Looking back to the timeless political theories of Aristotle and Machiavelli, Erwin C. Hargrove asks how presidents can most effectively combine political arts and skills with intellectual and moral leadership. He draws on his own scholarly research and synthesizes critical thinking about leadership, especially the point-counterpoint perspectives of Richard Neustadt and James MacGregor Burns.

With insight and intelligence, he shows how effective leadership demands a judicious balance of commitment to the public good and an ability to discern the possibilities for political action at any moment.

Hargrove argues that political leadership must contain a moral element if it is to be fully effective, and that a successful president provides leadership in accord with the ideals embedded in American culture. To demonstrate this theory, he suggests a model with which to analyze, compare, and evaluate political leaders, and then assesses the presidencies of Franklin Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, and Ronald Reagan according to the model's normative implications.

By examining these three presidents in terms of skill, character, cultural leadership, and other qualities, Hargrove extends his analysis beyond individual presidents to generate keen insights about presidential leadership in general.