Are leaders born or made? Does the man make the times or do the times make the man? Goodwin offers an illuminating exploration into the early development, growth, and exercise of leadership. She draws upon four of the presidents she has studied most closely-- Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson-- to show how they first recognized leadership qualities within themselves, and were recognized by others as...

Explores the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower through the lens of his last three days in office in January 1961, revealing him to be a model of strong yet principled leadership.

"How Donald Trump has reshaped the norms of the American presidency"--

Presents a dual examination of Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower to analyze their similarities and differences, covering their roles in the high politics of their time and their respective experiences during and between the world wars.

Take a humbling journey through America's proud history with this engaging and informative look at the nation's most epic presidential blunders. Failures of the Presidents recounts twenty of the worst bad calls to come out of the executive office, ranging from the nation's birth to the start of the twenty-first century. Author Thomas Craughwell begins with George Washington, who tried to pay for the Revolutionary War with a tax on whiskey-a choice...

Imagine a country in which strikes by public-sector unions occupied the public square; where foreign policy wandered aimlessly as America disentangled itself from wars abroad and a potential civil war on its southern border; where racial and ethnic groups jostled for political influence; where a war on illicit substances led to violence in its cities; where technology was dramatically changing how mankind communicated and moved about-and where the...

"Abraham Lincoln. Theodore Roosevelt. Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Lyndon B. Johnson. They grew up and lived in very different worlds--Lincoln was poor and uneducated, his frontier cabin home deep in the harsh wilderness; Theodore Roosevelt hailed from an elegant home in the heart of New York City and traveled the world with his family; Franklin Roosevelt loved the outdoors surrounding his family's rural estate where he was the center of attention;...

The American president has come to be the most powerful figure in the world--and in the nineteenth century, a great man held that office. Lincoln scholar Miller's new book closely examines that great man in that hugely important office, analyzing the commander in chief who coped with the profound moral dilemmas of America's bloodiest war. In this sequel to Lincoln's Virtues Miller completes his "ethical biography," showing the inexperienced backcountry...

"When Eisenhower left office more than twenty years ago, he was generally regarded as the very model of an ineffective president, a benign but politically indecisive leader who reigned but did not rule. Only now, five unsuccessful presidents and a disastrous war later, are we beginning to wonder how this seemingly bumbling and inarticulate man was able to get so much done while appearing to do so little. In The Hidden-Hand Presidency, Fred I. Greenstein,...