ABSTRACT
Political consultants sometimes even convince presidents to adopt a particular policy or even a broad agenda in order to promote a desired personal image. To demonstrate how this has been done, this chapter discusses John Kennedy, an early advocate of image politics, and then examines the personal images of four presidents—Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, and Bill Clinton. In addition to being the first image-is-everything president, Nixon was also the last president (to date) to covet the historical master politician image. As such, his presidency represents a bridge between the politics of the past and the politics of the present, in which television would play a major role. Reagan was in fact an image maker's dream come true, a former actor who became "the ultimate media president". Reagan appointed many former Nixon officials to his own administration. Among the skills they brought with them were their experience at image making and manipulation.
