ALTHOUGH they have become a favorite punching bag for many conservative commentators, intellectuals play an important role in American life. Their impact is felt not only on university campuses and in the pages of academic journals but also inside the White House. In fact, intellectuals are so important to the American presidency that U.S. presidents “ignore the intellectuals at their peril.” This is the thesis of Tevi Troy’s important and absorbing book Intellectuals and the American Presidency: Philosophers, Jesters, or Technicians?