Review of Walsh, Kenneth T. "Prisoners of the White House: The Isolation of America’s Presidents and the Crisis of Leadership"
Document Type
Book Review
Publisher
Paradigm Publishers
Publication Source
Polymath: An Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences Journal
Abstract
The primary question that Kenneth T. Walsh addresses in this accessible book is how modern presidents can “break free from the White House ‘bubble’of isolation” and “stay in touch” with the American people. His description of the challenges involved in escaping from, in Bill Clinton’s words, the “crown jewel of the federal penitentiary system,” offers an intriguing lens through which to examine and assess presidential leadership. Unfortunately, Walsh’s argument that “the presidents who did the best job of staying in touch had the most successful presidencies” and prescription that “the main goal should be for presidents to try as hard as they can to remain connected to the lives of Americans outside Washington, DC, using all the means at their disposal”(p. x), feel unimaginative in comparison to the provocatively ominous nature of his diagnosis.
Comments
Published by Paradigm Publishers in Polymath: An Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences Journal, volume 3 issue 4, 2013.