Not-So-Great Presidents: Commanders in Chief

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Author :
Publisher : Macmillan + ORM
ISBN 13 : 1250150582
Total Pages : 120 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (51 download)

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Book Synopsis Not-So-Great Presidents: Commanders in Chief by : Erik Slader

Download or read book Not-So-Great Presidents: Commanders in Chief written by Erik Slader and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2019-01-15 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From heroic George Washington to the dastardly Richard Nixon, the oval office has been occupied by larger-than-life personalities since 1789. The position comes with enormous power and responsibility, and every American president thus far has managed to achieve great things. However, the President of the United States is only human—and oftentimes far from perfect. While some men suffered through only minor mishaps during their time in office, others are famously remembered for leaving behind much bigger messes. In the third installment of the Epic Fails series, authors Erik Slader and Ben Thompson, and artist Tim Foley, take readers on another hilarious ride, exploring the lives, legacies, and failures of some of America’s commanders in chief.

The Race to Space: Countdown to Liftoff (Epic Fails #2)

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Author :
Publisher : Roaring Brook Press
ISBN 13 : 1250150639
Total Pages : 128 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (51 download)

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Book Synopsis The Race to Space: Countdown to Liftoff (Epic Fails #2) by : Ben Thompson

Download or read book The Race to Space: Countdown to Liftoff (Epic Fails #2) written by Ben Thompson and published by Roaring Brook Press. This book was released on 2018-07-10 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this second installment of the Epic Fails series, explore the many failures that made up the Race to Space, paving the way for humanity’s eventual success at reaching the stars. Today, everyone is familiar with Neil Armstrong’s famous words as he first set foot on the moon: “one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.” He made it look easy, but America’s journey to the moon was anything but simple. In 1957, when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the world’s first satellite, into orbit, America had barely crossed the starting line of the great Space Race. Later that year, our first attempt was such a failure that the media nicknamed it “Kaputnik.” Still, we didn’t give up. With each failure, we gleaned valuable information about what went wrong, and how to avoid it in the future. So we tried again. And again. And each time we failed, we failed a little bit better. The Epic Fails series by Erik Slader and Ben Thompson explores the humorous backstories behind a variety of historical discoveries, voyages, experiments, and innovations that didn't go as expected but succeeded nonetheless, showing that many of mankind's biggest success stories are the result of some pretty epic failures indeed. This title has Common Core connections.

The Age of Exploration: Totally Getting Lost (Epic Fails #4)

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Author :
Publisher : Roaring Brook Press
ISBN 13 : 125015054X
Total Pages : 161 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (51 download)

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Book Synopsis The Age of Exploration: Totally Getting Lost (Epic Fails #4) by : Ben Thompson

Download or read book The Age of Exploration: Totally Getting Lost (Epic Fails #4) written by Ben Thompson and published by Roaring Brook Press. This book was released on 2019-04-16 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christopher Columbus is one of the most famous explorers of all time, but he was neither the first nor last adventurer to ever stumble upon a great discovery. From the Silk Road of Asia to the icy shores of Antarctica, our knowledge of the world today is in large part due to several intrepid pioneers, risking life and limb for the sake of exploration. After all, setting off into the dark unknown requires an enormous amount of bravery. But every explorer quickly learns that courage and curiosity aren’t enough to save you if you can’t read a map or trespass on somebody else’s land! In this fourth installment of the Epic Fails series, authors Erik Slader and Ben Thompson introduces readers to an international cast of trailblazers and details every mutiny, wrong turn, and undiscovered city of gold behind the age of exploration.

Commander in Chief

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Author :
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN 13 : 1429923083
Total Pages : 468 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (299 download)

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Book Synopsis Commander in Chief by : Geoffrey Perret

Download or read book Commander in Chief written by Geoffrey Perret and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2008-01-22 with total page 468 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq Made The Commander In Chief and Foretell the Future of America This is a story of ever-expanding presidential powers in an age of unwinnable wars. Harry Truman and Korea, Lyndon Johnson and Vietnam, George W. Bush and Iraq: three presidents, three ever broader interpretations of the commander in chief clause of the Constitution, three unwinnable wars, and three presidential secrets. Award-winning presidential biographer and military historian Geoffrey Perret places these men and events in the larger context of the post-World War II world to establish their collective legacy: a presidency so powerful it undermines the checks and balances built into the Constitution, thereby creating a permanent threat to the Constitution itself. In choosing to fight in Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq, Truman, Johnson, and Bush alike took counsel of their fears, ignored the advice of the professional military and major allies, and were influenced by facts kept from public view. Convinced that an ever-more powerful commander in chief was the key to victory, they misread the moment. Since World War II wars have become tests of stamina rather than strength, and more likely than not they sow the seeds of future wars. Yet recent American presidents have chosen to place their country in the forefront of fighting them. In the course of doing so, however, they gave away the secret of American power—for all its might, the United States can be defeated by chaos and anarchy.

Badass: Ultimate Deathmatch

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Author :
Publisher : Harper Collins
ISBN 13 : 0062112368
Total Pages : 413 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (621 download)

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Book Synopsis Badass: Ultimate Deathmatch by : Ben Thompson

Download or read book Badass: Ultimate Deathmatch written by Ben Thompson and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2013-03-12 with total page 413 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the Ben Thompson, author of Badass: The Birth of a Legend, comes a collection of history’s most awe-inspiring duels and showdowns, brutal crusades and epic brawls, and profiles of the fascinating people who fought in them. From Caliphs to Green Berets, some of civilization’s toughest warriors are profiled in Badass: Ultimate Deathmatch, including Cyrus the Great, St. Moses the Black, and The Rani of Jhansi, as well as in-depth analyses of how they battled their way to victory. Featuring original artworks by top graphic artists and comic book illustrators, and Ben Thompson’s signature wry, side-splitting commentary, Badass: Ultimate Deathmatch is the history of badasses, the only way it should be written: covered in blood!

The Wright Brothers: Nose-Diving Into History (Epic Fails #1)

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Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 1250150558
Total Pages : 129 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (51 download)

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Book Synopsis The Wright Brothers: Nose-Diving Into History (Epic Fails #1) by : Ben Thompson

Download or read book The Wright Brothers: Nose-Diving Into History (Epic Fails #1) written by Ben Thompson and published by . This book was released on 2018-07-10 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes the lives of the two American brothers who designed, built, and flew the first heavier-than-air aircraft to fly successfully, detailing the many mishaps and misadventures that preceded it.

Rating the Presidents

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Author :
Publisher : Citadel Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 328 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Rating the Presidents by : William J. Ridings

Download or read book Rating the Presidents written by William J. Ridings and published by Citadel Press. This book was released on 1997 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on a wide-ranging poll of 719 historians and political scientists, this book ranks all the U.S. presidents in order of their influence and importance. From the best-rated president (Lincoln) to the worst-rated (Harding), the authors analyze the high and low points of each Chief Executive's term.

Why Presidents Fail And How They Can Succeed Again

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Author :
Publisher : Brookings Institution Press
ISBN 13 : 0815727798
Total Pages : 99 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (157 download)

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Book Synopsis Why Presidents Fail And How They Can Succeed Again by : Elaine C. Kamarck

Download or read book Why Presidents Fail And How They Can Succeed Again written by Elaine C. Kamarck and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2016-07-26 with total page 99 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Failure should not be an option in the presidency, but for too long it has been the norm. From the botched attempt to rescue the U.S. diplomats held hostage by Iran in 1980 under President Jimmy Carter and the missed intelligence on Al Qaeda before 9-11 under George W. Bush to, most recently, the computer meltdown that marked the arrival of health care reform under Barack Obama, the American presidency has been a profile in failure. In Why Presidents Fail and How They Can Succeed Again, Elaine Kamarck surveys these and other recent presidential failures to understand why Americans have lost faith in their leaders—and how they can get it back. Kamarck argues that presidents today spend too much time talking and not enough time governing, and that they have allowed themselves to become more and more distant from the federal bureaucracy that is supposed to implement policy. After decades of "imperial" and "rhetorical" presidencies, we are in need of a "managerial" president. This White House insider and former Harvard academic explains the difficulties of governing in our modern political landscape, and offers examples and recommendations of how our next president can not only recreate faith in leadership but also run a competent, successful administration.

Badass

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Publisher : Harper Collins
ISBN 13 : 0061959170
Total Pages : 298 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (619 download)

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Book Synopsis Badass by : Ben Thompson

Download or read book Badass written by Ben Thompson and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2009-10-13 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The badasses populating the pages of Badass are the most savagely awesome historical figures to ever strap on a pair of chain mail gauntlets and run screaming into battle. Author Ben Thompson—considered by many to be the Internet’s foremost expert on badassitude—has gathered together a rogues’ gallery of butt-stomping rogues, from Julius Caesar and Genghis Khan to Blackbeard, George S. Patton, and Bruce Lee. Their bone-breaking exploits are illustrated by top artist from the fields of gaming, comics, and cards—DC Comics illustrator Matt Haley and Thomas Denmark, illustrator for the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering. This is not your boring high school history—this is tough, manly, unrelentingly Badass!

Tried by War

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Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 1440652457
Total Pages : 352 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (46 download)

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Book Synopsis Tried by War by : James M. McPherson

Download or read book Tried by War written by James M. McPherson and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2008-10-07 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "James M. McPherson’s Tried by War is a perfect primer . . . for anyone who wishes to under­stand the evolution of the president’s role as commander in chief. Few histo­rians write as well as McPherson, and none evoke the sound of battle with greater clarity." —The New York Times Book Review The Pulitzer Prize–winning author reveals how Lincoln won the Civil War and invented the role of commander in chief as we know it As we celebrate the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth, this study by preeminent, bestselling Civil War historian James M. McPherson provides a rare, fresh take on one of the most enigmatic figures in American history. Tried by War offers a revelatory (and timely) portrait of leadership during the greatest crisis our nation has ever endured. Suspenseful and inspiring, this is the story of how Lincoln, with almost no previous military experience before entering the White House, assumed the powers associated with the role of commander in chief, and through his strategic insight and will to fight changed the course of the war and saved the Union.

The Mantle of Command

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Author :
Publisher : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN 13 : 0547775245
Total Pages : 549 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (477 download)

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Book Synopsis The Mantle of Command by : Nigel Hamilton

Download or read book The Mantle of Command written by Nigel Hamilton and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2014 with total page 549 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An in-depth analysis of FDR's leadership during the Second World War reveals how he assumed control over key decisions to launch a successful trial landing in North Africa to shift the war in favor of Allied forces. 50,000 first printing.

The Commander in Chief

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Author :
Publisher : Cranberry Press, LLC
ISBN 13 : 9781734558586
Total Pages : 379 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (585 download)

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Book Synopsis The Commander in Chief by : Emilio Iodice

Download or read book The Commander in Chief written by Emilio Iodice and published by Cranberry Press, LLC. This book was released on 2020-11-03 with total page 379 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Commander in Chief, Emilio Iodice describes, through the lens of American Presidential history, what it takes to be a successful world leader in the 21st century. He examines the character, actions, strengths, and weaknesses of US Presidents and identifies values essential for effective leadership, and the maintenance of a strong democracy.

Sharing Success - Owning Failure: Preparing to Command in the Twenty-First Century Air Force

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Author :
Publisher : CreateSpace
ISBN 13 : 9781479145065
Total Pages : 132 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (45 download)

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Book Synopsis Sharing Success - Owning Failure: Preparing to Command in the Twenty-First Century Air Force by : Colonel Usaf David L Goldfein

Download or read book Sharing Success - Owning Failure: Preparing to Command in the Twenty-First Century Air Force written by Colonel Usaf David L Goldfein and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2012-08-17 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Command is the ultimate service. It is a time when we have the singular responsibility to create and lead strong Air Force units. A time when our passion for our Air Force and our vision for its future must be overwhelmingly clear. Early in the "Developing Aerospace Leaders" initiative, we began to focus on the way in which the institution teaches leadership and prepares airmen for command. What we found was a wide range of practices and a wide range of expectations - a complicating factor in today's Expeditionary Aerospace Force. We realize that preparing our officers to command effective, mission-oriented units must be a deliberate process. It must develop our unique airman perspective, creating commanders who are able to communicate the vision, have credibility in the mission area, and can lead our people with inspiration and heart. The foundation of our institution's effectiveness has always been its leaders. Colonel Goldfein's work provides valuable lessons learned and serves as a worthwhile tool to optimize your effectiveness as a squadron commander. This book is a must-read, not only for those selected to command a squadron but for all our young officers, helping them understand what the requirements of squadron command will be. Remember, command is a unique privilege - a demanding and crucial position in our Air Force. "Sharing Success - Owning Failure" takes you a step closer to successfully meeting that challenge.

The Best Presidential Writing

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Author :
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1476788561
Total Pages : 512 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (767 download)

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Book Synopsis The Best Presidential Writing by : Craig Fehrman

Download or read book The Best Presidential Writing written by Craig Fehrman and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2022-10-04 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A sweeping and groundbreaking treasury of the most essential presidential writings, featuring a mix of the beloved and the little-known, from stirring speeches and shrewd remarks to behind-the-scenes drafts and unpublished autobiographies. From the early years of our nation’s history, when George Washington wrote his humble yet powerful Farewell Address, to our current age, when Barack Obama delivered his moving speech on the fiftieth anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery marches, America’s presidents have upheld a tradition of exceptional writing. Now, for the first time, the greatest presidential writings in history are united in one monumental treasury: the very best campaign orations, early autobiographies, presidential speeches, postpresidential reflections, and much more. In these pages, we see not only the words that shaped our nation, like Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Infamy speech, but also the words of young politicians claiming their place in our history, including excerpts from Woodrow Wilson’s Congressional Government and Obama’s career-making convention speech, and the words of mature leaders reflecting on their legacies, including John Adams’s autobiography and Harry S. Truman’s Memoirs. We even see hidden sides of the presidents that the public rarely glimpses: noted outdoorsman Teddy Roosevelt’s great passion for literature or sunny Ronald Reagan’s piercing childhood memories of escorting home his alcoholic father. Encompassing notable favorites like Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address as well as lesser-known texts like Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia and James Polk’s candid White House diary, The Best Presidential Writing showcases America’s presidents as thinkers, citizens, and leaders. More than simply a curation of must-read presidential writings, this unique collection presents the story of America itself, told by its highest leaders. Even the most famous speeches find new meanings or fresh connections when read in this sweeping context, making The Best Presidential Writing a trove full of insight and an essential historical document.

Presidents of War

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Author :
Publisher : Crown
ISBN 13 : 0307409619
Total Pages : 754 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (74 download)

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Book Synopsis Presidents of War by : Michael Beschloss

Download or read book Presidents of War written by Michael Beschloss and published by Crown. This book was released on 2019-10-22 with total page 754 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From a preeminent presidential historian comes a “superb and important” (The New York Times Book Review) saga of America’s wartime chief executives “Fascinating and heartbreaking . . . timely . . . Beschloss’s broad scope lets you draw important crosscutting lessons about presidential leadership.”—Bill Gates Widely acclaimed and ten years in the making, Michael Beschloss’s Presidents of War is an intimate and irresistibly readable chronicle of the Chief Executives who took the United States into conflict and mobilized it for victory. From the War of 1812 to Vietnam, we see these leaders considering the difficult decision to send hundreds of thousands of Americans to their deaths; struggling with Congress, the courts, the press, and antiwar protesters; seeking comfort from their spouses and friends; and dropping to their knees in prayer. Through Beschloss’s interviews with surviving participants and findings in original letters and once-classified national security documents, we come to understand how these Presidents were able to withstand the pressures of war—or were broken by them. Presidents of War combines this sense of immediacy with the overarching context of two centuries of American history, traveling from the time of our Founders, who tried to constrain presidential power, to our modern day, when a single leader has the potential to launch nuclear weapons that can destroy much of the human race. Praise for Presidents of War "A marvelous narrative. . . . As Beschloss explains, the greatest wartime presidents successfully leaven military action with moral concerns. . . . Beschloss’s writing is clean and concise, and he admirably draws upon new documents. Some of the more titillating tidbits in the book are in the footnotes. . . . There are fascinating nuggets on virtually every page of Presidents of War. It is a superb and important book, superbly rendered.”—Jay Winik, The New York Times Book Review "Sparkle and bite. . . . Valuable and engrossing study of how our chief executives have discharged the most significant of all their duties. . . . Excellent. . . . A fluent narrative that covers two centuries of national conflict.” —Richard Snow, The Wall Street Journal

Shall We Wake the President?

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Author :
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN 13 : 1493024655
Total Pages : 264 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (93 download)

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Book Synopsis Shall We Wake the President? by : Tevi Troy

Download or read book Shall We Wake the President? written by Tevi Troy and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2016-09-01 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The history of presidential dealings with disasters shows that whatever their ideology, presidents need to be prepared to deal with unexpected crises. In recent years, the expectations have grown as the disasters seem to appear to be coming more frequently. Since 2001, numerous unpredictable crises, including terror attacks, massive storms, and an economic collapse, have shaken Americans to their core. It seems as if technology, for all of its beneficences, also provides mankind with increasingly powerful ways to wreak destruction, including nuclear explosions, bioterror attacks, and cyber-attacks. In addition, instantaneous and incessant communications technologies send us word of disasters taking place anywhere in the nation far more rapidly, giving disasters an immediacy that some may have lacked in the past. In 21st century America, the eyes of the American people look to the president to lead the response to whatever disasters happen to strike. President Obama and his team learned this and were taken aback by the sheer number of crises that a president needed to deal with, including swine flu, BP’s Macondo oil spill, and the Somali pirates who attacked an American ship. Many of these did not quite reach disaster status, but Obama’s reaction to the constant stream of crises was both revealing and unnerving: “Who thought we were going to have to deal with pirates?” In Shall We Wake the President?, Tevi Troy, a presidential historian and former senior White House aide and deputy secretary of the Department of Health & Human Services, looks at the evolving role of the president in dealing with disasters, and looks at how our presidents have handled disasters throughout our history. He also looks at the likelihood of similar disasters befalling modern America, and details how smart policies today can help us avoid future crises, or can best react to them should they occur. In addition, he provides information on what individuals can do to prepare for disasters. This book includes sections on how American presidents have dealt with a variety of disasters, including health crises, terror attacks, economic upheaval, bioterror and cyber-attacks, natural disasters, and civil breakdown. In doing so, Shall We Wake the President? will provide lessons from presidents of the past that will inform policy strategies for presidents of the future.

The Hardest Job in the World

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Author :
Publisher : Random House
ISBN 13 : 1984854526
Total Pages : 672 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (848 download)

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Book Synopsis The Hardest Job in the World by : John Dickerson

Download or read book The Hardest Job in the World written by John Dickerson and published by Random House. This book was released on 2020-06-16 with total page 672 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the veteran political journalist and 60 Minutes correspondent, a deep dive into the history, evolution, and current state of the American presidency, and how we can make the job less impossible and more productive—featuring a new post-2020–election epilogue “This is a great gift to our sense of the actual presidency, a primer on leadership.”—Ken Burns Imagine you have just been elected president. You are now commander-in-chief, chief executive, chief diplomat, chief legislator, chief of party, chief voice of the people, first responder, chief priest, and world leader. You’re expected to fulfill your campaign promises, but you’re also expected to solve the urgent crises of the day. What’s on your to-do list? Where would you even start? What shocks aren’t you thinking about? The American presidency is in trouble. It has become overburdened, misunderstood, almost impossible to do. “The problems in the job unfolded before Donald Trump was elected, and the challenges of governing today will confront his successors,” writes John Dickerson. After all, the founders never intended for our system of checks and balances to have one superior Chief Magistrate, with Congress demoted to “the little brother who can’t keep up.” In this eye-opening book, John Dickerson writes about presidents in history such a Washington, Lincoln, FDR, and Eisenhower, and and in contemporary times, from LBJ and Reagan and Bush, Obama, and Trump, to show how a complex job has been done, and why we need to reevaluate how we view the presidency, how we choose our presidents, and what we expect from them once they are in office. Think of the presidential campaign as a job interview. Are we asking the right questions? Are we looking for good campaigners, or good presidents? Once a candidate gets the job, what can they do to thrive? Drawing on research and interviews with current and former White House staffers, Dickerson defines what the job of president actually entails, identifies the things that only the president can do, and analyzes how presidents in history have managed the burden. What qualities make for a good president? Who did it well? Why did Bill Clinton call the White House “the crown jewel in the American penal system”? The presidency is a job of surprises with high stakes, requiring vision, management skill, and an even temperament. Ultimately, in order to evaluate candidates properly for the job, we need to adjust our expectations, and be more realistic about the goals, the requirements, and the limitations of the office. As Dickerson writes, “Americans need their president to succeed, but the presidency is set up for failure. It doesn’t have to be.”