Greenstein’s Six Components of Presidential Leadership

A leading scholar of political psychology, leadership, and presidential decision making, Fred I. Greenstein, in his 2009 book The Presidential Difference, developed a six-point framework for analyzing the political and personal qualities and skills of U.S. presidents, their characters and leadership styles, and their successes and failures in office. He assesses and compares presidents in relation to (1) their proficiency as public communicators, (2) organizational capacity, (3) political skills, (4) policy vision, (5) cognitive style, and (6) emotional intelligence. Drawing out the mix of qualities exhibited by individual presidents, Greenstein shows there is no single presidential personality or uniform set of traits associated in any straightforward way with presidential leadership, effectiveness, or achievement.