Historians evaluating George W. Bush's first term will focus on foreign policy and, most of all, 9/11. I think they will criticize… — Robert Dallek Copy Share Image
The consequence of the Bay of Pigs failure wasn't an acceptance of Castro and his control of Cuba but, rather, a renewed… — Robert Dallek Copy Share Image
Despite an unqualified understanding that U.S. national security was inextricably bound up with Britain's survival, F.D.R. knew that his reelection in part… — Robert Dallek Copy Share Image
A president cannot sit on his hands and be seen as passive in the face of ruthless action by a foreign dictator. — Robert Dallek Copy Share Image
William Henry Harrison, who died of pneumonia in April of 1841, after only one month in office, was the first Chief Executive… — Robert Dallek Copy Share Image
Henry Kissinger never wanted the 20,000 pages of his telephone transcripts made public - not while he was alive, at any rate. — Robert Dallek Copy Share Image
Nixon's deep antipathy toward Jews is well known, and he took a strange satisfaction in having Kissinger in his inner circle, where… — Robert Dallek Copy Share Image
Allegations that President Clinton pardoned Marc Rich partly in return for donations to his presidential library have raised questions about the value… — Robert Dallek Copy Share Image
When Gingrich attacked CNN's John King for bringing up his alleged proposal of an open marriage to his second wife, Gingrich accused… — Robert Dallek Copy Share Image
During his presidency, Truman and the Republicans were locked in a series of furious assaults on each other that outraged him and… — Robert Dallek Copy Share Image
As for Vietnam, what matters is that Kennedy successfully resisted pressure to send anything more than military advisers, a stance that was… — Robert Dallek Copy Share Image
Theodore Roosevelt had drawn public attention to his attractive family in order to create a bond with ordinary Americans. Eleanor Roosevelt had… — Robert Dallek Copy Share Image
Besieged by lawsuits that threatened to engulf almost everyone at the White House, Clinton assistants shunned paper or e-mail records of their… — Robert Dallek Copy Share Image
Compared with other recent presidents whose stumbles and failures have assaulted the national self-esteem, memories of Kennedy continue to give the country… — Robert Dallek Copy Share Image
During Grover Cleveland's second term, in the 1890s, the White House deceived the public by dismissing allegations that surgeons had removed a… — Robert Dallek Copy Share Image
The lifelong health problems of John F. Kennedy constitute one of the best-kept secrets of recent U.S. history - no surprise, because… — Robert Dallek Copy Share Image
Once the public loses confidence in a president's leadership at a time of war, once they don't trust him anymore, once his… — Robert Dallek Copy Share Image
In his State of the Union speech in January 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt declared America's commitment to Four Freedoms in the struggle… — Robert Dallek Copy Share Image
Herbert Hoover was a man of genuine, fine character, but he lacked practical political sense. And he couldn't bend and shift and… — Robert Dallek Copy Share Image
In 1800, in the first interparty contest, the Federalists warned that presidential candidate Thomas Jefferson, because of his sympathy expressed at the… — Robert Dallek Copy Share Image
When President Obama first unveiled his gun control proposals recommending a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and better background checks,… — Robert Dallek Copy Share Image
Few American presidents are held in higher esteem than Thomas Jefferson. Though historians have scrutinized every phase of his long public career… — Robert Dallek Copy Share Image
Don't be intimidated by people who seem to be experts. Hear their points of view and get their judgements. But at the end of… — Robert Dallek Copy Share
During his presidency, Truman and the Republicans were locked in a series of furious assaults on each other that outraged him and made Truman… — Robert Dallek Copy Share
Experience helped Richard Nixon, but it didn't save him, and it certainly wasn't a blanket endorsement. He blundered terribly in dealing with Vietnam. — Robert Dallek Copy Share
When Gingrich attacked CNN's John King for bringing up his alleged proposal of an open marriage to his second wife, Gingrich accused him of… — Robert Dallek Copy Share
In seeking an empire of liberty, Jefferson wished not only to expand the country's territorial holdings, but also to extend American institutions around the… — Robert Dallek Copy Share
Like Lyndon Johnson, President Obama understands that timidity in a time of troubles is a prescription for failure. — Robert Dallek Copy Share
Despite its flaws, the American electoral system has produced Lincoln, the two Roosevelts, and Harry Truman. — Robert Dallek Copy Share
For those of us who cry out for gun control, our fears cannot be eliminated as long as the country remains an armed camp… — Robert Dallek Copy Share
The Atlantic conference in the North Atlantic off Newfoundland is a dramatic moment in World War II history because for the first time, Roosevelt… — Robert Dallek Copy Share
For style and for creating a mood of optimism and hope - Kennedy on that count is as effective as any president the country… — Robert Dallek Copy Share
As for Vietnam, what matters is that Kennedy successfully resisted pressure to send anything more than military advisers, a stance that was a likely… — Robert Dallek Copy Share
I think experience is a terribly overrated idea when it comes to thinking about who should become president. — Robert Dallek Copy Share
By the time a second term rolls around, the illusions about a president have largely evaporated. — Robert Dallek Copy Share
