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The President as Anti-Hero

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Acting Presidents

Part of the book series: The Evolving American Presidency Series ((EAP))

Abstract

In his 1960 book about American political drama, Casper Nannes concluded that despite exposing some flaws in the nation’s government, the plays he analyzed “express confidence in the inherent good of our country and of its government. The searching playwright lays bare the imperfections of our political figures, but he also points out the unsung heroes who fight the evil, and who, in the end, win. That is the encouraging conclusion to be drawn from these plays.”1 What Nannes could not realize was that he was witnessing the end of an era. Sunrise at Campobello, which he praised as “a memorable play about one of our country’s greatest presidents,”2 had recently completed its run and would not be followed by any comparable successors.

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Notes

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Authors
  1. Bruce E. Altschuler
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© 2010 Bruce E. Altschuler

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Altschuler, B.E. (2010). The President as Anti-Hero. In: Acting Presidents. The Evolving American Presidency Series. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230115316_3

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