"Presidents of War is a narrative of how a procession of Chief Executives took the nation into major conflicts, mobilized Americans for victory, and seized greater power for themselves. Michael Beschloss's findings in original letters, diaries, and declassified documents, and his interviews with surviving participants in the drama, allow him to bring us into the room and into the minds of these men as they make the most difficult decisions that face any President, at times sending hundreds of thousands of American men and women to their deaths. From James Madison and the War of 1812 to Lyndon Johnson and Vietnam, we see these leaders struggling with Congress, the courts, the press, their own advisers, and antiwar protesters; seeking comfort from their spouses, families, and friends; and dropping to their knees in prayer. We come to understand how these Presidents were able to withstand the pressures of war -- both physically and emotionally -- or were broken by them. Beschloss shows how far we have traveled, from the time of our Founders, who tried to constrain presidential power, to our modern day, when a single leader has the potential to launch nuclear weapons that can destroy much of the human race."--

From a preeminent presidential historian comes a groundbreaking and often surprising saga of America's wartime chief executives.

Presidential historian Michael Beschloss uses original letters, diaries, declassified documents, and interviews to bring us into the room and into the minds of a procession of Chief Executives who took the nation into major conflicts, mobilized Americans for victory, and seized greater power for themselves. From James Madison and the War of 1812 to Lyndon Johnson and Vietnam, we see these leaders struggling with Congress, the courts, the press, their own advisers, and antiwar protesters; seeking comfort from their spouses, families, and friends; and dropping to their knees in prayer. We come to understand how these Presidents were able to withstand the pressures of war -- both physically and emotionally -- or were broken by them.

Presidential historian Michael Beschloss uses original letters, diaries, declassified documents, and interviews to bring us into the room and into the minds of a procession of Chief Executives who took the nation into major conflicts, mobilized Americans for victory, and seized greater power for themselves. From James Madison and the War of 1812 to Lyndon Johnson and Vietnam, we see these leaders struggling with Congress, the courts, the press, their own advisers, and antiwar protesters; seeking comfort from their spouses, families, and friends; and dropping to their knees in prayer. We come to understand how these Presidents were able to withstand the pressures of war -- both physically and emotionally -- or were broken by them.

Ten years in research and writing, Presidents of War is a fresh, magisterial, intimate look at a procession of American leaders as they took the nation into conflict and mobilized their country for victory. It brings us into the room as they make the most difficult decisions that face any President, at times sending hundreds of thousands of American men and women to their deaths.