Richard Elliott Neustadt (1919–2003) was an American historian and political scientist specializing in the United States presidency. He also worked as a consultant to several presidents, federal agencies, and legislative panels in the 1960s.
Born in New York City, Neustadt attended the University of California-Berkeley and Harvard and earned his doctorate from Harvard in 1951. He served as the White House’s Special Assistant 1950–53 under President Harry S. Truman. He then became a public administration professor at Cornell 1953–54 and then taught government at Columbia University 1954–64. He transferred to Harvard in 1965 and remained there until his death. He was a “founding father” of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
Neustadt was an adviser to Presidents Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson. He wrote many books on the presidency, including the influential Presidential Power (1960,) later revised as Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents (1990.)
Neustadt also authored Alliance Politics (1970,) Thinking in Time (1986; with Ernest R. May,) Report to JFK (1999,) and Preparing to Be President (2000.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Richard Neustadt
Drastic action can be costly, but it can be less expensive than continuing inaction.
—Richard Neustadt
Topics: Action
Wondering Whom to Read Next?
Henry Adams American Historian
Henry Steele Commager American Historian
Carol Dweck American Psychologist
Lionel Trilling American Critic
Doris Kearns Goodwin American Historian
James Harvey Robinson American Historian
Samuel Eliot Morison American Historian
Daniel Patrick Moynihan American Academic, Politician
Richard Hofstadter American Historian
Mark Van Doren American Poet, Critic