Forsaking transformational leadership: Roscoe Conkling, the great Senator from New York

This essay explores the opportunities for transformational leadership within legislative bodies, particularly the U.S. Senate. Burns asserted that legislative leaders would rarely exercise transformational leadership. He appears to be correct. Even in those rare instances when a House Speaker (Joe Cannon or Newt Gingrich) appears to have a transforming affect, the leadership proves short-lived. Roscoe Conkling, the fiery tempered Senator from New York, possessed many of the individual traits or skills necessary to achieve transformational leadership. That he fell short of achieving this transformative potential is attributable to a combination of contextual and personal factors. This essay examines Conkling's failure to achieve transforming leadership and the institutional impediments to transformational leadership in an attempt to explain why transformative, legislative leaders are rare.