Episode Detail: The Professional Politician - American President
Martin Van Buren, James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln and Lyndon B. Johnson, four “Professional Politicians,” are profiled in Part 4 (of 10). Van Buren “helped invent party politics,” says narrator Hugh Sidey. Lincoln, perhaps the best President, was also a statesman. But, says historian Richard E. Neustadt, “there's no statemanship without politics.” As for Buchanan (perhaps the worst), he “mistook politcs for statemanship.” And LBJ? “He tried to do too much.” Voices: Mario Cuomo (Van Buren); David Gergen (Buchanan); Sen. Paul Simon (Lincoln).
