Routledge Amateur Hour: Presidential Character and the Question of Leadership

This book assesses the impact of presidential character on the popularity, productivity, and ethics of contemporary presidents. Through comparative analyses, author Lara Brown demonstrates that the character of a president’s leadership does not change in office and that the success of future presidents can be evaluated before they step into the White House. She traces the rise of “amateur outsiders,” like Donald Trump, and asserts the need for systemic reform and cultural reassessment of presidential character. Intended for students and scholars of the presidency, this book also holds appeal for general readers who seek understanding of past and future presidential elections. Review Praise for Amateur Hour "Character and leadership in today’s changing world! One of the biggest changes in our world recently is the seeming total disconnect between character and leadership. In Amateur Hour: Presidential Character and the Question of Leadership, Lara Brown provides fascinating insights into and profiles of the character of our nation’s presidents from George Washington to Donald Trump. It is a compelling reflection on the events that shaped their characters and how they handled some of the most significant challenges of their era. Of course, our leaders weren’t always people of character. But at least they made a pretense of trying to look like they had character. They didn’t intentionally revel in their bad behavior. Too often today, ‘character’ is replaced by mere force of personality. That’s like replacing beautiful music with just loud noise. This book is a great addition to presidential history." --Donna Brazile, Former Chair of the Democratic National Committee "Brown adopts a 'leadership' approach to the presidency that stresses character, competence, flexibility, and experience. She finds most recent presidents who rise to power attacking corruption in the system--outsiders and amateurs--as both undermining public trust and failing to perform effectively in office. This work is sweeping in scope, bold in presentation, original in approach, and compelling in argument. It is a masterwork that will become an instant classic." --Michael A. Genovese, Loyola Marymount University "Lara Brown has created a new paradigm for predicting presidential leadership, based less on skill sets brought to the office than on the character of the office holder. Using the four themes of optimism, courage, curiosity and character, Brown’s ground-breaking work in Amateur Hour: Presidential Character and the Question of Leadership examines nine presidents, including Donald Trump, to identify how character shaped the decisions they made in office. This is a book that every presidential scholar should include in the classroom and every citizen should read before casting a vote. " -- Shirley Anne Warshaw, Gettysburg College "Lara Brown’s masterful examination of the presidency and the presidents who inhabit the office is a must read for anyone with any interest in the office itself or the office holders. Brown has done a complex and important multi-method study of the office, starting from the original conception of the presidency at the constitutional convention and Washington’s role as the first occupant of the office. The centerpiece of Amateur Hour: Presidential Character and the Question of Leadership is the focus on our understanding―from the time of Washington, through Lincoln, to the contemporary period―of the role that character should play, but often has not, of late, in terms of persons elected to the White House and how they conduct themselves in the office and as a leader. Brown’s analysis interrogates the scholarship around the concept of presidential psychology and leadership, and unpacks the connections between leadership in this complicated elected office and how we have, more recently, elected presidents who are often lacking in experience, and why this is problematic. This is a fascinating book, integrati