Hidden-Hand Presidency

Fred Irwin Greenstein (1930-2018) was an American political scientist and professor of politics at Princeton University. He was director of the Research Program in Leadership Studies at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and co-author of the book How Presidents Test Reality: Decisions on Vietnam, 1954 and 1965.

Some books, like some scientific theories, have the capacity to alter people's whole way of looking at the world. Such a book is The Hidden-Hand Presidency. To read it is to discover, among other things, that everything you ever believed about Dwight Eisenhower as president of the United States is wrong. Economist A fascinating exposition of Eisenhower's leadership techniques. Political Science Quarterly An important corrective to standard treatments of Ike as president. Journal of Politics A deliberately circumscribed book, but the sharp focus serves its intellectual intensity. National Review By his painstaking analysis, Greenstein should convince even the most unrelenting critic of Eisenhower's that the man had greater skills as Chief Executive than have been recognized. New Republic