If presidents show anger in public, they risk looking out of control, which in moments of crisis is the exact opposite of what people want.
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When there is anger, it’s not often constructive anger. Perhaps the most well-known angry president moment was when Bill Clinton denied having “sexual relations” with Monica Lewinsky. Yes, that anger was targeted at a specific problem. But it was not exactly helpful. Clinton had other moments. The New York Times’ John Harwood reminds me that Clinton chewed out Brit Hume, then of ABC News, when he asked about a “certain zigzag quality in the decision-making process” of his nomination to the Supreme Court of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who had just made a speech. “How you could ask a question like that after the statement she just made is beyond me,” he said.
George W. Bush had moments of real resolve—his speech with a bullhorn at Ground Zero—and he had moments of dime-store resolve—when he said “bring ’em on” and that he wanted Osama Bin Laden “dead or alive.” But the only glimpse we got of his anger was when he told us about it. Do you remember the issue that caused it? In March 2002 Bush said he’d gotten “plenty hot” when he learned that the INS had approved a visa for one of the 9/11 bombers after a seven-month delay.
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