Presidents have to decide what their popularity is for. Lyndon Johnson probably understood best that political popularity is a wasting asset. You had to use it when you had it. — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
A lot of people were ambivalent about Vietnam. Lyndon Johnson in 1964 positioned himself as the peace candidate. Once Johnson sent large amounts of troops into battle in 1965, most Americans were behind the war. — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
I certainly don't think that the heirs of the American Revolution were a particularly noble class. — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
The Republican Party has moved substantially to the right of where Reagan was. — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
Reagan gave essentially the same speech from the beginning to the end of his political career, which was always, 'The American people are great,… — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
In the business arena, the standard rules of morality don't apply. What we're really looking for is efficiency. It doesn't do anyone any good… — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
There is a certain kind of sobering, civilizing effect that being president imposes on people. There is a certain kind of dignity with which… — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
The Founders were anything but demigods to themselves and their contemporaries, who recognized full well that the experiment in self-government had only begun. — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
The president was not the most important political player in the 19th century. Besides Jefferson at the beginning, Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln, the… — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
The shelf life of a seventh-year State of the Union address is about five minutes. Presidents can propose stuff. They're probably not likely to… — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
When you look at the development of the American presidency, you see that the presidents who have had the greatest impact are the ones… — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
