Presidential Indiscretions explores the life of the President and his closest advisors. The chapters are glimpses into the world of politics, deceit and promiscuity. The book begs the question: What happens when a political icon uses cruelty and promiscuity as a mechanism of control? The President's past, present and future relationships impact on all other main prominent characters throughout the book. Experience the engaging satire and deception that is woven into each chapter. This powerful mix of political and emotional intrigue is set against a backdrop of a Washington, D.C. that few Americans ever see. It will touch your heart with its realism, warmth, surprise, sensuality, and emotions of unparalleled love for power.

Presidential Indiscretions explores the life of the President and his closest advisors. The chapters are glimpses into the world of politics, deceit and promiscuity. The book begs the question: What happens when a political icon uses cruelty and promiscuity as a mechanism of control? The President's past, present and future relationships impact on all other main prominent characters throughout the book. Experience the engaging satire and deception that is woven into each chapter. This powerful mix of political and emotional intrigue is set against a backdrop of a Washington, D.C. that few Americans ever see. It will touch your heart with its realism, warmth, surprise, sensuality, and emotions of unparalleled love for power.

Listing high crimes and misdemeanors as well as offenses too hilarious to be impeachable, Leland shows the unforgettable political stumbles, mind-blowing lapses in moral judgment, and historic slips of the tongue of those who have held America's highest office.

Named a best book of the year by The Economist and Foreign Affairs "A whole book devoted exclusively to the misconduct of American presidents and their responses to charges of misconduct is without precedent." —from the introduction to the 1974 edition by C. Vann Woodward, Pulitzer Prize–winning Yale historian The historic 1974 report for the House Committee on the Judiciary, updated for today by leading presidential historians In May 1974, as President Richard Nixon faced impeachment following the Watergate scandal, the House Judiciary Committee commissioned a historical account of the misdeeds of past presidents. The account, compiled by leading presidential historians of the day, reached back to George Washington's administration and was designed to provide a benchmark against which Nixon's misdeeds could be measured. What the report found was that, with the exception of William Henry Harrison (who served less than a month), every American president has been accused of misconduct: James Buchanan was charged with rigging the election of 1856; Ulysses S. Grant was reprimanded for not firing his corrupt staffer, Orville Babcock, in the "Whiskey Ring" bribery scandal; and Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration faced repeated charges of malfeasance in the Works Progress Administration. Now, as another president and his subordinates face an array of charges on a wide range of legal and constitutional offenses, a group of presidential historians has come together under the leadership of James M. Banner, Jr.—one of the historians who contributed to the original report—to bring the 1974 account up to date through Barack Obama's presidency. Based on current scholarship, this new material covers such well-known episodes as Nixon's Watergate crisis, Reagan's Iran-Contra scandal, Clinton's impeachment, and George W. Bush's connection to the exposure of intelligence secrets. But oft-forgotten events also take the stage: Carter's troubles with advisor Bert Lance, Reagan's savings and loan crisis, George H.W. Bush's nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court, and Obama's Solyndra loan controversy. The only comprehensive study of American presidents' misconduct and the ways in which chief executives and members of their official families have responded to the charges brought against them, this new edition is designed to serve the same purpose as the original 1974 report: to provide the historical context and metric against which the actions of the current administration may be assessed.

This text offers a concise single-volume survey of presidential scandals in the United States that looks at the behaviour and public image of every president from George Washington to Bill Clinton. The scandals covered include Franklin Pierce's drunkenness and JFK's extra-marital affairs.

This book provides an accessible overview of US defense politics for upper-level students. This new edition has been updated and revised, with new material on the Trump Administration and Space Force. Analyzing the ways in which the United States prepares for war, the authors demonstrate how political and organizational interests determine US defense policy and warn against over-emphasis on planning, centralization, and technocracy. Focusing on the process of defense policy-making rather than just the outcomes of that process, US Defense Politics departs from the traditional style of many textbooks. Designed to help students understand the practical side of American national security policy, the book examines the following key themes: US grand strategy; the roles of the president and the Congress in controlling the military; organizational interests and civil-military relations; who joins America's military; what happens to veterans after wars; how and why weapons are bought; the management of defense and intra- and inter-service relations; public attitudes toward the military; homeland security and the intelligence community. The fourth edition will be essential reading for students of US defense politics, national security policy, and homeland security, and highly recommended for students of US foreign policy, public policy, and public administration.