Eyewitness to Power or Liberal Fascism

Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership, Nixon to Clinton

Author: David Gergen

From Nixon to Clinton, Watergate to Whitewater, few Americans have observed the ups and downs of presidential leadership more closely over the past thirty years than David Gergen. A White House adviser to four presidents, both Republican and Democrat, he offers a vivid, behind-the-scenes account of their struggles to exercise power and draws from them key lessons for leaders of the future.

Gergen begins Eyewitness to Power with his reminiscence of being the thirty-year-old chief of the White House speechwriting team under Richard Nixon, a young man at the center of the Watergate storm. He analyzes what made Nixon strong—and then brought him crashing down:

• Why Nixon was the best global strategist among recent presidents. How others may gain his strategic sense. Gergen recounts how President Ford recruited him to help shore up his White House as special counsel. Here Gergen considers:
  • Why Ford is one of our most underrated presidents.
  • Why his pardon of Nixon was right on the merits but was so mishandled that it cost him his presidency. Even in his brief tenure, Ford offers lessons of leadership for others, as Gergen explains.
  Though Gergen had worked in two campaigns against him, Ronald Reagan called him back to the White House again, where he served as the Gipper's first director of communications. Here he describes:
  • How Reagan succeeded where others have failed. Why his temperament was more important than his intelligence. How he mastered relations with Congress and the press.
  • The secrets of "the Great Communicator" and why his speeches were the most effective since those of John Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt.
  In 1993, Bill Clinton surprised Gergen—and the political world—when he recruited the veteran of Republican White Houses to join him as counselor after his early stumbles. Gergen reveals:
  • Why Clinton could have been one of our best presidents but fell short. How the Bill-and-Hillary seesaw rocked the White House. How failures to understand the past brought Ken Starr to the door.
  • Why the new ways in which leadership was developed by the Clinton White House hold out hope, and what dangers they threaten.
  As the twenty-first century opens, Gergen argues, a new golden age may be dawning in America, but its realization will depend heavily upon the success of a new generation at the top. Drawing upon all his many experiences in the White House, he offers seven key lessons for leaders of the future. What they must have, he says, are: inner mastery; a central, compelling purpose rooted in moral values; a capacity to persuade; skills in working within the system; a fast start; a strong, effective team; and a passion that inspires others to keep the flame alive.

  Eyewitness to Power is a down-to-earth, authoritative guide to leadership in the tradition of Richard Neustadt's Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents.

  Book Magazine

  As a bipartisan adviser to four presidents, magazine editor, political analyst, lecturer and author, Gergen has remained in the government-media relations spotlight for some time. His book is not so much about the author's inside-the-beltway tenure as it is a series of lessons on leadership, both good and bad. As the new century opens, Gergen argues, a new age may be dawning in America, one that must be realized by the next president. Drawing upon his observations while serving in the White House, he lays out seven key points for the new chief executive to follow. Unfortunately, from "A Capacity to Persuade" to "Leadership Starts From Within," Gergen's points wind up sounding like good old-fashioned political common sense rather than advice to the leader of the twenty-first century.
  —Rob Stout

  Publishers Weekly

  Few observers are as qualified to comment on the merits of presidential leadership as is Gergen, having served as a speechwriter and adviser to fourchief executives. In these finely etched tales of his time with Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton, Gergen not only explains what made these men tick but also draws broader lessons on what makes for presidential greatness. It begins, he says, with strength of character; then a president must have a clear and compelling vision of what he wants to accomplish, and must be able to communicate this vision to the American people. Organizationally, he must be able to work with other centers of political power, particularly Congress; be decisive in his early actions in office; and have around him strong and prudent advisors. Finally, he must inspire. This is a lot to ask of any leader, and Gergen admits that none of those for whom he worked quite had it all, though in his estimation Reagan came closest. Both Nixon and Clinton were men of brilliance, he says, yet harbored deeply flawed characters; Ford was honest and capable but never quite defined his goals. Reagan, for all his considerable virtues--courage, conviction, vision--too often allowed his inattention to detail and hands-off management style to derail his intentions. While some may debate Gergen's assessments, his own eye for detail and knack for narrative are to be admired. He brings to life the everyday world of the presidency and provides telling portraits of these fallible yet fascinating leaders. (Sept.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

  Library Journal

  Prominent national journalist Gergen is a familiar face on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and ABC's Nightline, among other outlets. He has moved in and out of government for more than 30 years, and here he offers his insights into the leadership qualities of the Presidents he served and those he witnessed, beginning with Richard Nixon and ending with Bill Clinton. As one might expect, Jimmy Carter does not fare well, though he is respected, while Ronald Reagan and Clinton do. Gergen first worked in the Nixon administration, but his loyalty does not prevent him from perceiving and describing the dark side of that regime. The author worked for Clinton for a time, and his observation is that the man had no mechanism for sorting out the input that was hitting his highly intelligent and capable mind. Still, he was a genius at inspiring his followers and persuading others that he cared deeply for them. Gergen found Gerald Ford to be an effective and honorable man, defeated by the events into which he was forced to play. The best leader chooses skilled operators whose strengths and conflicts bolster one another and give the President multiple perspectives from which to view the issues of the day. Stylishly written, this book would have been better if Gergen had not taken on the task of reading it himself; his enervating pacing and nearly lifeless intonation prove once again that it is not always wise. Recommended for modern political history collections. Don Wismer, Cary Memorial Lib., Wayne, ME Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

  Kirkus Reviews

  Historic insider's insights into presidential qualities.

  
  
  

  Table of Contents:

  	Preface	11
  	Richard Nixon	17
  1	The Stuff of Shakespeare	19
  2	The Bright Side	33
  3	Why He Fell	65
  	Gerald Ford	105
  4	A Man of Character	107
  	Ronald Reagan	149
  5	The Natural	151
  6	A Rooseveltian Style	194
  7	Secrets of the Great Communicator	210
  	Bill Clinton	249
  8	Dreams and Disappointments	251
  9	Riding the Roller Coaster	272
  10	Assessing His Leadership	313
  	Conclusion: Seven Lessons of Leadership	343
  	Notes	353
  	Acknowledgments	367
  	Index	369

  Look this: The Opposable Mind or The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid

  Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning

  Author: Jonah Goldberg

  “Fascists,” “Brownshirts,” “jackbooted stormtroopers”—such are the insults typically hurled at conservatives by their liberal opponents. Calling someone a fascist is the fastest way to shut them up, defining their views as beyond the political pale. But who are the real fascists in our midst?
  
  Liberal Fascism offers a startling new perspective on the theories and practices that define fascist politics. Replacing conveniently manufactured myths with surprising and enlightening research, Jonah Goldberg reminds us that the original fascists were really on the left, and that liberals from Woodrow Wilson to FDR to Hillary Clinton have advocated policies and principles remarkably similar to those of Hitler's National Socialism and Mussolini's Fascism.
  
  Contrary to what most people think, the Nazis were ardent socialists (hence the term “National socialism”). They believed in free health care and guaranteed jobs. They confiscated inherited wealth and spent vast sums on public education. They purged the church from public policy, promoted a new form of pagan spirituality, and inserted the authority of the state into every nook and cranny of daily life. The Nazis declared war on smoking, supported abortion, euthanasia, and gun control. They loathed the free market, provided generous pensions for the elderly, and maintained a strict racial quota system in their universities—where campus speech codes were all the rage. The Nazis led the world in organic farming and alternative medicine. Hitler was a strict vegetarian, and Himmler was an animal rights activist.
  
  Do these striking parallels mean thattoday’s liberals are genocidal maniacs, intent on conquering the world and imposing a new racial order? Not at all. Yet it is hard to deny that modern progressivism and classical fascism shared the same intellectual roots. We often forget, for example, that Mussolini and Hitler had many admirers in the United States. W.E.B. Du Bois was inspired by Hitler's Germany, and Irving Berlin praised Mussolini in song. Many fascist tenets were espoused by American progressives like John Dewey and Woodrow Wilson, and FDR incorporated fascist policies in the New Deal.
  
  Fascism was an international movement that appeared in different forms in different countries, depending on the vagaries of national culture and temperament. In Germany, fascism appeared as genocidal racist nationalism. In America, it took a “friendlier,” more liberal form. The modern heirs of this “friendly fascist” tradition include the New York Times, the Democratic Party, the Ivy League professoriate, and the liberals of Hollywood. The quintessential Liberal Fascist isn't an SS storm trooper; it is a female grade school teacher with an education degree from Brown or Swarthmore.
  
  These assertions may sound strange to modern ears, but that is because we have forgotten what fascism is. In this angry, funny, smart, contentious book, Jonah Goldberg turns our preconceptions inside out and shows us the true meaning of Liberal Fascism.

  The New York Times - David Oshinsky

  …the title of his book aside, what distinguishes Goldberg from the Sean Hannitys and Michael Savages is a witty intelligence that deals in ideas as well as insults—no mean feat in the nasty world of the culture wars.

  Publishers Weekly

  In this provocative and well-researched book, Goldberg probes modern liberalism's spooky origins in early 20th-century fascist politics. With chapter titles such as "Adolf Hitler: Man of the Left" and "Brave New Village: Hillary Clinton and the Meaning of Liberal Fascism"-Goldberg argues that fascism "has always" been "a phenomenon of the left." This is Goldberg's first book, and he wisely curbs his wry National Reviewstyle. Goldberg's study of the conceptual overlap between fascism and ideas emanating from the environmental movement, Hollywood, the Democratic Party and what he calls other left-wing organs is shocking and hilarious. He lays low such lights of liberal history as Margaret Sanger, apparently a radical eugenicist, and JFK, whose cult of personality, according to Goldberg, reeks of fascist political theater. Much of this will be music to conservatives' ears, but other readers may be stopped cold by the parallels Goldberg draws between Nazi Germany and the New Deal. The book's tone suffers as it oscillates between revisionist historical analyses and the application of fascist themes to American popular culture; nonetheless, the controversial arc Goldberg draws from Mussolini to The Matrixis well-researched, seriously argued-and funny. (Jan. 8)Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

  Kirkus Reviews

  Fascism isn't a right-wing phenomenon at all, argues National Review editor-at-large Goldberg in this lively polemic. Contemporary liberals are the true heirs of Hitler and Mussolini, he says. To prove his point, the author looks back to the early-20th-century rise of two radical international movements: communism and fascism. Both promised the destruction of a corrupt elite and rule by no-nonsense patriots who knew what the people wanted and would usher in utopia. Both were considered efficient, modern successors to moribund 19th-century parliamentary democracy. The American Left's pre-World War II admiration of communism is old news, but most readers will blink to learn of the gushing adulation Mussolini received from Americans across the political spectrum. Goldberg contends that the principles espoused by fascist leaders were similar to those of American progressivism. Liberals remember progressives as do-gooders who cleaned up the food supply and improved working conditions, which they did-but so did fascists. Like them, American progressives were racists and imperialists, stridently patriotic and anti-foreign. The world's first fascist regime, Goldberg maintains, was led by America's greatest progressive, Woodrow Wilson. His administration jailed thousands of dissenters, censored mail and newspapers and sent an army of semi-official badge-wearing goons to disrupt meetings and assault anyone who opposed America's participation in World War I. FDR and LBJ also practiced a gentle form of fascism, Goldberg insists, and 21st-century fascism is represented by-was there ever any doubt?-Hillary Clinton. Conservatives cannot be fascists, says the author, because they espouse a small federalgovernment that avoids meddling in citizens' lives and businesses. Goldberg admits, however, that conservative presidents from Reagan to Bush have happily used federal power to promote their own meddling agendas, realizing that voters would not tolerate a major shrinkage of the government. A partisan but entertaining historical analysis.