Presidential Leadership and African Americans examines the leadership styles of eight American presidents and shows how the decisions made by each affected the lives and opportunities of the nation's black citizens. Beginning with George Washington and concluding with the landmark election of Barack Obama, Goethals traces the evolving attitudes and morality that influenced the actions of each president on matters of race, and shows how their personal backgrounds as well as their individual historical, economic, and cultural contexts combined to shape their values, judgments, and decisions, and ultimately their leadership, regarding African Americans.

George R. Goethals, PhD, is the E. Claiborne Robins Distinguished Professor in Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond. He is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Society of Experimental Social Psychology, and the Association for Psychological Science. He is also a member of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.

Series Editor Foreword Preface Introduction: Presidential Leadership and the American Dilemma 1. George Washington 2. Thomas Jefferson 3. Abraham Lincoln 4. Ulysses S. Grant 5. Theodore Roosevelt 6. Woodrow Wilson 7. Harry S. Truman 8. Lyndon B. Johnson Conclusion: The Last Half Century Index