Perspective

Edward Klein, a prominent journalist who served as foreign editor for Newsweek and that editor in chief of the New York Times Magazine, is the author of "The Amateur" and his political and personal views define the perspective of the book. To put Klein's political views in a broader, historically significant context, we can view him as a late 20th century/early 21st century member of the American center-right. He is a believer in the main values shared by members of the Republican Party, and buys into their standard views about President Obama's character and his policies. The policy views are in some ways more significant, as they arguably drive Klein's inclination to criticize Obama.

The American center-right attempts to integrate three generic socio-political points of view: the first on economic policy, the second on social policy and the third on foreign policy. On economic policy, Klein has...