ABSTRACT
We witness presidents talking all of the time, but what effect does this rhetoric have on the public’s policy preferences? All modern presidents spend time attempting to lead public opinion by speaking to groups, giving Saturday radio addresses, holding press conferences, giving speeches from the Oval Office, traveling across the nation to give speeches and more. Given that presidents have an expansive executive office to help shape and control their message, an army of political surrogates to carry out their messages and a cadre of press devoted to their every word, presidents clearly attempt to lead public opinion. Indeed, there is a great deal of pressure on presidents to succeed quickly, and the public has high expectations that presidents will solve domestic and global problems-and quickly. Yet the outdated and inconsistent tools presidents have to accomplish these tasks may not be up to the job.1 Presidents may be “doomed to failure” because public expectations are out of step with the realities of presidential ability.2 Presidents may continually seek to lead public opinion but are hampered by a political system that restricts their ability to lead. The tension between these factors (expectations of leadership but a lessened ability to lead) is at the crux of modern presidential leadership.
