Celebrity in Chief

by Kenneth T. Walsh

With the advent of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as presidential nominees, the examination of the role of celebrity culture in the White House takes on a fresh appeal. This book, by award-winning White House correspondent and presidential historian Kenneth T. Walsh, takes a detailed and comprehensive look at the history of America's presidents as "celebrities in chief" since the beginning of the Republic. Walsh makes the point that modern presidents need to be celebrities and build on their fame in order to propel their agendas and rally public support for themselves as national leaders so that they can get things done.

Combining incisive historical analysis with a journalist's eye for detail, this book looks back to such presidents as George Washington and Abraham Lincoln as the forerunners of contemporary celebrity presidents. It examines modern presidents including Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy, Franklin Roosevelt, and Theodore Roosevelt, each of whom qualified as a celebrity in his own time and place. The book also looks at presidents who fell short in their star appeal, such as George W. Bush, George H. W. Bush, Richard Nixon, and Lyndon Johnson, and explains why their star power was lacking.

Among the special features of the book are detailed profiles of the presidents and how they measured up or failed as celebrities; an historical analysis of America's popular culture and how presidents have played a part in it, from sports and television to movies and the news media; the role of first ladies; and a portfolio of fascinating photos illustrating the intersection of the presidency with popular culture. An update looking at Hillary and "the Donald" puts contemporary politics in perspective with the evolution of presidential celebrity.

282 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2015

Reviews

[Sattik Deb · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book reads like a poorly edited textbook. It is horrifically disorganized, which factors into its repetitiveness. There are entire pages, passages, sections, anecdotes, and even quotes that get multiple mention. So if you find yourself asking, "Where have I read this before?" the answer is probably five pages ago. The book has some interesting analysis but inconsistently delves into certain things or presidents while glossing over others. The book also becomes suddenly partisan when it inexplicably dedicates an entire chapter to Obama's ineffectiveness as president, with little relation to the thesis of the book. There are anti-Obama commentaries thrown in throughout in a very partisan, purposeful manner that other presidents, including Nixon, and Clinton, are not subjected to, which makes for an uneven tone. This book is essentially two books; one provides a nonpartisan analysis of the celebrity of the first 43 presidents, and the second is a general critique of the Obama administration.

This book draws heavily from a book titled "Celebrity in Chief." Indeed, it draws so heavily from that book that it even co-opted the title.

[Tom Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is pretty well written in semi-journalistic style with a touch of flair but nothing over-the-top to set it apart from other political non-fiction. I was hoping for more of a high-level view of the space that the office of the Presidency has occupied in America's cultural consciousness over the years, but instead we get essentially a list of examples of Presidential celebrity rather than much insight into how it developed. Very early on it argues forcefully and fawningly in praise of Barack Obama's contributions to the spotlight. But the author has plenty of praise to go around; he writes just as reverently of Reagan's various PR wins, for example. There isn't a Left/Right bias necessarily, just an overall "pro-spin" bias. The other presidents get "Trivial Pursuit"-style highlights in summaries of a few pages early on, and there are a handful of those "big picture" insights I expected but they're mostly found in the first few chapters and in quotes from other sources. It's OK as far as research goes, though it's not impartial in the least. Plus, if you're already familiar with Presidential trivia you won't find much new content (FDR used the radio to his advantage, JFK looked good on TV, Nixon came off as untrustworthy, Ford looked like an uncoordinated bumbler, Reagan knew how to play to an audience). And the overall argument seems to run along the lines of "Presidents become celebrities as more people pay attention to what they do and how they act" and "people like Presidents who are likeable" which all seems pretty self-explanatory. Tautological, even. Maybe it's enough of a premise to carry through a Times or Newsweek article, but not a full 200+ pages. Really, the first chapter summarizes the whole of the subsequent work and the chapters that follow repeat the same points while listing more examples. We do get some more advanced analysis of how the rise of television in American culture prompted Presidents to adapt, but it doesn't take too much to connect those dots. Then, starting about halfway through, the chapters switch to focus on one form of media (movies, books, music) and just listing what types and titles each President preferred. The connection to celebrity status feels completely lost from about Chapter 11 on, as if the author is just trotting out pieces of trivia. A lot of the book feels like fluff in this regard, like the conclusions are already drawn and the narrative is already established--we're just re-treading some familiar ground. Some of the later chapters even repeat earlier anecdotes wholesale! Like, Bill Clinton's saxophone performance on the Arsenio Hall Show is covered in three separate chapters with no new details introduced each time. In the end I did learn some, just not what I was hoping to learn. Guess it's my fault for not reading the book description more closely.

3 stars out of 5. Adequate for armchair political analysts and those who haven't yet read about the Presidents and their respective images. It's not a bad book, but it's nothing special.

[Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this book has not withstood the test of time. References to the idea that Bill Clinton detracted from the dignity of the presidency by playing his saxophone on the Arsenio Hall Show or by answering a question about what type of underwear he wore seem quaint, given what's now going on in Washington, DC. I was curious about the book because of the chapter about first ladies, but this turned out to consist mostly of well known information, such as what causes modern first ladies have championed. This type of information is readily available online, including on the White House website. And does anyone need to read this book to learn that Nancy Reagan was not as popular as Jacqueline Kennedy? I gave this book two stars instead of one because it includes some interesting facts.

[V. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Repetitive and disorganized. The writing is mechanical, and often downright bad. Many of the anecdotes are amusing, but typically not after the first time they are repeated verbatim. The author presents himself as a media 'insider' but appears to have literally nothing interesting to say apart from "I covered such and such administration. Neat, eh?".

Saved from one star by at least not being a partisan screed, and for informing me that the song "Muskrat Love" was once played at a state dinner.