H. W. Brands

On style points alone, Donald Trump makes GWB look magnificently presidential.

— H. W. Brands

The Republican Party has moved substantially to the right of where Reagan was.

— H. W. Brands

The candidate who promises the most has the best chance of winning.

— H. W. Brands

In some ways, I would be absolutely fascinated if Trump gets elected.

— H. W. Brands

Most presidents have not considered 100 days a significant milepost.

— H. W. Brands

When you're actually president, the spin matters a lot less.

— H. W. Brands

The Reagan Revolution has had no second act.

— H. W. Brands

Reagan conspired in the underestimation of his own ability.

— H. W. Brands

I never admit to wishing I'd written something by another author, but if my name mysteriously appeared on the title page of…

— H. W. Brands

Toward the end of the 1964 presidential campaign, Reagan gives a speech on behalf of Barry Goldwater. It was like a screen…

— H. W. Brands

I cannot think of a president or administration that has taken seriously the 100 days.

— H. W. Brands

Booker Washington was branded an accommodationist by many of the people who criticized him.

— H. W. Brands

Presidents are evaluated not by what they did by the stroke of their own pen; it's what they persuade Congress to do.

— H. W. Brands

When a president doesn't know the policy, it doesn't make for a very effective leader.

— H. W. Brands

Interest in the Founders has risen and fallen over time, as has admiration for them and their accomplishments.

— H. W. Brands

The historic dearth of labor was perhaps the central feature of the American economy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

— H. W. Brands

Politics is not something most people have to do every day. Their daily lives are much more influenced by job opportunities, whether…

— H. W. Brands

I had this grand plan for writing the history of the United States in six volumes. This was in the mid-1990s; I…

— H. W. Brands

I'm trying to tell the story of the evolution of America. Each biography is a life in time, and I can see…

— H. W. Brands

There has always been interest in certain phases and aspects of history - military history is a perennial bestseller, the Civil War,…

— H. W. Brands

The president was not the most important political player in the 19th century. Besides Jefferson at the beginning, Andrew Jackson and Abraham…

— H. W. Brands

People who teach American history survey classes have a lot of ground to cover and tend to focus on landmarks. You get…

— H. W. Brands

A lot of people were ambivalent about Vietnam. Lyndon Johnson in 1964 positioned himself as the peace candidate. Once Johnson sent large…

— H. W. Brands

Presidents have to decide what their popularity is for. Lyndon Johnson probably understood best that political popularity is a wasting asset. You…

— H. W. Brands

If it's a good story, it's a good story, and it draws readers in.

— H. W. Brands

Americans knock themselves out, especially since 9/11, praising the military.

— H. W. Brands

The Tea Party loves Reagan because he said exactly what they want to hear.

— H. W. Brands

America can change its presidents, but the world doesn't change.

— H. W. Brands

It's hard to say that Trump actually has a health care policy.

— H. W. Brands

Love makes the most careful man wreckless.

— H. W. Brands

If you wanted to, you could write history in Haiku.

— H. W. Brands

I read in all forms: paper, computer, phone, audio.

— H. W. Brands

In modern times, the American military has become more bureaucratised.

— H. W. Brands

Members of Congress are somewhat reluctant to tangle with a president who seems to have the backing of the American people.

— H. W. Brands

Abraham Lincoln spoke out against the Mexican War. But once Americans were under fire, people who were on the fence felt obliged…

— H. W. Brands

Once you become president, you don't even have to stop for red lights. And if it looks like traffic's too bad, you…

— H. W. Brands

Reagan has been deified by the Republican Party, which is odd. The Reagan that modern Republicans revere is not the real Reagan.

— H. W. Brands

The American political system is based on the president taking the initiative and Congress responding. With President Trump, it's been the opposite.

— H. W. Brands

It wasn't the smiling Trump that people elected. It was the frowning, glowering, angry Donald Trump that people elected.

— H. W. Brands

The shelf life of a seventh-year State of the Union address is about five minutes. Presidents can propose stuff. They're probably not…

— H. W. Brands