Carnes Lord

Second, and more to the point of the contemporary moment, if this book can be said to belong to the literary genre of “mirror of princes,” no one today better resembles the face in that mirror than the forty-fifth president of the United States.

the practice of American statecraft has shown little improvement in the Bush and Obama eras, while the negative trends I identified in areas such as public administration, law, and education have worsened markedly. Indeed, they are a significant part of the explanation for the Trump revolution.

In these and other respects, they look to presidents not only for competent management of the nation’s affairs, but for justice and a measure of inspiration. This is why the character of presidents matters. Indeed, given the ethos of instant gratification that pervades popular culture throughout much of the West today, personal integrity in our leaders seems both more fragile and more necessary than ever.