Blackwell Reference Online

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In her book, No Ordinary Time, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II (1994) , Doris Kearns Goodwin reflects that Franklin D. Roosevelt's “ebullience permeated every aspect of his leadership” (607). Few scholars interested in presidential leadership – and these include biographers, historians, political scientists, and public administrators – fail to mention the personal magnetism at the heart of Roosevelt's political style and most agree that this style served him well throughout his 12 years as the nation's chief executive. In this sense, authors generally portray Roosevelt as a leader who relied overwhelmingly on personal charisma to administer the executive branch and achieve political aims, in contrast, for instance, to his technocratic predecessor, Herbert Hoover. Even so, Roosevelt scholars also argue that because his political style was intensely personal, it was messy. Consequently, when it came to dealing with the bureaucracy, they frequently depict him as a disorganized and inefficient leader. Whether this inefficiency was the result of a deliberate strategy or merely an outgrowth of his innate personality traits is a matter of some debate, as is whether Roosevelt's management style was effective. Author Thomas Greer (2000) , for instance, whose study first appeared in 1958, contends that “most observers seem to agree that [Roosevelt] was least ... log in or subscribe to read full text