Leaders and Leadership

In The Promise of American Life, Croly discusses many styles of leadership and comments upon the efficacy of various styles. He exalts Abraham Lincoln as a great leader because he had the intelligence and foresight to see issues objectively, and was able to subvert his personal interests to those of the nation. Croly also laments the fact that while some statesmen have had sound and useful political theories, their lack of leadership skills has prevented their message from being well received by the public. He also discusses how a strong public persona can overshadow the message, and claims that this can result in the acceptance of bad policies. Croly believes that this was the case for Thomas Jefferson. He notes that Jefferson was so well liked by the public that they were blinded to some of the harmful policies and political practices he supported. Croly also...