Book Reviews : Presidential Greatness. The Image and the Man from George Washington to the Present. By THOMAS A. BAILEY. (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1966. Pp. xi, 368. $3.95.)

• Author: Roy V. Peel
• Published date: 01 September 1968
• Date: 01 September 1968
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/106591296802100313
• Subject Matter: Articles

515

BOOK

REVIEWS

Presidential

Greatness.

The

Image

and

the

Man

from

George

Washington

to

the

Present.

By

THOMAS

A.

BAILEY.

(New

York:

Appleton-Century-Crofts,

1966.

Pp. xi, 368.

$3.95.)

Earlier,

at

the

same

time,

and

later,

literally

hundreds

of

books

(and

probably

thousands

of

articles)

have

been

written

on

the

same

topic

to

which

Thomas

A.

Bailey

addresses

himself.

I

am

persuaded

that

this

is

the

definitive

volume

on

&dquo;presi-

dential

greatness.&dquo;

I

feel

offended

that

the

author

did

not

mention

Merriam’s

pioneer

study

on

Four

American

Party

Leaders,

which

reflected

the

interest

the

eminent

Chicago

political

scientist

took

in

the

matter

of

leadership

in

the

1920’s.

As

a

consequence

of

Merriam’s

concern

for

leadership

and

&dquo;greatness&dquo;

- which

is

the

historical

response

to

the

leader

-

scores

of

studies

were

made

of

political

personalities

by

Merriam’s

students

-

too

numerous

to

mention

here.

The

author

suggests

that

what

started

him

on

his

quest

for

the

characteristics

of

greatness

were

the

two

polls

conducted

by

Arthur

M.

Schlesinger,

Sr.,

published

in

1948

and

1962.

Omitting

the

fact

that

Presidents

Truman

and

Eisenhower

were

included

only

in

the

second,

the

ratings

of

the

experts

showed

remarkable

unanimity.

In

the

second

poll,

Andrew

Jackson

was

placed

in

the

&dquo;Near

Great&dquo;

category

after

he

had

been

honored

as

a

&dquo;Great&dquo;

president

in

the

first.

The

rest

of

the

categories,

&dquo;Average,&dquo;

&dquo;Below

Average&dquo;

and

&dquo;Failure,&dquo;

contain

the

same

names

although

the

order

is

changed

somewhat.

Bailey

could

not

help

noting

a

bias

here,

based,

he

believes,

on

the

fact

that

&dquo;an

overwhelming

majority

of

those

who

teach

American

history

in

our

colleges

and

universities

are

Democrats.&dquo;

He

also

calls

the

business

of

naming

the

greatest

a

game;

and

the

task of

evaluation

&dquo;comparing

the

incomparable.&dquo;

Nevertheless,

the

author

has

produced

a

work

indispensable

for

all

social

scientists,

whether

their

attitudes

are

impartial

and

their

favorite

procedures

tradi-

tional

or

behavioralistic.

When

the

time

comes

to

consider

seriously

any

revision

of

our

selective

mechanism

used

in

filling

our

higher

elective

offices,

and

of

replac-

ing

those

who

have

become

disabled

or

disqualified,

the

framers

of

the

new

legisla-

tion

had

better

consult

this

book

and

the

works

referred

to

therein.

Bailey’s

work

should

also

be

of

great

utility

to

those

who

are

dedicated

to

the

ambition

of

setting

higher

standards

for

all

public

personnel:

executive,

administrative,

legislative

and

judicial.

San

Fernando

Valley

State

College

ROY

V.

PEEL

Woodrow

Wilson:

The

Academic

Years.

By

HENRY

WILKINSON

BRAGDON.

(Cam-

bridge:

Belknap

Press

of

Harvard

University

Press,

1967.

Pp.

xiii,

519.)

This

engrossing

study

of

President

Woodrow

Wilson’s

pre-political

career

is

scholarly

and

well

researched,

and

it

reveals

many

useful

insights

into

Wilson’s

later

career

as

Governor

of

New

Jersey

and

President

of

the

United

States.

The

author,

an

emeritus

instructor

in

history

at

Phillips

Exeter

Acadamy,

was

a

Harvard

lecturer

in

1966-67.