The Image is Everything Presidency
Subtitle: Dilemmas in American Leadership (Dilemmas in American Politics)
Publisher: Westview Press
Published: March 1, 1999
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 204
ISBN-13: 9780813368924
Subjects: Central government; Development studies; Political structures: democracy; Political Science; Biography / Autobiography; United States; Politics/International Relations; USA; General; Political Freedom & Security - Law Enforcement; Biography & Autobiography-General; Political Science / Law Enforcement; Presidents; Public relations and politics
First sentence: In 1961 historian Daniel Boorstin noted that the public's expectations about American society have become excessive, contradictory, and, ultimately, unrealistic.
Description: The Image-Is-Everything Presidency examines the way American presidents in the media age have shaped their public personas as a means of cultivating and advancing their political and ideological agendas. Images play an important role in the perceived success or failure of our presidents. Since public expectations are most often aimed directly at the White House and its central occupant, it is more important than ever that a president control and present the right image to the Amercan public.

Reality thus becomes secondary and image is everything.