The Power and the Story: How the Crafted Presidential Narrative Has Determined Political Success from George Washington to George W. Bush

by Evan Cornog

Theorizes that a president's successful election, administration, and legacy is largely due to effective image building, describing how presidents throughout history have written their own stories to maximize acceptance, in a social study that also examines the American public's susceptibility to storytelling. 30,000 first printing.

320 pages, Hardcover

First published June 25, 2004

About the author

Evan Cornog served as an associate dean at the Columbia University School of Journalism for more than a decade and handled a variety of responsibilities during his tenure there. He led fundraising efforts, coordinated the development of a new curriculum, directed the school's new Master of Arts program in Journalism and served as publisher of the Columbia Journalism Review. Dr Cornog is also the author of several books on politics and the press - expertise he honed as press secretary to New York City Mayor Edward I. Koch and as a freelance writer and editor whose stories have appeared in publications such as The New Yorker, the Los Angeles Times, Slate and the Boston Globe. He also served as director of external relations at Bennington College in Vermont and as special assistant to the President of the New School in Manhattan. Dr. Cornog earned his bachelor's degree in history and literature from Harvard University, and his master's and doctorate degrees in history from Columbia.

Reviews

[Russ Jarvis]

I picked this up because of the words "Presidential narrative." As an armchair historian I enjoyed the survey of presidents. As a chaplain whose work consists of listening to people's stories (how they are making meaning out of the events of their lives). The last two chapters attended to the larger stories that have driven our society and explored how the original meaning of a person's life/service will change as future values shift. As a Christian (a believer in the Christ story) who is concerned about his nation's confused sense of identity, I appreciated the book's last line: "The future of the nation, and the world, depends upon the abilities of American citizens to choose the right stories."

[Marilyn]

Cornog says that the presidential candidate with the best story wins - it's not really about the issues. I've felt that in my heart for a long time because showing someone that she is wrong about her candidate's facts doesn't change her support for that candidate.

Cornog explains that as the world, and campaigns, get more complex, we need a story to simplify it all. "He raises questions about whly Americans are so eager to see our leaders in easily comprehensible narratives and how we are misled by the neatness imposed by those story lines."

[Sam Schulman]

It's an excellent book by a very good friend who has just gotten a very big high-profile job.