Celebrity-In-Chief

Publishers Weekly

Modern American politics is slavishly dependent upon image, argues Schroeder, professor at Northeastern University's School of Journalism, and no branch more so than the executive. It's a state of affairs ripe for intermingling with the image-driven worlds of Hollywood and popular culture, he says. Schroeder exhaustively details his point, from descriptions of the awkward and stumbling early 20th-century attempts at cooperation between the political and entertainment worlds (he cites Woodrow Wilson and FDR for being particularly ill at ease with their celebrity associates), to what he casts as the equally stumbling and awkward early 21st-century efforts at cooperation characterized by the second Bush presidency (for Schroeder, George W. Bush displays discomfort before the camera). In between are a multitude of accounts of celebrities campaign stumping for politicians and politicians' wooing starlets, accompanied by insightful analyses of the ways in which Schroeder sees Hollywood and Washington both benefiting and courting disrepute with their "made for each other" dance of image and message. While veering at times into the tangential and picayune, Schroeder collects the most telling anecdotes from a century's worth of cultural cross-pollination. If Nixon had had a book like this one to consult before his disastrous televised debate with JFK in 1960, history might have taken a different shape. Photos. Agent, Maria Massie. (Mar.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Television producer Schroeder (journalism, Northeastern Univ.; Presidential Debates: 40 Years of High-Risk TV) captures the dilemmas that Presidents have faced during the Media Age when they have been tempted to expand the informal reach of their office via the power of Hollywood. Of course, Ronald Reagan's ride to the White House symbolizes the theatrical potential of the office that most Presidents have attempted to exploit both before and after with varying degrees of success. Even George W. Bush's recent Top Gun tailhook landing on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln demonstrates how handlers exploit the Celebrity-in-Chief role. Schroeder gathers many other anecdotes showing the chief executive acquiring and using "star power." Those immersed in the television series The West Wing and similar fantasies may find this readable work useful in separating fact from fiction. Recommended for all libraries.-William D. Pederson, Louisiana State Univ., Shreveport Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

An Emmy-winning producer clearly demonstrates, in case you didn't know, that politicians and performers share identical genetic codes. Showbiz has increasingly been allied with politics, notes Schroeder (Journalism/ Northeastern Univ.). Franklin Roosevelt clearly enjoyed birthday tributes from Groucho Marx and Ginger Rogers, though he also favored Myrna Loy and Donald Duck. Later, JFK was famously partial to Marilyn Monroe, Gene Tierney, and (with brother-in-law Lawford's aid) backlots-full of ingenues. Presley paid his bizarre visit to Nixon. Politicos took note of the Gipper, Murphy Brown, Wayne Newton, and Ozzy Osborne-sometimes understandably unsure which were fictional. Frank Sinatra, sometime pal to several presidents, seems to have played the White House as often as Vegas, especially during the Reagan administration. Comics, rappers, actors, instrumentalists, dancers, and generic show people have all done their thing for the chief executive in what are generally considered stressful gigs. Frequently, performers like John Wayne on the right hand or Eartha Kitt on the left ventured to advise the president. Sometimes their advice was even sought. Robert Montgomery supervised Eisenhower's TV appearances. Producers Bill and Linda Thomason were longtime Friends of Bill. Consider Ambassador John Gavin, posted to Mexico perhaps because he was so handsome. It's a symbiotic arrangement, like it or not. Ike was wary, and LBJ didn't even like Bob Hope. The venue at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is now run by "perhaps the least culturally attuned chief executive in modern history"-but don't discount a Top Gun aircraft carrier performance for presidential showmanship. More likely to read the trades,certainly, were Clinton, JFK, and Reagan, who played the role of his lifetime as president. Schroeder seems to have checked all the White House logs as well as the appropriate tabloids for his lively report. No serious political science here, but these tales of the aristocracy of politics and showbiz joined at the hip offer enjoyable entertainment and star-studded pop culture. Agent: Maria Massie/Witherspoon Associates