To intervene effectively in any conflict abroad a President must persuade the public that the United States has a national security interest there.

If the President cannot persuade Congress to pass a $16 billion jobs bill, can he sell a health-care proposal costing two or three times that?

It is a capital offense in Iraq to insult the President, espouse Zionism, leave the ruling Baath Party or persuade someone else to do so.

A President can persuade corporate America to arm cities and towns with new technology at no cost to taxpayers.

It may be that an articulate President can persuade the public to support a tough posture by overlaying anti-Iranian sentiment with strategic sense.

The President has also, appropriately, suspended economic aid and persuaded most Western allies to do the same.

The common assumption is that he would, so long as the President personally persuades him he is needed.

Even though Republicans achieved big cuts in total spending, the President persuaded them to pump $5 billion into a few high-profile programs popular with voters.

In 1919, Uruguay's President persuaded the government to adopt a law in which authority would be shared equally among several leaders.

Instead, the President persuaded her to give him four more years.