How to be president

摘要

With the possible exception of Ronald Reagan, there is no more revered figure in American politics than Abraham Lincoln. In announcing his first campaign for the presidency, Barack Obama did everything but don a stovepipe hat to evoke the Great Emancipator. The comparisons came easily enough, as the gangly lawyer from Illinois with little political experience declared his intention to unite the country and overcome "the smallness of our politics". But the better angels of our nature, those stubborn brutes, do not always respond to eloquent speeches.