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Michael Owende

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“In truth, there will never be enough power in the presidency for an incumbent to make good on a purely constructive leadership project, and it is unlikely that there will ever be another president stretched so thinly by a determination to use great power to do just that. Lyndon Johnson was a full-service president who had at his disposal an alignment of political resources, economic resources, international resources, and military resources unmatched in the annals of presidential history. The problem is that in a full-service presidency, where no interest of political significance is denied a modicum of legitimacy, resources turn fickle; the exercise of power consumes authority. Committed to a wholly affirmative result, Johnson could not rest content to let anyone carry the brunt of change.”

“The appropriate response of an American president to humanitarian crises abroad remains very much in dispute. Abstract principles translate into precise guidelines for action only in untestable, retrospective judgments on past crises. Even the most powerful and persuasive American presidents are hemmed in by public and congressional opinion, bureaucratic pressures, and the views of allied powers. Even well-intentioned decisions may have unintended and perverse results.”