The lonely presidency

David Riesman

pp. 140-151

in: Freedman (ed), Social change and personality, Berlin, Springer, 1987

Abstract

There may be a few hardy presidents left, of the style of former President Herman B. Wells of Indiana University, for whom the personal side of the presidency is peripheral. They accept his mandate that the president should "always be available," and "always attend as many informal social gatherings as possible," and yet be capable of carrying extraordinary workloads so that they can be available; they also possess the quality Wells thought indispensable: namely, to have the stomach of a goat! That expression should be metaphorical also; they must stomach a great deal of abuse and respond with contagious good humor and wit. In an earlier day, as in the corporate world also, presidents were often ambitious, immersed in their work and in improving themselves. What has changed in our day is the more than incremental increase of pressures on the president, which are apt to absorb virtually all of his or her time and energy, so that the personal side of the presidency has become a side issue. I have known a number of celibate presidents from Catholic religious orders who can throw themselves into the work of the presidency and as well into many extramural civic and educational efforts wholeheartedly, while maintaining their lives in their religious communities and their private devotions as Christians.