As sometimes happens with men who wish to fight but do not or cannot, Reagan developed a romantic image of the military.

For him (JFK) as he imagined of the British aristocracy, policies were less important than character traits such as dignity, courage, and honor. They did not pose as angry young men, but brought an almost...

In preaching conservative doctrine, Goldwater’s jeremiads seemed to be preaching the end of the old world, while Reagan’s pep talks seemed to trumpet the beginning of a new one.

Reagan’s failure to become a truly great movie star has been ascribed to project menace, sexuality, or even moral ambiguity.

(John F.) Kennedy was an elitist and not a populist. He was enthralled by a certain British aristocratic view of politics in which an enlightened ruling class makes reasoned, rational decisions that are in the...

Kennedy echoed Stanley Baldwin that a democracy is always two years behind a dictator.

One biographer said Kennedy lived along the line where charm became power.

The great actors always play themselves.

They (Reagan and Kennedy) had some combination of cheerfulness and vulnerability that made them seem like boys on adventure who had become lost in needed a small kindness to get them back on the right...