Examines some of the problems that plague the American public school system, identifies solutions that have worked in the past, and celebrates the hero teachers, staffers, and adminstrators the author met as the Obama Secretary of Education. -- From his mother's after-school program on Chicago's South Side to his tenure as Secretary of Education in DC, Duncan exposes the lies that have caused American kids to fall behind their international peers,...

In the depths of the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Frances Perkins as US Secretary of Labor, the first woman to sit on a presidential cabinet. Against overwhelming odds, she became a driving force behind the New Deal social safety net, including Social Security, the 40-hour workweek, the 8-hour day, minimum wage, and unemployment compensation. Featuring compelling interviews with David Brooks, Nancy Pelosi, Amy Klobuchar, Lawrence...

Across the realms of civic and private enterprise alike, bureaucracies vitally impact our security, freedoms, and everyday life. With so much at stake, competence, efficiency, and fiscal prudence are essential, yet Americans know these institutions fall short. Many despair that they are too big and too hard to reform. Robert Gates disagrees. Having led change successfully at three monumental organizations -- the CIA, Texas A&M University, and the...

John Kerry tells the story of his remarkable American life -- from son of a diplomat to decorated Vietnam veteran, five-term United States senator, 2004 Democratic presidential nominee and secretary of state. A Yale graduate, Kerry enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1966 and served in Vietnam. He returned home highly decorated but disillusioned, and testified powerfully before Congress as a young veteran opposed to the war. Kerry served as a prosecutor...

In 2001, Bill and Hillary Clinton left the White House under a cloud, dogged by scandals and investigations. Even many Democrats were glad to see them go. Yet within just a few years, Bill had secured a new reputation as a global humanitarian and elder statesman, and Hillary was running for president. Despite her 2008 loss to Barack Obama, Hillary bounced back to become a powerful and respected figure in his cabinet. Today the Clintons are among the...

"Former Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper reveals the shocking details of his tumultuous tenure while serving in the Trump administration. From June of 2019 until his firing by President Trump after the November 2020 election, Secretary Mark T. Esper led the Department of Defense through an unprecedented time in history -- a period marked by growing threats and conflict abroad, a global pandemic unseen in a century, the greatest domestic unrest in...

"Perhaps no other public official or secretary of the interior has ever had as much success in environmental protection, natural resource conservation, and outdoor recreation opportunity creation as Stewart Udall. A progressive Mormon raised in rural Arizona, Udall served in the presidential cabinets of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Baines Johnson from 1961-1969. During these eight years, he established dozens of new national park units and national...

"Co-authored by the Chief White House correspondent at The New York Times and the Washington columnist at the The New Yorker, this is a biography any would-be power broker must own: the story of legendary White House chief of staff and secretary of state James A. Baker III, the man who ran Washington when Washington ran the world. In the latter half of the twentieth century, no Republican won the presidency without his help, and the men he counseled...

"The twenty-fifth Secretary of Defense takes readers behind the scenes to reveal the inner workings of the Pentagon, its vital mission, and what it takes to lead it. The Pentagon is the headquarters of the single largest institution in America: the Department of Defense. The D.O.D. employs millions of Americans. It owns and operates more real estate, and spends more money, than any other entity. It manages the world's largest and most complex information...