10 Downing Street
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
A01=David Runciman
America
American
Author_David Runciman
Bill Clinton
Blair
British
Brown
Campaign
Category=JPB
Category=JPHL
Clinton
Election
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
LBJ
Lyndon Baines Johnson
Oval Office
Parliament
Parliamentary
Politics
Power
President
Presidential
Prime Minister
Runciman
Thatcher
Trump
UK
USA
Westminster
White House
Product details
- ISBN 9781788163347
- Weight: 199g
- Dimensions: 128 x 194mm
- Publication Date: 26 Mar 2020
- Publisher: Profile Books Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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Lyndon Baines Johnson, Margaret Thatcher, Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Barack Obama, Gordon Brown, Theresa May, and Donald Trump: each had different motivations, methods, and paths, but they all sought the highest office. And yet when they reached their goal, they often found that the power they had imagined was illusory. Their sweeping visions of reform faltered. They faced bureaucratic obstructions, but often the biggest obstruction was their own character.
However, their personalities could help them as much as hurt them. Arguably the most successful of them, LBJ showed little indication that he supported what he is best known for - the Civil Rights Act - but his grit, resolve, and brute political skill saw him bend Congress to his will.
David Runciman tackles the limitations of high office and how the personal histories of those who achieved the very pinnacles of power helped to define their successes and failures in office. These portraits show what characters are most effective in these offices. Could this be a blueprint for good and effective leadership in an age lacking good leaders?
David Runciman is Professor of Politics at Cambridge University and the former Head of the Department of Politics and International Studies. He is the author of six previous books, including How Democracy Ends (Profile), Political Hypocrisy, The Confidence Trap and Politics (for the Ideas in Profile series). He writes regularly about politics for the London Review of Books and hosts the widely acclaimed weekly podcast Talking Politics.
