Comprehensive and fast-paced, this book examines the seminal issue of race throughout presidential history, from George Washington to Barack Obama. * Provides readers with valuable insight into how U.S. presidents have dealt with the issue of race across history * Demonstrates how presidents have often overlooked the interests and needs of African Americans due to their own political needs * Documents how the push for equality in the United States has been marked by fits and starts, forward progress followed by backlash * Offers insightful perspectives into racism in America that will serve historians and academics across the spectrum as well as students and lay readers