Ebook: Wounded titans: American presidents and the perils of power

"Lerner believed that the nature of the office transforms presidents into titans, but wounded titans, bowed and sometimes broken by forces, fate, destiny, or history, that lie beyond their control. Roosevelt's attempt to pack the Supreme Court; Truman's efforts to manhandle the steel industry; Eisenhower's belief that he could control the military-industrial complex; Kennedy's hyperactive libido and recklessness; Nixon's conviction he could manipulate the political process: each president has had immortal yearnings, and the office that inflated his pride as well as enlarged his flaws. With a new foreword, Wounded Titans contains Lerner's classic essays on the presidency and its development as well as his most famous presidential portraits and the best of his campaign journalism. Learned, wise, illuminating, entertaining, both timely and timeless, Wounded Titans is as large as spirit and scope as the American presidency iteself"--Back cover.;Part I: Aspects of the presidency and some assessments -- Foreword -- The style and genius of American politics -- Presidency and demos -- Presidential leadership in the New America -- Wounded titans -- The shaping of American presidents -- Eros and power -- Desire and power in the White House -- The ardors and tribulations of the journey of liberalism. Part II: A gallery of presidents -- Foreword -- Thomas Jefferson -- Abraham Lincoln -- Franklin D. Roosevelt -- Harry S. Truman -- Richard Nixon -- Ronald Reagan. Part III: Electing a president -- Foreword -- 1940: Roosevelt vs. Willkie -- 1944: Roosevelt vs. Dewey -- 1948: Truman vs. Dewey -- 1952: Eisenhower vs. Stevenson -- 1956: Eisenhower vs. Stevenson -- 1960: Kennedy vs. Nixon -- 1964: Johnson vs. Goldwater -- 1968: Nixon vs. Humphrey -- 1972: Nixon vs. McGovern -- 1976: Carter vs. Ford -- 1980: Reagan vs. Carter -- 1984: Reagan vs. Mondale -- 1988: Bush vs. Dukakis -- 1992: Clinton vs. Bush -- President hunting in an electronic wonderland.