Our Book Review

Erwin C. Hargrove has written many books on leadership and presidencies, some for example are; Leadership in context, Jimmy Carter as President, Presidential Leadership, and Presidents, Politics, and Policy. These books were all books on leadership and someone leadership roles as a president. One of his best books on leadership and presidents is The President As Leader: Appealing to the Better Angels of Our Nature. In the book he overviews three presidencies and talks about what it takes to be a good leader as president.

Hargrove Starts off by quoting famous historians and past presidents. He uses such quotes to support his argument that successful political leaders effectively combine political arts and skills with intellectual and moral leadership. He uses Aristotle and Machiavelli as good leaders who were able to do this. He says that Aristotle was able to bring the citizens together through these methods. Hargrove then posts two conceptions of politics. One has to deal with policy innovation due to majority views and the other a leader having stability and balance. He goes on to use examples from Wilfred Binkly and Richard Neustadt to support his argument. Hargrove also says that Character is a necessary component of a good president. He also says that presidents use tradition to lead. They use tradition to make decision and lead their country.

Hargrove then goes into three presidencies. He talks about Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Ronald Reagan. He starts out with Roosevelt saying that he was able to use his ability to persuade people in his presidency. He said that Roosevelt’s presidency was mainly focused on the war going on in Europe. Johnson’s presidency was first put into office as a vice president and when Kennedy was assassinated he took over the presidency. When he ran for reelection he won that and was able to carry out his own views rather than Kennedy’s. Finally Hargrove talks about the life that Reagan had. He had a tough life growing up and became an actor once he got to college. He decided to turn his career to politics and became the governor of California. He ran for president and won against jimmy carter. Reagan was known for being a phenomenal public speaker.

I agree with Hargrove’s argument to be a successful leader one has to use moral leadership and their intellectual skills. If a president uses morals he will most likely make the right decision. However, there are instances where a president has to stray away from their morals. An example is during World War II. America decided to bomb places in Germany that would kill innocent civilians. It was known that we would be killing civilians but we had to proceed with this action to deflate German moral during the war. This helped the U.S. win the war even though morals were not followed. As far as intellectual skills it is a necessary requirement for a president to be smart. With a smart president they are able to use reasoning and listen to peoples views and not be influenced by them but still take them into consideration. This way the president can compile many views together to make the right decision for the country and for his people.
I also agree with Hargrove’s argument that presidents need to be innovative. This is because if a president were to just do what others have done our nation would still have slavery. Abraham Lincoln was a very innovative president. He started the end of slavery. He was able to use his morals and determine that slavery was wrong. Without his innovation we would still be having slaves. Although it caused the country to split it was the right thing to do and he stood by his actions and was able to end slavery. Innovation is very important in presidencies.

Hargrove makes arguments that are very true. A president must use morals to lead. He also needs to use his intelligence to make important decisions. It is necessary to use innovation to make decisions and help to make the nation better. Hargrove does a good job of outlining what it takes to be a president and showing three examples of good leaders.