Celebrity-in-Chief: How Show Business Took Over The White House (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "ON JANUARY 30, 1940, the golden age of Hollywood slipped into perfect alignment with the golden age of Franklin Delano Roosevelt..." (more)
Key Phrases: celebrity campaigners, show business community, inaugural gala, White House, New York, Bill Clinton (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From 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.
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Product Description

Tells the colorful story of how the two most visible branches of American celebrity--the presidency and Hollywood--came together in a marriage of pop culture and politics.

U.S. presidents and Hollywood have had a mutual admiration society that extends far back into history. In Celebrity-in-Chief, journalist Alan Schroeder contends that each camp has influenced the other--particularly over the past century--creating a president who no longer stands apart upon a remote civic pedestal, isolated from Hollywood and pop culture. Instead, the powerful forces of the American celebrity circus drag him into the tent and ask him to put on a show. The job of president has always been politically demanding, but now there is another requirement: to exude star quality. In the parlance of Hollywood, he must "fill the frame." Drawing upon a wealth of fascinating anecdotes about some of the most celebrated individuals in American history, Schroeder shows how a succession of presidents since Woodrow Wilson has put on a show with mixed results. Whether is was Bill Clinton apologizing to the nation for an adulterous affair or George W. Bush boasting of faithfulness to his wife, Celebrity-in-Chief entertainingly and convincingly shows that the result is a wholesale demystification of the office--and that this marriage of pop culture and the presidency will continue to fascinate and endure.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (February 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081334137X
• ISBN-13: 978-0813341378
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,069,725 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Washington and Hollywood: Locked In A Mutual Embrace, February 29, 2004

By	W. C HALL (Newport, OR USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

For more than a century, presidents of the United States and Hollywood have been involved in a complicated, interdependent relationship. Sometimes the two have embraced each other with mutual affection (Franklin Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton) and sometimes the relationship has been more arms-length (Dwight Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter, the two George Bushes), but, as Alan Schroeder makes clear in this book, the two have developed a mutual dependence on each other.

Anyone who has followed politics and popular culture in recent decades will recall many of the incidents chronicled between these pages, but there is also much that hasn't been well-known previously. Did you know, for instance, that the relationship between Hollywood and the White House extends as far back as Woodrow Wilson's administration? Or than Dwight Eisenhower was the first president to make regular use of a media consultant (actor Robert Montgomery)? Marilyn Monroe singing "Happy Birthday" to JFK or Nixon meeting Elvis may provide the most enduring images in our collective memories; but as Schroeder makes clear, the reality of these relationships is often more subtle and complex. Presidents look toward Hollywood for a luster they might otherwise lack; stars are drawn toward the White House in hopes of gaining a degree of substance and credibility they can't claim on their own.

Today, some Americans still decry the relationship between politics and show business. While Schroeder offers no definitive conclusions, his work helps us to see that the two will always be interdependent; perhaps we should be instead asking how to make the partnership more beneficial to the public good and insure that there's substance behind the glitter.--William C. Hall

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The performers in theWhite House., July 12, 2004

By	Betty Burks "Betty Burks" (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews

Our recent presidents have been celebrities in different ways, some in music, acting, scholars, military geniuses, former governors of states in these U. S. A.

Mainly this book, compiled by Alan Schroeder (has quite a lengthy index of sources he used), relates the influence of show business on politics from the top on down. Harry Truman played piano passably and had a talented daughter, Margaret; he is shown performing with Jack Benny on the violin.

Richard Nixon also played the piano and even performed on the Grand Ole Opry stage in Nashville, TN He invited Elvis Presley to the White House. Bill Clinton played the saxophone somewhat and was the butt of jokes on several t.v. shows. He promoted Barbra Streisand because she was a favorite of his dear Mother's. He also invited United Artists' producer Mike Medavoy to the White House and allowed him to sit in the chair there in the Oval Office and he and his wife spent the night there.

Ronald Reagan should have the title of "celebrity" pres. but I think the title really goes to John F. Kennedy. He went all out to seduce movie stars with the assistance of his brother-in-law, actor Peter Lawford. He had an association with Frank Sinatra at the same time Sinatra was sharing a mistress with a Mafia leader. Politics are indeed strange bedfellows.

Dwight Eisenhower welcomed Robert Montgomery and the pianist, Liberace, to the White House as he did his favorite (and mine) singer, Eddie Fisher, who sang 'Count Your Blessings.' Eddie also sang with a group of other male celebrities, 'Together' to JFK, as did his favorite, Marilyn Monroe.

Gerald Ford, the non-President, only one to not be voted in by the populace, favored comedians off t.v. shows and John Wayne who narrated a fabulous collaboration to America and her people. He also like Carol Channing for some reason.

Jimmy Carter, the scholar and chaste one, is shown with John Travolta who went on many years later to play a Presidential candidate in the movies.

The moviedom out in California have always had a say in politics of this great nation. Hearst who built that marvelous mansion along Route 1 for his movie star, Marion Davises, owned the newspapers which could make or break a candidate.

These are interesting ancedotes naming some big names. The photos are good. My favorite was of the thirty-two Hollywood stars who posed with Eleanor Roosevelt in 1940. Have things changed? Is L.A. still a dominant influence on the nation's politics and our leaders who must represent all states, not just one.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Falls Short- but interesting at times, June 21, 2006

By	Jeffrey Demers - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Alan Schroeder has written a compelling book highlighting the intermingling, balancing, and out right using that celebrities and presidents engage in with each other. The work is neatly divided into twelve chapters. The first five chapters are especially relevant for examining the relationship between presidents and pop culture. They are respectively entitled: Gilt by Association: How Entertainers are Good for Presidents, Attack of the Cat Woman: How Entertainers are Bad for the Presidents, Hope Springs Eternal: How Presidents are Good for Entertainers, Glad to Be Unhappy: How Presidents are Bad for Entertainers and Running Time, Entertainers on the Campaign Trail. Combined, these chapters represent the main achievement of the book by surveying the relationships between actors ,singers and presidents across time. At the end of the introduction, Schroeder aptly characterizes the depth and scope of America's infatuation with greatness: "Americans recognize only two branches of royalty: presidents and entertainers. Celebrity-in-Chief examines what happens when these aristocrats join forces."

Gilt by Association highlights numerous successful pairings of celebrities and presidents. In one telling example, actor Chuck Connors from The Rifleman was able to make a strong connection with Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev. President Nixon had invited Connors and numerous other stars to Casa Pacifica to meet the Soviet leaders. Connors even presented a cowboy hat and a pair of matching Colt .45 revolvers to Brezhnev. Later in the day, Brezhnev returned the favor with a big bear hug and an invitation for Connors to film in Russia. Schroeder summarizes the meaning of the encounter: "Nixon seemed pleased by having engineered the Connors-Brezhnev shotgun diplomacy, and why not? Another celebrity had come through for the president, making a human connection that Nixon could not make himself." (22-23) Nixon with virtually unlimited access to the stars opposite influence seeking stars that come to help the president, are common themes throughout the work.

However, not all celebrities are good for politicians. As Schroeder points out, we only need to harken back to LBJ's Cat Woman problem or Bill Clinton's so called "Lincoln Bedroom scandal." Further, Schroeder relates story after story about individual celebrities and presidents. Whether it was a pathetic Elvis Presley requesting a drug enforcement badge, or Sammy Davis Jr. shunned by Kennedy, or an angry Frank Sinatra smashing his helicopter pad upon learning President Kennedy was visiting Bing Crosby instead of him, the celebrities are there and so are the presidents, for better or for worse.

Schroeder argues that Presidents are celebrities in their own right. They have crossed the line into the realm of the highly recognizable personage, replete with power. Similar to the infatuation of the masses with movie stars, the public is in complete awe of a sitting president. They are the ultimate entertainer, the ultimate power and the most visible person in the world. Actors, and other celebrities, want to associate with this power, as do presidents with entertainers, as power meets power to further all ends.

This book certainly highlights many telling, interesting and funny anecdotes of presidents and entertainers. However, this doesn't mean the work successfully argues a point of view. What was clear, is that the author views both parties as celebrities seeking fame, relevance and the trappings of greater power and influence. What is not clear from this work is how celebrities can influence public policy or presidents to take a certain path. Certainly, it is interesting reading to hear about the President Kennedy's linkages with various paramours, but that in of itself does not prove anything other than Kennedy was a philander who had access to the stars. Did it hurt his ability to pursue his agenda? Did these trysts influence his policy making? Granted, these questions may be outside of the scope of this work but they are relevant if this book is going contribute anything more to the historical record than a bunch of old People magazines can.