The 48 Laws Of Power

butwould

delight

in

electing.Althoughmany

ofthese

qualifies

camenatu-

rally

to

him,

he

played

them

up--the

hatand

clothes,

thebeard.

(No

presi-

dentbeforehimhadworna

beard.)

Lincolnwasalsothefirst

president

to

use

photographs

to

spread

his

image,

helping

tocreatetheicon ofthe

“homespunpresident.”

Good

drama,however,

needsmorethanan

interestingappearance,

or

a
single

stand-outmoment.Dramatakes

place

overtime—~itisanunfold-

ing

event

Rhythm

and

timing

arecritical.Oneofthemost

important

ele

mentsinthe

rhythm

ofdramais

suspense.

Houdinifor

instance,

could

sometimes

complete

his

escape

actsinseconds——buthedrewthemout

to

minutes,
tomaketheaudiencesweat.

The

key

to

keeping

theaudienceonthe

edge

oftheirseatsis

letting

eventsunfold

slowly,

then

speeding

them

up

atthe

right

moment,

accord-

ingto

a

pattern

and

tempo

that

you

control.Greatrulersfrom

Napoleon

to

Mao

Tseturig

haveusedtheatrical

timing

to

surprise

anddiverttheir

pub

lic.FranklinDelano
Rooseveltunderstoodthe
importance

of

stagingpolio»

calevents
inR

particular

orderand

rhythm.

Atthetimeofhis 1932

presidential

election,

theUnitedStateswasin

themidstofadireeconomiccrisis.Bankswere

failing

atan

alarming

rate.

Shortly

after

winning

the

election,

Rooseveltwentintoatkind

of

retreat.

Hesaid

nothing

about

his

plans

or

hiscabinet

appointments,

Heevenre~

fusedtomeetthe

sittingpresident,

Herbert

Hoover,

todiscussthetransi-

tion.

By

thetimeofRoosevelt’s

inauguration

the

country

wasinastateof

highanxiety.

Inhis

inaugural

address,

Roosevelt

shifted

gears.

He

made

a

powerful

speech,making

it

clear

that

heintended

to

leadthe

country

in

a

completely

new
direction,

sweepingaway

thetimid

gestures

ofhis

predecessors.

From

thenonthe
pace

ofhis

speeches

and

public

decisions——cabinet

appoint-

ments,
bold

legislatiori—~unfolded

atan

incrediblyrapid

rate.The

period

afterthe
inauguration

becameknownasthe

“Hundred

Days,”

anditssuc-

cess
in

altering

the

country’s

mood

partly

stemmedfromRoosevelfsclever

pacing

anduseofdramaticcontrast.Heheldhisaudiencein

suspense,

thenhitthemwithaseriesofbold

gestures

thatseemedallthemoremo-

mentousbecause

they

camefrom

nowhere.

Youmust

learntoorchestrate

eventsinasimilar
manner,

never

revealing

all

your

cardsat

once,

butun-

folding

themina

way

that

heightens

theirdramaticeffect.

Besides

covering

amultitudeof

sins,

good

dramacanalsoconfuseand

deceive
your
enemy.
During

WorldWar

II,

theGerman

playwright

Bertolt

Brechtworkedin

Hollywood

asascreenwriter.After

the

warhewas

called

before
the
HouseCommitteeonUn-AmericanActivitiesforhis

supposed

Communist

sympathies.

Otherwriterswhohad beencalled to

testify

planned

tohumiliatethecommitteememberswithan

angry

emotional

stand.Brechtwaswiser:Hewould

play

thecommitteelikea

violin,

charmv

ing

themwhile

fooling

themaswell.He

carefully

rehearsedhis

responses,

and

broughtalong

some

props,notably

a

cigar

onwhichhe

puffedaway,

knowing

theheadofthecommitteehked

cigars.

Andindeedhe

proceeded

LAW 25 197