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

Chapter 4 emphasizes the importance of the president’s reputation and articulates the means by which a president should attend to it. Essentially, Neustadt argues, the concept of “reputation” expresses the reality that the president’s ability to persuade is affected not only by his skill and position but also by what the person sought to be persuaded thinks about the president and what that person thinks others think about him. In particular, the president’s reputation is important for informing others’ perception as to what the president may or may not do if they fail to go along with his agenda when he attempts to persuade them. The ingredients of reputation that Neustadt emphasizes are tenacity and skill.

Franklin D. Roosevelt is presented as having set the ideal for establishing a professional reputation for skill and tenacity at the outset of his presidency. However, as much of what made Roosevelt’s early efforts ideal resulted from the fortune of the times and his pre-presidency experience, Neustadt reasons that other presidents should seek to sow uncertainty about the consequences of ignoring their wishes among those who must be persuaded.

As the president’s term continues, however, Neustadt maintains that only the individual himself is responsible for his reputation.