The Double Edged Sword

Robert Shogan, a national political correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, has covered politics in Washington for 30 years. In The Double-Edged Sword, he considers how important a person's character is in determining his success as president of the United States. His assessment weighs the personalities and characters of most of the nation's chief executives, from George Washington's temper and self- confidence to Bill Clinton's tendency to shade the truth and avoid a firm stance on anything. For example:

In the case of Jefferson, his character was to remain a riddle that hung over his presidency, as it does over history. If Jefferson deceived others ... it was because his personality led him to deceive himself. This duplicity stemmed from fundamental personal conflicts, between his yearning for privacy and his urge for power and recognition.

Taking advantage of the attention focused by the national media on Bill Clinton's character in the aftermath of revelations about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky, Shogan devotes the chapter "Telling the Truth Slowly" to Clinton, who was, he writes,

limited as president by the taint on his reputation that had accumulated during his years on the national scene. What was missing from his presidency, as a result of a wide range of indiscretions, indulgences, and excesses, was the moral authority that usually accompanies the office.

The Double-Edged Sword begins by asserting that character does matter when it comes to presidents. It concludes by leaving an open-ended question as to how much Clinton's behavior may have permanently diminished the office. --Linda Killian