POTUS—does the name give you a positive or negative reaction? In a time where our country is extremely divided about the current Presidential role, those reactions are mixed, but it is certain that this role has shaped our past, is still relevant to our day, and will affect our future. With his power limited by the checks and balances of the federal branches and his duty as commander in chief aside, a President's influence can be felt most keenly in the attitudes his demeanor fosters among his nation's citizens, it is that influence that drives this book's focus. Forty-five men in our history have defined this role, and their contributions establish a pattern of leadership that we can benefit from now and reap rewards from their influence, as individuals, to bring change to our communities and ultimately to our country. Leadership traits are identified herein for the first nineteen Presidents with birthdays from January to June chronologically, their life experiences summarized with brevity to show learned behaviors that can foster a successful life, along with quotations that reflect their personal philosophies. For instance, the well-respected George Washington said of his personal standard, "I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable title the character of an honest man." Through study and personal application of the maxims like these and traits manifest in these men, we can each enrich our own domain

Here are pithy profiles of America's forty-two presidents and a collection of the most memorable things they ever said. Their words, a walk through American and world history, show us the presidents as men and as leaders; they reveal their times, and how times have changed. Organized by president and indexed by subject, this is an indispensable historical reference that casts America's presidents in a revealing new light.

In a campaign for state or local office these days, you’re as likely today to hear accusations that an opponent advanced Obamacare or supported Donald Trump as you are to hear about issues affecting the state or local community. This is because American political behavior has become substantially more nationalized. American voters are far more engaged with and knowledgeable about what’s happening in Washington, DC, than in similar messages whether they are in the South, the Northeast, or the Midwest. Gone are the days when all politics was local. With The Increasingly United States, Daniel J. Hopkins explores this trend and its implications for the American political system. The change is significant in part because it works against a key rationale of America’s federalist system, which was built on the assumption that citizens would be more strongly attached to their states and localities. It also has profound implications for how voters are represented. If voters are well informed about state politics, for example, the governor has an incentive to deliver what voters—or at least a pivotal segment of them—want. But if voters are likely to back the same party in gubernatorial as in presidential elections irrespective of the governor’s actions in office, governors may instead come to see their ambitions as tethered more closely to their status in the national party.

The messages of the several Presidents of the United States—annual, veto, and special—are among the most interesting, instructive, and valuable contributions to the public literature of our Republic. They discuss from the loftiest standpoint nearly all the great questions of national policy and many subjects of minor interest which have engaged the attention of the people from the beginning of our history, and so constitute important and often vital links in their progressive development. The proclamations, also, contain matter and sentiment no less elevating, interesting, and important. They inspire to the highest and most exalted degree the patriotic fervor and love of country in the hearts of the people. It is believed that legislators and other public men, students of our national history, and many others will hail with satisfaction the compilation and publication of these messages and proclamations in such compact form as will render them easily accessible and of ready reference. The work can not fail to be exceedingly convenient and useful to all who have occasion to consult these documents. The Government has never heretofore authorized a like publication. In executing the commission with which I have been charged I have sought to bring together in the several volumes of the series all Presidential proclamations, addresses, messages, and communications to Congress excepting those nominating persons to office and those which simply transmit treaties, and reports of heads of Departments which contain no recommendation from the Executive. The utmost effort has been made to render the compilation accurate and exhaustive. Although not required by the terms of the resolution authorizing the compilation, it has been deemed wise and wholly consistent with its purpose to incorporate in the first volume authentic copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution of the United States, together with steel engravings of the Capitol, the Executive Mansion, and of the historical painting the "Signing of the Declaration of Independence." Steel portraits of the Presidents will be inserted each in its appropriate place.