Book Reviews : The Twilight of the Presidency. By GEORGE E. REEDY. (New York and Cleve land: World Publishing Company, 1970. Pp. xvii, 197. $6.95.)
| Date | 01 December 1970 |
| DOI | 10.1177/106591297002300421 |
| Published date | 01 December 1970 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
883
unexplored,
and
the
relationship,
though
interesting,
is
therefore
somewhat
vacu-
ous.
The
same
is
true
of
the
findings
that
ideological
orientation
does
not
seem
closely
related
to
purposive
orientation
(tribune,
ritualist,
etc.)
or
to
representa-
tional
roles
( trustee~
politico,
delegate),
as
well
as
the
intriguing
finding
that
busi-
nessmen
elected
to
the
House
are
more
likely
to
be
tribunes
whereas
lawyers
tend
to
be
ritualists
in
orientation.
(Would
the
election
of
more
businessmen
make
the
House
more
likely
to
discover,
reflect
and
advocate
popular
needs
and
wants?
One
wonders.)
Unless
one
has
information
on
the
specific
aspects
of
the
congressional
job
that
are
seen
by
congressmen
in
the
same
terms
used
by
the
analyst
to
categorize
interview
data,
unless
one
knows
the
conditions
under
which
congressmen
follow
one
set
of
role
inclinations
over
the
other
(the
average
member
holds
2.1
purposive
role
orientations),
and
unless
some
information
is
gathered
on
actual
situations
involving
role
conflict
the
results
of
exploring
role
perceptions
will
continue
to
stop
where
most
of
the
important
and
truly
difficult
questions
begin.
That
such
is
the
case
in
Davidson’s
book
is
due
less
to
the
quality
of
the
author’s
research
than
to
the
conceptual
limitations
inherent
in
the
Wahlke-Eulau
model.
To
explain,
compare,
and
generalize
about
legislative
behavior
it
is
necessary
to
develop
models
that
are
as
useful
for
analytical
purposes
as
role
theory
is
for
description
and
classi-
fication.
Whatever
routes
are
taken
by
those
interested
in
legislative
analysis,
either
in
comparative
terms
or
in
the
further
analysis
of
individual
legislatures,
the
mere
extension
of
the
four-state
study
to
other
bodies
would
seem
to
hold
limited
prom-
ise
for
major
advancements
in
research.
The
Brookings
Institution
and
The
University
of
Wisconsin
JOHN
F.
MANLEY
The
Twilight
of
the
Presidency.
By
GEORGE
E.
REEDY.
(New
York
and
Cleve-
land:
World
Publishing
Company,
1970.
Pp. xvii,
197.
$6.95.)
George
E.
Reedy’s
qualifications
as
author
of
this
thoughtful
study
of
the
Presidency
stem
from
his
service
as
Press
Secretary
and
Special
Assistant
to
Presi-
dent
Lyndon
B.
Johnson,
but
Reedy
draws
on
long
experience
as
a
Washington
correspondent
and
Executive
Director
of
the
Senate
Democratic
Policy
Committee.
Reedy,
now
a
lecturer
and
consultant
on
labor-management
relations,
ocean-
ography
and
public
affairs,
does
not
claim
to
be
a
scholar
but
says
he
hopes
presi-
dential
scholars
will
find
his
work
useful.
Reedy’s
principal
theme
is
that
the
usefulness
of
the
office
of
the
President
is
being
severely
hampered
by
the
fact
that
the
modern
President
has
come
to
be
surrounded
by
an
apparatus
not
unlike
that
of
a
royal
court - an
apparatus
of
hangers-on
and
sycophants
which
prevents
the
President
from
learning
the
truth
about
what
is
happening
in
the
nation.
From
Reedy’s
pessimistic
reading
of
this
situation,
he
concludes
that
the
once-magnificent
institution
of
the
American
Presidency
may
be
entering
its
twilight
as
an
effective
governing
instrument.
Reedy,
who
draws
on
his
own
experience,
suggests
that
no
President
can
ever
get
an
uncolored
view
of
events
in
the
nation
because
of
this
protective
apparatus
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