The shelf life of a seventh-year State of the Union address is about five minutes. Presidents can propose stuff. They’re probably not likely to get it done. H. W. Brands Read Quote
If the incumbent or his party has been discredited sufficiently, the challenger can run a successful, content-free campaign. H. W. Brands Read Quote
There is a certain kind of sobering, civilizing effect that being president imposes on people. There is a certain kind of dignity with which you comport yourself. As an observer of the presidency, I have to wonder if Trump would follow that pattern. H. W. Brands Read Quote
Every work of history is a combination of argument and narrative. The longer I write, the more I emphasize the narrative, the story, and the less attention I give to the argument. Arguments come and go. H. W. Brands Read Quote
I’m more inclined to say the presidency has changed Trump rather than Trump changed the presidency. He has moderated or reversed himself on most of the positions he took as a candidate. Reality has set in, as it does with every new president. H. W. Brands Read Quote
By the early 1960s, there was a moral consensus on what needed to be done on civil rights. H. W. Brands Read Quote
Once you become president, you don’t even have to stop for red lights. And if it looks like traffic’s too bad, you just take a helicopter. H. W. Brands Read Quote
Presidents have to decide what their popularity is for. Lyndon Johnson probably understood best that political popularity is a wasting asset. You had to use it when you had it. H. W. Brands Read Quote
