Introduction | xi The nature of the American po­liti­cal system assumes that a politician at the national level ­will have enemies—­those who do not support their policy agenda or ­ those who just do not like the president personally. Although the type of presidential enemies, lines of attack, and scandals have differed over the years, all presidents have faced hatred, contempt, po­liti­cal attacks, and bad press coverage. The intensity and extent of the hatred, however, has varied in response to a host of ­ factors. This stems from the fact that for all of the institutional similarities that each president encoun- ters while in office, each administration is also unique in many ways—­the president’s personality (temperament, intellect, governing style, communication strategy), his ­ family (differing roles and public images of the first lady, first ­ children, and other ­ family members), and the po­liti­cal environment in which the president is elected and attempts to govern (electoral co­ali­tion, strength of party control in Congress, the economy, world events, and public support). Even the state of the news media as an industry can affect the tone and content of White House coverage, as the com- petitive nature of news as a consumer-­driven product has, at times, provided sensa- tional and biased coverage (such as during the “yellow journalism” era at the turn of the 20th ­ century and the “clickbait” era of online news sources that has become more prominent during the past de­cade). DEFINING HATRED Vari­ous definitions of hatred exist, though it can be generally defined as an intense dislike or hostility directed at someone or something. Several synonyms exist as well, such as loathing, aversion, animosity, or ill ­will, to name a few. When consid- ering hatred that is directed at presidents, the definition can be a bit more specific as some similarities do exist in what drives the hatred. Nearly all presidents ­ were politicians prior to taking office (with George Washington, Dwight Eisenhower, and Donald Trump as notable exceptions), and nearly all willingly sought the office, knowing what the job entailed (­those vice presidents who succeeded to the presidency might be exceptions, though they still campaigned for the position of vice president Gerald Ford might be the only true exception as he was never elected to ­ either office). Hatred has also existed at dif­f er­ent stages in each president’s life. Some, like The- odore Roo­ se ­ velt and Bill Clinton, entered politics at an early age and thus made enemies early in their po­liti­cal ­career. Roo­ se ­ velt was just 23 when he was elected to his first po­liti­cal office as a member of the New York State Assembly Clinton was 30 when he was first elected attorney general of Arkansas, ­after losing a congres- sional race two years prior. Some had to contend with ­ family baggage, such as John Quincy Adams and George W. Bush, whose ­ fathers, John Adams and George H. W. Bush, served as president before them Benjamin Harrison’s grand­father, William Henry Harrison, preceded him in the Oval Office (though briefly) and John F.
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