"All too frequently, leadership is reduced to a simple dichotomy: the strong versus the weak. Yet, there are myriad ways to exercise effective political leadership -- as well as different ways to fail. We blame our leaders for economic downfalls and praise them for vital social reforms, but rarely do we question what makes some leaders successful while others falter. In this magisterial and wide-ranging survey of political leadership over the past...

When the Rebellion defeated the Empire in the skies above Endor, Leia Organa believed it was the beginning to a lasting peace. But after decades of vicious infighting and partisan gridlock in the New Republic Senate, that hope seems like a distant memory. Now a respected senator, Leia must grapple with the dangers that threaten to cripple the fledgling democracy -- from both within and without. Underworld kingpins, treacherous politicians, and Imperial...

"Abraham Lincoln is recognized as one of history's finest leaders, a great president when the United States was under tremendous strain. But suppose he were alive today? How would Lincoln deal with today's high-pressure issues, from politics to business? Based on a lifelong study of Lincoln's life, writings, and speeches, best-selling author Donald T. Phillips offers compelling ideas on how Lincoln would employ his exemplary leadership and executive...

"George Stephanopoulos, former senior advisor to President Clinton and for more than 20 years host of This Week and Good Morning America, recounts never-before-told crises that decided the course of history, from the place 12 presidents made their highest-pressure decisions: the White House Situation Room. No room better defines American power and its role in the world than the White House Situation Room. And yet, none is more shrouded in secrecy...

An incisive examination into the pairing of psychology and situation that creates despotic leaders from the author of Murderous Minds. Not everyone can become a tyrant. It requires a particular confluence of events to gain absolute control over entire nations. First, you must be born with the potential to develop brutal personality traits. Often, these are combined in "The Dark Triad" of malignant narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy, as well...

This multiple biography is centered on Lincoln's mastery of men and how it shaped the most significant presidency in the nation's history. Historian Goodwin illuminates Lincoln's political genius, as the one-term congressman rises from obscurity to prevail over three gifted rivals to become president. When Lincoln emerged as the victor at the Republican National Convention, his rivals were dismayed. Throughout the turbulent 1850s, each had energetically...

Presents accounts of eight U.S. presidents who assumed office at times of crisis and how they met high-stakes challenges, from Lincoln's efforts on behalf of a divided nation and FDR's strategies during the Depression to Truman's inheritance of World WarII and Kennedy's role in addressing the Cold War.

"Setting the great crisis of 2020 in broad historical perspective, Niall Ferguson challenges the conventional wisdom that our failure to cope better with disaster was solely a crisis of political leadership, as opposed to a more profound systemic problem. Disasters are by their very nature hard to predict. Pandemics, like earthquakes, wildfires, financial crises and wars, are not normally distributed; there is no cycle of history to help us anticipate...