Mediocrity at the helm: Evaluations of the president in political science textbooks

Abstract

Previous studies on the treatment of the American presidency in political science textbooks have focused on how the institution was presented to college undergraduates. I have analyzed how individual presidents were reviewed in 36 introductory textbooks on the American political system. A tabulation of evaluative references to specific presidents showed that nearly two-thirds (62%) of those comments were negative. Although the texts fail to identify precise criteria by which presidents should be evaluated, they clearly place much more emphasis on a president's personal background and on domestic developments occuring during his administration than on foreign affairs. Modern presidents were generally described as less competent than their predecessors. Of the last ten individuals to serve as chief executive, Franklin D. Roosevelt (67% of the comments made about him were positive) achieved the best rating and Richard Nixon (with only 12%) the worst.