David Gergen - Eyewitness To Power: The Essence of Leadership Nixon to Clinton

Praise for Eyewitness to Power

Long an astute observer of American presidents, David Gergen in Eyewitness to Power provides a trenchant analysis of presidential leadership.

John Morton Blum, professor emeritus of history, Yale University

David Gergen [is] one smart fellow. Hes a Washington legend and the author of a new book and its a great book lots of good stories, lots of candy for us political junkies in there.

Chris Matthews, Hardball with Chris Matthews

Eyewitness to Power is filled with warnings about the mistakes and pitfalls that seem to be repeated by every president. Perhaps the biggest mistake for an incoming president would be to ignore what Gergen has seen and learned.

Michael Kranish, The Boston Globe

The consummate Washington insider Gergen has now written a fascinating book. Terrific.

Geraldo Rivera, Rivera Live

Eyewitness to Power relies on an insiders personal experience to shape larger judgments on the essence of leadership. Gergen provides sympathetic yet weakness-revealing portraits of the presidents he served.

Robert Schmuhl, Chicago Tribune

After reading this book, it is easy to understand why four U.S. presidents turned to David Gergen for advice and assistance.

Robert A. Rankin, The Philadelphia Inquirer

One of the smartest guys in Washington Gergen [has written] an excellent memoir.

Charles E. Cook, Jr., The San Diego Union-Tribune

Intimate without wallowing in tabloid tidbits, Gergens description of his work at the White House offers valuable sidelight on history, plus pointed thoughts on what qualities citizens truly need from their presidents.

Mary Carroll, Booklist

Finely etched tales [Gergens] 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.

Publishers Weekly

To Anne, Christopher, and Katherine for their love

Preface

I T IS JUST POSSIBLE that we are living at the dawn of a new golden age.

Americas two core ideas, freedom and capitalism, are catching fire around the world. Just as sweeping are revolutions in information technology and the life sciences that are still in their infancies. And the United States itself has the potential to achieve enormous good, having gained a preeminence in economic, political, military, scientific, and cultural influence that has not been matched since the days of ancient Rome. Taken together, these forces could lift future generations to the distant, sunny upland envisioned by Woodrow Wilson, where people celebrate with a great shout of joy and triumph.

But progress will be neither sure nor inevitable. Much of it will rest upon the quality of our leaders, starting with Americas president.

It is worth remembering that the twentieth century began in an air of triumphalism, too. Experts looked ahead and saw an unparalleled opportunity for human advancement. But over the next fifty years, a new dark age descended, as men plunged into the bloodiest wars in history and Depression struck. Just after World War I, there were twenty-nine democracies; by the middle of World War II, only twelve. Trade among nations withered and not until the 1970s reached the same levels of intensity as at the beginning of the century.

What went wrong? Bad leadership was a large part of the answer. British historian John Keegan writes that the political history of the twentieth century can be found in the biographies of six men: Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao Tse-tung, Roosevelt, and Churchill. Four were tyrants. Had Roosevelt and Churchill not rallied the Western democracies, civilization might have perished. As it was, we survived by the skin of our teeth.

Everyone who has worked in government, a corporation, a professional group, or a nonprofit knows that leadership matters. Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., points out that in 1931, Winston Churchill was almost killed when he crossed Park Avenue one night in New York City, looked the wrong way, and was knocked down by a car. Fourteen months later, Franklin Roosevelt was almost killed when an assassin in Miami opened fire upon an open car in which he was riding; the man sitting next to him, the mayor of Chicago, was mortally wounded. Would history have been any different if Churchill and Roosevelt had died then? Terribly. As Schlesinger snorts, one can hardly imagine Neville Chamberlain or Lord Halifax giving voice to the British lion or John Nance Garner guiding the allied powers to victory. At a moment of crisis, the quality of a nations leader can be decisive.

Some argue that with the end of the Cold War and the advent of the information age, the American presidency has shriveled in importance. It is true that some of the powers of the office have devolved to others, and, for the most part, that is healthy.

But the presidency remains the center of our democracy. The man who occupies that officeand, one day soon, the womanwill always be the single person who can engage the dreams and mobilize the energies of the country behind large, sustained drives. Generally, we are a people who like to get on with our lives without paying much attention to Washington. But there are times when we have to act together. Dwight Eisenhower liked to think of us as a people who are at our best joining up with a wagon train heading west and working together to get over the mountains. Once in California, people go their own ways. The American president is always the one who will organize the wagon train.

If we are to realize a new golden age, it will be vital that our next presidents exercise a wisdom and will that help us to move steadily forward. They must work to keep the world on a stable, upward course, even as they fight off bouts of isolationism at home and rising resentment of American power overseas. They must manage a dynamic economy with a light hand, even as they seek to ensure that people left behind have more equal opportunities in life. They must be good stewards not only of the United States, but also of earth itself. Increasingly, they must make difficult decisions about technology and science that will transform the way we live.

All of this will require of our presidents that they know how to leadthat they bring to bear the qualities of personal character, idealism, political skill, and organizational strength that give power to their office. Leaders, some believe, are born, not made. It certainly appears that many of the best of the past centuryChurchill, the Roosevelts, Gandhi, Mandela, Golda Meir, Martin Luther King, Jr.had leadership in their bones. But each of them gained enormously by studying and drawing upon the experiences of others. Training and understanding of the past have been indispensable to the preparation of most leaders.

This book is an attempt to help. It is a privilege for any American citizen to serve in the White House. I have been unusually blessed by serving there under four presidents. Three of them were Republicans: Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan. The fourth was a Democrat: Bill Clinton. Along the way, I have also had an opportunity to work for George Bush when he was first seeking the presidency and to work with Jimmy Carter after he left the post.