151 Quotes by Robert Dallek

When I read about the hospitalizations, my eyes widened,

There's no question that these sorts of television images have a big impact on people and in many respects shape reactions to the White House,

These crises are such a heavy burden, and they are so self-inflicted, except for the court vacancies, that if he is not very careful and tries to put across someone who is seen as an ultraconservative, he is going to touch off a conflagration in the Senate.

Reagan restored a sense of hope, a sense of uplift about the presidency. Now it's ironic, because he preached the idea that government was not the solution, government was the problem. And yet, when he left the White House, he had kind of rekindled affection for the presidency.

A crisis is an opportunity for a president to step forward and exert effective leadership, and establish his credentials as a significant occupant of the Oval Office.

as he put it. Still, he added: ''Bush did make a comeback then. But the country was more receptive to his kind of leadership. I can't see how they're going to turn this around.

That's why pragmatism is such a central ingredient of an effective presidency. If you're not pragmatic, not responsive to changing realities, then you don't succeed.

It's a dramatic turnabout. Events have overtaken him.

What makes war interesting for Americans is that we don't fight war on our soil, we don't have direct experience of it, so there's an openness about the meanings we give it.