Neustadt, Schlesinger, Cronin & Genovese

1. What do T. Cronin & M. Genovese mean by the following statement: “The effective leader understands the
presence of opposites”?
2. Explain the nine paradoxes discussed in your reading.  How do these paradoxes relate to Michael Kamen’s
argument that “Americans are a people of Paradox”?
3. According to Schlesinger, what was Nixon’s fatal error?  How did Nixon’s personal/administrative flaws
contribute to the Watergate scandal?
4. What is the Imperial Presidency?  How did the decline of political parties empower/lead to the expansion of
the Imperial Presidency in the 1940s/50s?
5. How did the Watergate scandal and that of Vietnam change the relationship between Congress and the
President?  Reference page 308 of your book, “Analyzing Visuals,” and theorize about these aforementioned
events and their effect on the Nixon’s Presidency.
6. Richard Neustadt writes:  “I prefer Presidents …more skeptical than trustful, more curious than committed,
more nearly Roosevelts than Reagans.”  What do you prefer?  Why? Compare two Presidents, one skeptical,
one trustful.  Which style is preferable?
7. Explain how a President’s authority and status give him advantage over dealings with Congress.
8. Why does the Presidential nomination process reinforce the concept of “sharing powers?”
9. How did the distinctly different backgrounds make Truman and Eisenhower “shocked” or “resigned” to
actions of Congress?