Richard Cohen Quotes
If every senator looks into the mirror and sees a future president, then every president looks into that same mirror and sees himself on Mount Rushmore.
Cohen, Richard. "Obama's Mount Rushmore complex." The Washington Post, 26 May 2014.
He was absolutely right. Actually Lincoln has surpassed Washington. Most historians regard Lincoln as the greatest of the American Presidents.
Obama was a President who believed deeply in the concepts of checks and balances and separation of powers. He did not punish members of Congress who opposed him by closing federal installations in their state of district, not giving government contracts to companies in his district and in the case of member of his own party who were “recalcitrant” supporting opponent in primary elections and failing to support in general elections. Presidents Nixon and Johnson used these techniques particularly effectively. As a result they pushed their legislative programs through Congress very effectively. All other modern Presidents have done this to one degree or another, but Obama did not. He believed that pressure on member of Congress should be limited to persuasion and public debate moving public opinion. Many seasoned politicians and political observers however thought that this was Obama’s biggest weakness as a President. Lyndon Johnson did not have to actually punish many member of Congress, as his willingness to do so was well known and thus few opposed him when he called or met with them and “gave them the treatment.” But Congress knew that Obama had taken punishment and retaliation off the table, and many opposed him including member of his own party.
TR worked very hard for his press coverage. He literally met with the press every day—often several times. Daily, his barber had to cut and shave with the President talking to the reporters and answering questions. The only time he stopped talking was when the barber was shaving his chin or upper lip.
Richard Martin Cohen is an American writer best known for his syndicated column in The Washington Post, which he wrote from 1976 to 2019.
