"This book takes a difficult and controversial topic and explores it with a new richness and texture. It enhances our understanding of the presidency. Kerbel's approach is a novel one, and should be read by every student of the American presidency. I believe that this is a major contribution to the discipline." -- John K. White, Catholic University of America "This book has merit on the basis of its rich comparative insights on the Carter and Reagan administrations alone, but Kerbel goes beyond this to make it an even more attractive work. It will receive wide acclaim for breaking new ground on the linkage between organizational efficiency and leadership effectiveness. The rigor and style of the work are not unlike Richard Fenno and John Kingdon.

General concepts like flexibility and inflexibility which are of great importance in the work of James David Barber and others are assessed in a more systematic and meaningful fashion. I am enthusiastic about this work." -- Phillip G. Henderson, author of Managing the Presidency "This is an impressive, well-bounded, thoughtful, articulate, and above all sane approach to presidential leadership. This work offers the reader both useful data and a real 'feel' for the persuasive techniques. It is very well written, and in a friendly style. The book is refreshing for its clearheaded methodology and unpretentious style. Yet it is important, timely, and very useful for other scholars.

" --Robert Spitzer, State University of New York at Cortland.