Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents: The Politics of Leadership from Roosevelt to Reagan

Chapter 12 discusses the presidency of Ronald Reagan, describing it as “a compelling commentary” on Neustadt’s argument in four ways. He treats the first three together, then the fourth separately, throughout the chapter.

First, Neustadt describes Reagan as the last “Roosevelt Democrat” who will be president. He means this literally because Reagan voted for Roosevelt and became Republican in the 1950s. Second, he notes Reagan’s background as an actor. Third, he describes Reagan as the least intellectually curious and interested in the details of affairs of any president since the 1920s, and also the most committed to his ideas regardless of evidence or events since Woodrow Wilson.

Finally, Neustadt uses the Iran-Contra affair as a medium for discussing the magnification of risk that the prior factors created in the presidency, both in terms of Reagan’s methods and his policy aims. Neustadt’s distaste for Reagan is undeniable when he uses phrases such as “ignorance with insistence” to describe his presidency (270). The point is primarily made by showing in some detail how little President Reagan knew about the details of the Iran-Contra scandal and suggesting that knowing more would have helped him head off the problems it created.