ABSTRACT
In a society as competitive as our own, it is not surprising that consider-able effort is expended in evaluating performance. We face such evalua-tion throughout our years of schooling. We face it again as we pursue our careers. While these assessments take place on a daily basis as we interact with those around us, more formalized mechanisms will be used periodically to evaluate our on-the-job performance. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that public officials face similar scrutiny. The importance and visibility of the presidency, however, make the evaluation process far more intense and persistent (see Table 10-1 ). Almost from the day the president assumes office, newspapers, magazines, and periodicals carry articles and editorials that seek to assess whether the president is leading well or poorly. Moreover, in addition to assessments by the journalistic and scholarly communities, George Gallup, and the television network pollsters provide the nation with almost monthly reports on what kind of job the American public thinks the president is doing. Should a president choose to seek a second term, his performance will once again be subject to the judgment of the American people. Besides, the evaluation process does not end when his tenure in office is terminated. On the contrary, books and articles then start to appear, which seek to assess his overall performance or some aspect of it. To take just one example, within three years after President John Kennedy’s assassination, some eight books were published on his presidency. Moreover, as both the passage of time and new information have presumably brought a better perspective, a second-and third-generation of books have been published on the assassinated president. These include Henry Fairlie, The Kennedy Promise (1972); Lewis Paper, The Promise and the Performance (1975); Bruce Miroff, Pragmatic Illusions (1976); Joan and Clay Blair, Jr., The Search for JFK (1976); Gary Wills, The Kennedy Imprisonment (1982); Herbert S. Parmet, JFK: The Presidency of John F. Kennedy (1983); Thomas Reeves, A Question of Character (1991); Irving Bernstein,
Promises Kept (1991); Richard Reeves, John Kennedy (1993); and Seymour Hersh, The Dark Side of Camelot (1997). No doubt, books will continue to be written on Kennedy, as well as on other past presidents, because the judgment of history is an ongoing process.
