Of the attributes of presidential leadership examined by political scientists and historians, optimism is among the most interesting and least-studied. Do U. S. presidents express themes of optimism more than the population? Is such an expression associated with the person’s life experience and the context w hile serving in office? And does optimism influence the presidential legacy? This study examines memoirs, inaugural addresses, and State of the Uni on messages of the post-World War II U.S. presidents. Analysis of these texts draws upon computer-based natural language processing to iden ti fy sentiments o f optimism, which are compared statistically to a broad sample o f mode rn literature and among the presidents. Analysis reveals that th ese presidents express sentiments of warmth and optimism significantly more than a mass of post-World War II literature.
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