This multiple biography is centered on Lincoln's mastery of men and how it shaped the most significant presidency in the nation's history. Historian Goodwin illuminates Lincoln's political genius, as the one-term congressman rises from obscurity to prevail over three gifted rivals to become president. When Lincoln emerged as the victor at the Republican National Convention, his rivals were dismayed. Throughout the turbulent 1850s, each had energetically...

A presidential scholar argues that in President Obama's first two years in office, his policies failed because of his use of persuasion on the public instead of exploiting Democratic opportunities that already existed.

Are leaders born or made? Where does ambition come from? How does adversity affect the growth of leadership? Does the leader make the times or do the times make the leader? Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin draws upon the four presidents she has studied most closely -- Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson (in civil rights) -- to show how they recognized leadership qualities within themselves and were recognized...

Constitutional law expert Greenwald examines the George W. Bush presidency and its long-term effect on the nation, dissecting the rhetoric and revealing the faulty ideals upon which Bush built his policies. On September 12, 2001, Bush presented a clear view of what was to come--a view that can be said to define his entire presidency: "a monumental struggle of good versus evil." Based on his own Christian faith, Bush's worldview was basic and binary--and...

Post and Doucette offer an in-depth psychological and political portrait of what makes Donald Trump tick. They not only examine the life and psychology of Trump, but also provide an analysis of the charismatic psychological tie between Trump and his supporters. The result is a surprising and revelatory profile of the current resident in the White House. -- adapted from jacket

It is comforting to see President Donald Trump as a crazy man, a one-off, an exception -- not a reflection on us or our democracy. But in ways I never anticipated, his rise was absolutely predictable and a mirror on our soul. What does it say about us, that we elected someone so manifestly unfit and unprepared to determine mankind's future? Trump is a symptom of a world in distress, not its sole cause. Blaming him for all our troubles misses the deeper,...

January 17, 1961: President Eisenhower delivered a speech three days before President-elect Kennedy's inauguration: three days that were the culmination of a lifetime of service that took Eisenhower from rural Kansas to West Point, to the battlefields of World War II, and finally to the Oval Office. As president, Eisenhower -- former Supreme Commander of Allied Forces during World War II -- guided the U.S. out of war in Korea, through the threat of...