Colonial America

WE ARE INDEBTED to Philip Dunne, of all people, for his insight into the nature of our current leadership. A longtime writer and producer and on the side a Hollywood political activist, as the euphemism still has it, Dunne records a synecdochic incident in his recently published memoirs, Take Two: A Life in Movies and Polities. The scene is a plush tinseltown studio, a story conference is in progress, and the atmosphere is charged with— well, what else? Electricity! Darryl Zanuck—the irrepressible, autocratic Zanuck—takes command. Swinging the polo mallet that was his trademark prop, Zanuck cruises the room, talking, reaching, creating. “And now, and now, her love turns to hate,” Zanuck intones. The group of screen-writers absorbs this wisdom silently. Then a lone voice pipes up, “Why, Mr. Zanuck? Why does her love turn to hate?” Zanuck pauses, then leaves the room. A few moments later a flushing toilet can be heard. Then Zanuck strides back into the room, points the mallet at the questioner, and says, “All right, her love doesn’t turn to hate.”

That, my friends, is leadership in the Carter mode.

About the Author

Neal B. Freeman

Neal B. Freeman, businessman and journalist, was a director of National Review Inc. for 38 years.

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WE ARE INDEBTED to Philip Dunne, of all people, for his insight into the nature of our current leadership. A longtime writer and producer and on the side a Hollywood political activist, as the euphemism still has it, Dunne records a synecdochic incident in his recently published memoirs, Take Two: A Life in Movies and Polities. The scene is a plush tinseltown studio, a story conference is in progress, and the atmosphere is charged with— well, what else? Electricity! Darryl Zanuck—the irrepressible, autocratic Zanuck—takes command. Swinging the polo mallet that was his trademark prop, Zanuck cruises the room, talking, reaching, creating. “And now, and now, her love turns to hate,” Zanuck intones. The group of screen-writers absorbs this wisdom silently. Then a lone voice pipes up, “Why, Mr. Zanuck? Why does her love turn to hate?” Zanuck pauses, then leaves the room. A few moments later a flushing toilet can be heard. Then Zanuck strides back into the room, points the mallet at the questioner, and says, “All right, her love doesn’t turn to hate.”

That, my friends, is leadership in the Carter mode.