The President and the Press: Phases in the Relationship

Abstract

This article approaches the relationship of the president to the press first by discussing the key importance of the president's ability to develop public support for his policies. This is his primary reliance since he has few con stitutional powers for influencing policy and his role as party leader is not much help. Because the president's relationship with the public is so important, his dependence on the press to maintain that link is very great. The nation gains news about the president and what he is doing and forms opinions of him and his policies, through the news media. A president's relations with the press, though based on interdependence, rarely involve cordial cooperation. Rather, they tend to go through phases or "seasons" re lated closely to the more readily measured phases through which general presidential popularity passes during an ad ministration. Using data gathered by the Gallup Poll on public approval of how the president is doing his job, the pattern can be studied. It usually involves high initial ratings and subsequent declines. The rate of decline de pends partly on whether a president was elected or suc ceeded as vice-president. How wisely he uses this key asset in efforts to influence policy and how skillfully he deals with the media "middlemen" will determine much of his presidency's success.