By analyzing the leadership skills of seven recent American presidents, this book seeks to de-mystify the elements and dynamics of effective presidential leadership which our democracy has come to depend upon and value. Building on the pioneering work of political scientist Fred Greenstein and others, this book argues that leadership in the White House can be explained and assessed by using a consistent set of criteria to analyze presidential performance. Siegel shows that presidential leadership is exercised by real, flawed human beings, and not by superheroes or philosopher-kings beyond the reach of scrutiny or critique.

New to the Second Edition






Includes a new chapter covering both terms of the Obama administration.
Applies the author’s four-part leadership framework to the early part,of the Trump administration.
Discusses the possibilities of presidential leadership in an era of intense partisanship.