This book argues that we can learn a great deal about leadership from the experiences of eight US presidents who have served in the White House since Watergate. The eight presidents considered here differed widely in their family backgrounds, wealth, education, age, prior political experiences, and motivations for power. But they all made the same promise—to “faithfully execute the Office of President of the US and … preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States”—and they all faced considerable challenges in fulfilling that promise.

While all eight presidents had policy successes and failures, the author argues that we gain real insight on their leadership acumen by analyzing the deeper structures of leadership effectiveness that all leaders need to address: vision, execution, management, and decision-making. The book assesses the performance of each president along these four dimensions of leadership and extends lessons learned to leaders in other sectors.