"Chapter 4: Professional Reputation"

in

Richard E. Neustadt

Presidential Power

"A president's persuasiveness with other men in government depends upon something more than his advantages for bargaining. The men he would persuade must be convinced in their own minds that he has skill and will enough to use his advantages. Their judgement of him is a factor in his influence with them".

"The men who share in governing this country are inveterate observers of the President. They have the doing of whatever he wants done. They are the objects of his personal persuasion. They also are the most attentive members of his audience. These doers comprise what in spirit, not geography, might well be termed the "Washington community". This community cuts across the President's constituencies. Members of Congress and of his Administration, governors of states, military commanders in the fied, leading politicians in both parties, representatives of private organizations, newsmen of assorted types and sizes, foreign diplomats (and principals abroad)--all these are "Washingtonians" no matter what their physical location".

"In influencing Washingtonians, the most important law at a President's disposal is the "law" of "anticipated reactions", propounded years ago by Carl J. Friedrich. The men who share in governing do what they think they must. A President's effect on them is heightened or diminished by their thoughts about his probable reaction to their doing. They base their expectations on what they can see of him. And they are watching all the time. Looking at themselves, at him, at the immediate event, and toward the future, they may think that what he might do in theory, he might not dare to do in fact".

"They must anticipate, as best they can, his ability and will to make use of the bargaining advantages he has. Out of what others think of him emerge his opportunities for influence with them. If he would maximize his prospects for effectiveness, he must concern himself with what they think. To formulate his power problem in these terms is to illuminate the job of being President".

"There usually is a dominant tone, a central tendency, in Washington appraisals of a President".

"Reputation, of itself, does not persuade, but it can make persuasion easier, or harder, or impossible".

"A contemporary President may have to settle for a reputation short of the ideal. If so, what then should be his object? It should be to induce as much uncertainty as possible about the consequences of ignoring what he wants".

"To maximize uncertainties in fiture opposition, to minimize the insecurities of possible support, and to avoid the opposite effect in either case--these together for the goal for any mid-century President who seeks a reputation that will serve his personal power".

"Granting the limits, acknowledging the risks, how doe a President exploit his opportunity? How does he make the most he can of his own reputation? The answer returns us to his choices. His general reputation will be shaped by signs of pattern in the things he says and does. These are the words and actions he has chosen, day by day. His choices are the means by which he does what he can to build his reputation as he wants it. Decisions are his building blocks. He has no others in his hands".

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