Description:
What true statecraft consists of, and how to know a statesman when we see one
In the modern world we yearn for great leaders but resist them when they come along. In this much-needed essay, Steven B. Smith tells us that a statesman is something far different from a demagogue or a technocrat; he or she incorporates many qualities of leadership--persuasiveness, courage, foresight, judgment--to take people where they need to go while hardly seeming to lead them at all. A true statesman is focused not on amassing power but on finding the best way to use power toward responsible ends. Above all else, Smith argues, the statesman is an educator who, through language and argument, helps shape a people's civic understanding. This book is a timely reminder of a set of qualities we desperately need in our political leaders but have forgotten how to talk about.
Review Quotes: "An elegant essay, full of insight, on a subject that has been unduly neglected."--Sir Vernon Bogdanor, professor of government, King's College London
"A fascinating and inspired lesson on the highest form of political wisdom and civic excellence. At a time when democracy is assailed from within and imperiled by a vacillating international order, On Statesmanship explores the genuine language and the timeless attributes of a lost art--not from a purely antiquarian perspective, but as a benchmark for understanding our present predicament."--Ran Halévi, author of Le chaos de la démocratie américaine (The chaos of American democracy) "It takes one of the world's most lucid political theorists to begin to solve the problem of statesmanship now. Steven B. Smith shows that today's crisis of leadership in liberal democracies may not be a lack of talent or ambition--but instead a dearth of deep civic education and public spirit."--Jeffrey K. Tulis, author of The Rhetorical Presidency