The End of Greatness by Aaron David Miller

Author:Aaron David Miller
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2014-08-11T16:00:00+00:00

Nine

Traces of Greatness?

Of the twelve men who held the presidency after Franklin Roosevelt, none could make a claim to undeniable greatness. The alignment of crisis, character, and capacity that might have made that possible has not appeared again. At the same time, the troubles the greats managed to avoid were nearly as important as what they accomplished. Their successors would not be as fortunate in steering clear of scandal and nation-wounding policy failures. Before 1960, only once in American history had there been an effort to impeach a president. Of the nine presidents since, there have been serious discussions and or impeachment proceedings directed against five (Johnson; Nixon; Reagan; Clinton; and Bush 43). That may tell us far more about our fractious politics than it does about the severity of transgressions that warranted these proceedings. And admittedly, my standard is a tough one and produces a very small club of great presidents. Admission has become much more difficult for reasons we have discussed. Even Truman, whom most historians and much of the public have placed near the top, stumbled badly on Korea and left office with one of the lowest approval ratings in history. Nor can Dwight Eisenhower, a much underestimated president whose prudence and experience kept America out of foreign wars, make the greatness cut because he did not achieve any single, incomparable, and enduring achievements in the White House.

And yet, significant challenges, even missteps, in the presidency do not necessarily mean a failed or an unproductive one. With the exception of Richard Nixon, there are no truly failed presidencies during this period. And even in Nixon’s case, his domestic policies, including creating the Environmental Protection Agency, Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, not to mention some notable foreign policy achievements, such as the opening to China, make it imperative that we look at the full context of his presidency, even with Watergate’s long, dark shadow. Still, the founders put the inaugural oath in the Constitution for a reason (the only time “I” and “my” occur in the document). Nixon might have read the Constitution, Harry Truman once quipped, but he did not understand it.

So what do we make of the post-FDR presidency, and what does it say about great presidents? It is, to be sure, an uneven record of remarkable accomplishment: deep failure, and competent, but at times subpar, performance. Is there nothing more we can say about greatness in the presidency during these years, other than to comment and dwell on the fact that it was missing?

I think there is. Three presidents stand out from all the others; each in his own way was the beneficiary of a unique mix of personal circumstances, the times, and his own talent and accomplishments. Their own stumbles, policy failures, and particular circumstances prevent them from getting presidential halos or being candidates for another Mount Rushmore. Two left the presidency early, one in terribly tragic circumstances, the other was a tragic figure too; and a third rode off into the sunset, certainly much as he had hoped.

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