ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the increasing tendency in neoconservative and neoliberal discourse to represent the political struggles of nationalized masculine subjects in personalized terms. It attempts to take stock of the construction of "national-political masculinity" as part of an antistatist, populist project designed to consolidate the ideological grounds on which broad-based consent can be secured for an array of items on the right-wing agenda. Presidential masculinity becomes a problem of personal addiction; it is a bad habit US presidents have felt obliged to take up and at the same time have found quite enjoyable. His roller-coaster political career illustrates that the crafting of national-political masculinity consists in a volatile combination of leadership and populism that is not essentially dependent upon a female villain. The state, with all its political professionals and professional politicians, is the site of deception, emasculation, and lack of responsibility.
