4 Quotes by Gene Healy

Americans expect the president to right the wrongs that plague us—and we blame him when he fails. Because we invest impossible expectations in the presidency, the presidency has become an impossible job. And once the honeymoon period inevitably fades, the modern president becomes a lightning rod for discontent, often catching blame for phenomena beyond the control of any one person, however powerful

Can any American child grow up to be president? Probably not, however fond we might be of the idea. Perhaps a better question is: what well-adjusted tyke would want the job?

The tendency to support enhanced executive power when one’s friends hold the executive branch—a syndrome aptly dubbed ‘‘Situational Constitutionalism’’— is a recurring theme of this book.

There was a revealing moment in the first presidential debate in September 2008, moderator Jim Lehrer asked the candidates, ‘‘Are you willing to acknowledge, both of this financial crisis is going to affect the way you rule the country as president of theStates?’’Neither McCain nor Obama objected to Lehrer’s phrasing. Both, it seemed,perfectly comfortable with the idea that it’s the president’s job to ‘‘rule the country.