When you look at the development of the American presidency, you see that the presidents who have had the greatest impact are… — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
Every year, I have my graduate students read the great works of history, from classical times to the present. They gamely tackle… — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
In the academic world, biographies of these great figures of the past fell out of favor in the 1960s, when there was… — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
Interest in the Founders has risen and fallen over time, as has admiration for them and their accomplishments. — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
I've been writing American history for a long time, and I've had a hard time finding strong, interesting female characters. There are… — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
Everything that happens today is like something in the past, but it's also unlike things in the past. We never know until… — H. W. Brands Copy Share Image
In modern times, the American military has become more bureaucratised. — 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
