and Their EI

The Library is closed for President's Day. As the presidential election draws closer, you may want to start reading about past presidents and current candidates to help you decide which candidate to vote for. You can search the catalog or the online databases for information.

One short book that is recommended for studying the modern presidency is the The Presidential Difference: Leadership Style from FDR to George W. Bush. Princeton professor Greenstein seeks to explain why presidents succeed or fail in this account of the 12 most recent presidents. He measures the presidents on six scales: public communication, organizational capacity, political skill, vision, cognitive style and emotional intelligence. What is necessary, Greenstein says, is a proper mix of these skills. George H. W. Bush did not have "the vision thing." Political skills could not save Lyndon Johnson. Organizational skills did not do much for Jimmy Carter. Nixon's cognitive skills could not save him either. The author contends that the highest ranked skill for what the successful president needs is emotional intelligence or what could also be called "psychological wellness". Greenstein describes emotional intelligence as "the president's ability to manage his emotions and turn them to constructive purposes, rather than being dominated by them, and allowing them to diminish his leadership.”