ABSTRACT

Crises pose a challenge to leaders beyond any other tests they confront. In this comprehensive and timely book, veteran journalist Kenneth T. Walsh offers a probing look at how presidents from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Donald Trump dealt with crises they faced. Including domestic as well as international issues and assassination attempts, this book stands apart from other accounts of presidents in crisis. Walsh is in search of lessons we can learn, and his findings focus on the presidential attributes and skills that matter most in trying times. This expertly crafted, elegantly written book is appropriate for a variety of college courses and will find its way onto the reading lists of ambitious politicians and interested citizens alike.

chapter |5 pages

Introduction

chapter Chapter One|9 pages

Abraham Lincoln

The Nation’s Worst Crisis

chapter Chapter Two|18 pages

Franklin D. Roosevelt

The Great Depression

chapter Chapter Three|13 pages

Harry Truman

The Battle with Douglas MacArthur

chapter Chapter Four|10 pages

Dwight Eisenhower

The U-2 Mission

chapter Chapter Five|16 pages

John F. Kennedy

The Cuban Missile Crisis

chapter Chapter Six|10 pages

Lyndon B. Johnson

The War in Vietnam and Re-election

chapter Chapter Seven|14 pages

Richard M. Nixon

The Watergate Scandal and National Disgrace

chapter Chapter Eight|8 pages

Gerald R. Ford

The Pardon

chapter Chapter Nine|12 pages

Jimmy Carter

The Iranian Hostage Crisis

chapter Chapter Ten|14 pages

Ronald Reagan

A Matter of Life and Death

chapter Chapter Eleven|16 pages

George H.W. Bush

The Persian Gulf War

chapter Chapter Twelve|11 pages

Bill Clinton

Impeachment and Scandal

chapter Chapter Thirteen|11 pages

George W. Bush

9/11 and the Global War on Terror

chapter Chapter Fourteen|15 pages

Barack Obama

Ending the “Great Recession”

chapter Chapter Fifteen|27 pages

Donald Trump

A New Era of Perpetual Crisis

chapter |13 pages

Epilogue