ABSTRACT
The question of presidential character has loomed large in the public eye since 1972, because of political events like the Eagleton debacle and later the Watergate affair. The Presidential Character is significant not only because it culminates in conscious prescription, but also because the prescription is rhetorical rather than institutional. Implicitly, James David Barber's theory is also a pedagogy for presidents themselves, because presidents will try to appear to be what their electorate expects. To the extent that Barber's vocabulary enters the realm of politics itself, politicians may come to believe that success depends primarily upon appearing to have the right character. Barber is quite explicit in offering his teaching as a guide to the citizenry's selection of future presidents. Implicitly, Barber's theory is also a pedagogy for presidents themselves, because presidents will try to appear to be what their electorate expects.
