Reminds readers that it is important to look back at presidential precedents and pitfalls, carrying forward these lessons as they look ahead in the "search for the perfect president." This book issues three cheers for those who run for the presidency, and for all their helpers and advisers who provide choices. "For the past forty years, Tom Cronin has been one of the most creative students of the presidency and a president in his own right, a keen observer of national politics, a candidate for national office, and a White House staffer. In this book, he brings his unique vantage points, insights, and knowledge to describe the paradoxes and puzzles of the contemporary presidency and offers clues to resolving these paradoxes and solving the puzzles." -Stephen J. Wayne, Georgetown University "Thank you for letting me read Tom Cronin's On the Presidency. It is the most realistic and probing study of the presidency I have encountered. From his lifelong study of political leaders, Tom Cronin has delivered a timely and readable account of the accomplishments and failings of the presidency. This is a sophisticated primer on the essence of the presidency in the past and today." -the late James MacGregor Burns, author of Readership and Running Alone