Presidential advisor and historian Richard Neustadt passed away on Friday at the age of 84. Perhaps best known for his influential book Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents: The Politics of Leadership From Roosevelt to Reagan. Orignally pulbished in 1960 as just Presidential Power, the classic work was periodically updated abd was most recently published in 1990 under the above title. Neustadt reached beyond the ivory tower however:
Mr. Neustadt was an adviser to Presidents Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, and wrote many books on the presidency. His scholarship became a staple of research for several decades for students of government and even some elected officials.
“Professor Neustadt spent a lifetime advancing the public understanding of the American presidency,” former President Bill Clinton said in a statement. “I am grateful for the friendship and wise counsel he gave to me.”
Professor Neustadt also played a prominent role in transforming the Graduate School of Public Administration at Harvard into the Kennedy School of Government.
RIP
