This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Hoogenboezem, J. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Brinkmanship and Beyond: The Political Leadership of Franklin D. Roosevelt

University of Maastricht, The Netherlands, j.hoogenboezem{at}politics.unimaas.nl

This article compares two legislative initiatives of President F. D. Roosevelt with the aim of finding an explanation for one of the failures of Roosevelt's presidency: his attempt to change the composition of the Supreme Court in 1937. Comparing Roosevelt's strategy and activities during the Court-packing crisis and drafting and processing the Lend-Lease act it can be concluded that the differences are not structural but gradual. In both cases he pushed the political system to the limits in about the same way, but in the Court-packing case this brinkmanship fails. Roosevelt misinterprets signals and misses good opportunities to come out of it a winner because of specific, and particular circumstances further explored in the article.

Key Words: American politics • brinkmanship • hubris • leadership • narcissmus • Roosevelt

Leadership, Vol. 3, No. 2, 131-148 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1742715007076211


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?