The Unpersuaded Summary

In the article “The Unpersuaded”, Ezra Klein argues that the power of persuasion is the key in succeeding as the President of the United States. However, presidential addresses and speeches do not always help the administration achieve its goals. Various presidents, such as Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Bill Clinton, invested in their presidential rhetoric by attempting to directly communicate and connect with the American people. However, a President’s power of persuasion is strong only within his own party. When a president intervenes on an issue that is already split along party lines, the divide becomes even sharper. Klein suggests that this occurs because party members let their opinions of the President influence their evaluation of issues, and a party member will not support the President if his or her reelection depends on his or her not supporting it. Klein then argues that one option is to exert private leadership, …show more content…
However, the level of a president’s ineffectiveness does not lie in the president not being able to persuade, but rather in Congress’ stubbornness. Klein’s argument can be expanded to an even broader branch of government. Members of the Legislative Branch should have the ability to persuade other members of their branch. Klein argued that members of the Republican Party feel that if the President, who is the leader of the Democratic Party, wins, then the Republican Party loses. Instead of immediately shutting out the President and the Democratic Party, members of the Republican Party should use their rhetoric to get their way. In mid-2014, the Republican-dominated House approved a resolution that authorized former Speaker of the House John Boehner to sue President Barack Obama over claims that he abused his powers at the expense of Congress and the Constitution in a vote of 225 to