Political Leadership (POL 103b) Brandeis University Fall Last revised: August 8, Course Description and Objectives

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1 Political Leadership (POL 103b) Brandeis University Fall 2016 Last revised: August 8, 2016 Professor: Martin Levin Office location: Golding 121 Office hours: Mondays & Wednesdays 12:00 1:30 or by appointment Class location: TBA Class time: Mondays & Wednesdays 5:00 6:20 Course Description and Objectives This course examines political leadership as seen through works of biography, fiction and drama. These sources are analyzed to help understand and compare different modes of political leadership, including the "apolitical rationalist" (McGeorge Bundy); "political" (Lincoln, Johnson, Truman); the ostensibly "non political expert" (Robert Moses); and using Shakespeare's Henry V to compare a heroic (Oliver) and interactive (Branagh) leadership. In reviewing the course's concepts and empirical material, these approaches and concepts are analyzed comparatively through the empirical process of asking how well do they explain the wide variety of concrete cases. We also examine such broad philosophical questions such as how well the goals of the public interest, legitimacy, and democracy are served by these differing leadership approaches. Success in this four credit course is based on the expectation that students will spend a minimum of 9 hours of study time per week in preparation for class (readings, papers, discussion sections, preparation for exams, etc). Learning Goals In my view, teaching is an exchange of energy between the instructor and the class. I will also try to convey to the class my passions about American politics and policy, including critiques as well as positive assessments. We will try to develop a broad vision of political leadership in the US. But we will not be examine it through generalizations. Rather we focus on specific leaders (eg. Lincoln, Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Reagan and others); as well as frequent references to recent ones like Obama, the Bushes and Bill Clinton and specific concrete case studies for each leader.

2 2 Course Materials The books listed below are available at the Brandeis bookstore and on Amazon. Vidal, Lincoln McCullough, Truman Neustadt, Presidential Power and The Modern Presidents Landy & Milkis, Presidential Greatness Shakespeare, Henry V Academic Integrity You are expected to be honest in all of your academic work. Please consult Brandeis University Rights and Responsibilities for all policies and procedures related to academic integrity. Students may be required to submit work to TurnItIn.com software to verify originality. Allegations of alleged academic dishonesty will be forwarded to the Director of Academic Integrity. Sanctions for academic dishonesty can include e failing grades and/or suspension from the university. Citation and research assistance can be found at LTS Library guides. Disabilities Acommodation If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see me immediately. I: Introduction Week 1 (August 29 & 31) Course Plan An introductory overview of different concepts of political leadership: The political cultural approach; the psycho historical approach; the strategic approach. These concepts and approaches will be analyzed comparatively through the empirical process of applying them to concrete cases. Ellis and Wildavsky, Dilemmas of Presidential Leadership, Chapters 1, Landy and Milkis, Presidential Greatness, Chapter 1. Landy and Levin, "The Hedgehog and the Fox", Brandeis Review II: Lincoln Week 2 3 (September 7, 12 & 14)* There is no class Monday, September 5 for Labor Day.

3 3 We examine Lincoln as a principled political opportunist and a political hedgehog with his single minded pursuit (even Machiavellian) of saving the union through political coalition building. We also analyze his writing of fine political philosophy through Gary Wills' outstanding book on the Gettysburg address (The Second American Revolution), and by analyzing his other writing, including his 1838 speech to the Springfield Lyceum. Then we apply Wildavsky s lens of political cultures to help explain Lincoln s behavior. Vidal, Lincoln III: Truman Weeks 4 6 (9/19 & 9/21, 9/26, 9/28, 10/5)* There is no class Monday, October 3 for Rosh Hashanah. The case of another political hedgehog: Truman s single minded pursuing of containment in the Cold War creation of the Marshall Plan and aid to Berlin, Greece, and Turkey. We draw comparisons with Carter ("a "fox") and Reagan (a "hedgehog") and Clinton (a "fox" and sometime hedgehog ). Like Lincoln, Truman is another self taught "backwoodsman" and also a great student of Shakespeare and history. He is also another "accidental" president and we will compare both Truman and Lincoln with other accidental American presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson. We also analyze how he became a champion though a reluctant one of civil rights and the creation of the state of Israel. Then we apply Neustadt s lens of presidential power and Wildavsky s cultures to help evaluate and explain Truman s behavior. MIDTERM EXAM The Midterm Exam is a 7 10 page take home essay. The prompt will be distributed on Wednesday, October 12 in class and due via on Sunday, October 16 by 5pm. McCollough, Truman, Chapters 4 6, Levin, "A Politics of Institutions" in Davis, The Post Imperial Presidency Neustadt, Presidential Power, Chapters 1 7. Landy and Levin, "The Hedgehog and the Fox", Brandeis Review IV: Order without Leadership: Politics of The Bible Week 7 (10/10 & 10/19)** There is no class on Wednesday, October 12 for Yom Kippur. There is no class on Monday, October 17 for Sukkot. A comparison of how the Bible deals with our central societal political problem how to maintain order in society, especially among diverse peoples. On the other hand, how political thinkers like Hobbes ( The Leviathan) have dealt with it. Our empirical context will be the US, from 1781 (The Articles of Confederation) to Lincoln s Civil War and Truman s Democratic party splitting into three parts. The Bible solved the problem of order through monotheism (one

4 4 God for the diverse twelve tribes of Israel) and proscriptions such as dietary laws. In this course, we examine how the problem of order in the US is dealt with through the leadership of political institutions the President, Congress and our political parties. Friedman, Richard, Who Wrote the Bible? Chapters 1, 3 and 5. Douglas, Mary, The Abominations of Leviticus V: Lyndon Johnson Week 8 (October 25)* There is no class on Monday, October 24 for Shmini Atzeret. Here we again examine another accidental president and compare Johnson with Theodore Roosevelt and others. Johnson is also another "backwoodsman." But, as J.D. Barber and David Halberstam argue, Johnson is much less confident and positive about his humble background and his accidental ascendancy than was Lincoln. This brings him to triumph on race (perhaps a second emancipator with the civil rights laws) and to tragedy in Vietnam. We also refer to a biographical novel, by Brammer a former staff aid to Johnson which gives us rare insight into political leadership, to examine the issue of race. This is the most enduring divisive and perhaps most significant issue in American politics since the founding of the republic. We analyze it for Johnson and for other leaders in this course such as Truman and Lincoln. Dallek, LBJ and the Problem of Character VI: Comparing Presidential Greatness Weeks 9 10 (October 31, November 2, 7 & 9) We compare most of the twentieth century presidents and several from the ninetieth (Jefferson, Jackson and Lincoln) in terms of the fascinating criteria laid down by Landy and Milkis, who have a deep interest in institutions in general and political parties in particular. We contrast their evaluative criteria with that of Neustadt and of Landy and Levin in The Hedgehog and the Fox". Landy and Milkis, Presidential Greatness, Chapsters 4 5, 7 8. Neustadt, Presidential Power (review) Landy and Levin, "The Hedgehog and the Fox", Brandeis Review (review) VII: Henry V Weeks (November 14, 16, 21 & 23) *

5 5 Thanksgiving Break November Like Harry Truman and Hamlet, Henry is another accidental leader: He must take on burdens of leadership before he is fully prepared. We first view him as the young Prince Hal in Shakespeare's Henry IV, Parts I and II. We see him as an extreme even selfish and irresponsible individualist. Then as he becomes a young king, he evolves as a leader from being an individualist to a hierarch. Later, as he moves into a new leadership context the exigencies of military leadership he balances the needs of being a hierarch with these military needs of also being an egalitarian. Finally, we compare two styles of leadership by viewing two cinematic interpretations of Shakespeare's Henry V Oliver's heroic, Churchillian film and Brannagh's interactive view of leadership in his film of the same play. Shakespeare, Henry V VIII: Looking Forward and Nack: Obamama in Historical Perspective Week (November 28, 30, December 5 &7) As Keller suggests faced the "The Unbearable Heaviness of Governing" the tensions between rhetoric and governing, between ideas and action. We compare Obama to both other recent presidents such as Clinton, Reagan, and Bush II and to his own rhetorical icons such as Lincoln, King and Ghandi. We explore the tension between his rhetorical goals and his great achievements such as health care reform and the stimulus policy and his significant political and policy shortcomings. Keller, The Unbearable Heaviness of Governing: Obama in Historical Perspective, Intro, Chapters 1, 3 5. FINAL EXAM The Final Exam is a page take home essay. The prompt will be distributed via Monday, December 12 and due via Monday, December 19 by 5pm. Evaluation This course will be interactive and taught in a seminar style to encourage active student participation. As a way of facilitating this interactive style, there will be a class dinner with voluntary attendance in the first two or three weeks classes. Attendance is mandatory, and participation accounts for 10% of your final grade. Students are expected to complete all assigned readings and think critically about them in preparation for class discussions.

6 6 The midterm and the final are take home essays. Late papers will receive a penalty of 3 points per day (including weekend days). If you need an extention for any reason, please reach out to me and we can discuss your situation on a case by case basis. Class Participation 10% Midterm 25% Final 65% Communications Most class communications will be done via Latte to your Brandeis address. Any changes to the syllabus, exam dates and class cancellation will be done through so it is critical to check for class correspondences often. I m usually on campus six days a week so that I will be quite available. Moreover, you can call me directly on my cell phone anytime 24/ and you can also use my cell to make an appoint if my office hours are not convinient to you.