Synopses & Reviews
What makes a president great? Two of America's most prominent institutions,
The Wall Street Journal and the
Federalist Society, with the help of a wide array of eminent scholars, journalists, and political leaders, tackle this question in
Presidential Leadership, the definitive ranking of our nation's chief executives.
Based on a survey conducted by the Federalist Society and the Journal, Presidential Leadership examines presidential performance in this collection of provocative, enlightening essays written by a distinguished and diverse group of authors.
The survey included seventy-eight liberal and conservative scholars, balancing the sample to reflect the political makeup of the U.S. population as a whole. It represents the first national survey in book form that provides a complete ranking of the presidents, along with an appendix that explains the methodology in detail and includes a wide range of valuable data. The result is an important, fresh, and engaging book, rating the presidents from Washington to Clinton and including an early assessment of George W. Bush's presidency by Journal editorial page editor Paul Gigot. Nearly fifty contributors provide their insights, with one essay on each president or on a broader issue of presidential leadership. Among them:
Forrest McDonald on Thomas Jefferson Lynne Cheney on James Madison
Douglas Brinkley on James Polk
Christopher Buckley on James Buchanan
Jay Winik on Abraham Lincoln
John McCain on Theodore Roosevelt
Robert Dallek on Lyndon B. Johnson
Peggy Noonan on John F. Kennedy
Paul Johnson on Bill Clinton
Their compelling essays, packed with fascinating and often surprising insights, analyze the best and worst of our commanders in chief. Presidential Leadership is the lively result, at once a valuable reference and a tremendously readable collection.
Synopsis
Where Does Your Favorite President Rank?
Based on a completely new nationwide survey prepared exclusively for this edition of Presidential Leadership, two of America's most prominent institutions, The Wall Street Journal and the Federalist Society, explore just what it is that makes a president great and then rank each from best to worst. Now with updated chapters on Bush and "Leadership in the Midst of Controversy," a wide range of eminent scholars, journalists, and political leaders evaluate the competence of our nation's chief executives, including that of George W. Bush's first complete term in office.
From John McCain on Teddy Roosevelt to Kenneth Starr on Richard Nixon, editors James Taranto and Leonard Leo have collected a series of lively, provocative, and highly readable essays evaluating the terms of each of the forty-three U.S. presidents. Other contributors include Douglas Brinkley on James Polk, Melanie Kirkpatrick on Millard Fillmore, Jay Winik on Abraham Lincoln, and Lynne Cheney on James Madison. Fascinating and often surprising, the book reveals who was voted the most controversial and who was the most over- and underrated from the nationwide survey of liberal and conservative scholars, balanced to reflect the political makeup of the U.S. population as a whole. Presidential Leadership is a pleasure to read and an authoritative reference for every library.
Synopsis
andlt;Bandgt;Where Does Your Favorite President Rank?andlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt; Based on a completely new nationwide survey prepared exclusively for this edition of andlt;Iandgt;Presidential Leadership,andlt;/Iandgt; two of America's most prominent institutions, andlt;Iandgt;The Wall Street Journalandlt;/Iandgt; and the Federalist Society, explore just what it is that makes a president great and then rank each from best to worst. Now with updated chapters on Bush and "Leadership in the Midst of Controversy," a wide range of eminent scholars, journalists, and political leaders evaluate the competence of our nation's chief executives, including that of George W. Bush's first complete term in office. andlt;BRandgt; From John McCain on Teddy Roosevelt to Kenneth Starr on Richard Nixon, editors James Taranto and Leonard Leo have collected a series of lively, provocative, and highly readable essays evaluating the terms of each of the forty-three U.S. presidents. Other contributors include Douglas Brinkley on James Polk, Melanie Kirkpatrick on Millard Fillmore, Jay Winik on Abraham Lincoln, and Lynne Cheney on James Madison. Fascinating and often surprising, the book reveals who was voted the most controversial and who was the most over- and underrated from the nationwide survey of liberal and conservative scholars, balanced to reflect the political makeup of the U.S. population as a whole. andlt;Iandgt;Presidential Leadershipandlt;/Iandgt; is a pleasure to read and an authoritative reference for every library.
About the Author
andlt;Bandgt;James Tarantoandlt;/Bandgt; is editor of andlt;Iandgt;OpinionJournal.com,andlt;/Iandgt; the website of andlt;Iandgt;The Wall Street Journal'sandlt;/Iandgt; editorial page. andlt;Bandgt;Leonard Leoandlt;/Bandgt; serves as executive vice president of the Federalist Society, an organization of 35,000 lawyers and other individuals committed to limited, constitutional government as envisioned by the framers of the Constitution. andlt;bandgt;William J. Bennettandlt;/bandgt; served as Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy under President George H. W. Bush and as Secretary of Education and Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities under President Reagan. He holds a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy from Williams College, a doctorate in political philosophy from the University of Texas, and a law degree from Harvard. He is the author of such bestselling books as andlt;Iandgt;The Educated Childandlt;/iandgt;, andlt;Iandgt;The Death of Outrageandlt;/iandgt;, andlt;Iandgt;The Book of Virtuesandlt;/iandgt;, and the two-volume series andlt;Iandgt;America: The Last Best Hopeandlt;/iandgt;. Dr. Bennett is the host of the nationally syndicated radio show andlt;Iandgt;Bill Bennett's Morning in Americaandlt;/iandgt;. He is also the Washington Fellow of the Claremont Institute and a regular contributor to CNN. He, his wife, Elayne, and their two sons, John and Joseph, live in Maryland.
Table of Contents
andlt;Bandgt;CONTENTSandlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;