ABSTRACT
Public action follows different laws from private action, is part of a quite different drama altogether. Each holder of the office may draw out of it possibilities not before realized in it. In this sense, the existence of a public dramatic form does not eliminate personality. There are, then, public expectations based on law, custom, and tradition for what the president may or may not do. Perhaps in private life laissez-faire obtains, but in the presidency a person acts of, by, and for the people. As "liturgy" comes from Greek words meaning "worship on the part of the people" and as a priest at the Eucharist is not just good old Joe Murphy but the representative of the people before God. So the man who would be president must learn the part, recognize those possibilities within the official role that suit him, and note well the subtle and unwritten stage directions built up by past performances as public expectations.
