Picking Presidents - by Gautam Mukunda (Hardcover)

About the Book

"This book synthesizes a new way of understanding leader selection with research from political science, management, psychology, and other fields, to provide an objective, non-partisan way to evaluate Presidential candidates that anyone can use and that requires only information about candidates that would be widely available before the election. It's a system that American citizens can use to answer the most important question they are ever asked: Should this person be President? We begin by identifying what sort of presidential candidates are likely to become Presidents who will make a real difference. Surprisingly, not all Presidents do. Some, despite the awesome power placed in their hands, are surprisingly inconsequential. Then, we'll examine some of the best and worst of the 44 members of history's most exclusive club, which will help us understand what traits are likely to produce failed and successful presidencies, and how to detect them. Next, we'll use this lens to examine Donald Trump, the modern president who has perhaps inflamed the most intense passions on either end of the political spectrum, and Joe Biden, the President as this book goes to print. Finally, I will suggest some plausible reforms to the way we nominate candidates and changes to the powers of the Presidency that might help us improve the quality and performance of future presidents"--

Book Synopsis

"If you only read one book to understand how Democrats will, and should, pick a new nominee--and the stakes of the general election--read Picking Presidents, which explains how to judge if a Presidential candidate is worthy of sitting in the Oval Office."--Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author

Celebrated leadership expert and political scientist Gautam Mukunda provides a comprehensive, objective, and non-partisan method for answering the most important question in the world: is someone up to the job of president of the United States?

In Picking Presidents, Gautam Mukunda sets his sights on presidential candidates, proposing an objective and tested method to assess whether they will succeed or fail if they win the White House. Combining political science, psychology, organizational behavior, and economics, Picking Presidents will enable every American to cast an informed vote.

In his 2012 book Indispensable, which all but predicted the Trump presidency, Mukunda explained how both the very best and very worst leaders are "unfiltered"--outsiders who take power without the understanding or support of traditional elites. Picking Presidents provides deep analysis of filtered and unfiltered presidents alike, from failed haberdasher and skillful president Harry Truman, to the exceptionally well-qualified--and ultimately reviled--James Buchanan; from Andrew Johnson, who set civil rights back by a century, to Theodore Roosevelt, who evaded party opposition to transform American society. Picking Presidents lays out a clear framework that anyone can use to judge a candidate and answer the all-important question: are they up to the job?

From the Back Cover

"An essential read for every citizen, an important selection for every book club, and a cautionary analysis for our democracy at large. Gautam Mukunda's Picking Presidents is a thought-provoking review of the evolving way we have selected our chief executives, an honest appraisal of where we've gotten it right and painfully wrong, and a proposal for how we might make the most important hire in the world better."--Stanley McChrystal, retired US Army general

"Bad presidents are very dangerous. In this engaging empirical study, Gautam Mukunda offers sage guidance on reforms to lower the odds of choosing the worst."--David Frum, author of Trumpocalypse: Restoring American Democracy

"Gautam Mukunda has written a vital book for understanding how we pick presidents and why the process is so at odds with the job. It is carefully argued and leaves the reader with a framework for understanding what's wrong and how the system can be improved. The stakes are high. At the very least our understanding of the process should respect the enormous power of the office. You'll want to get this book and study it not just before the next presidential selection contest, but to understand the presidency itself."--John Dickerson, author of The Hardest Job in the World and CBS News Chief Political Analyst

Review Quotes

"I really can't say enough about his book. Shockingly prescient."-- "Tom Keene, Bloomberg"

"If you only read one book to understand how Democrats will, and should, pick a new nominee -- and the stakes of the general election -- read my friend @gmukunda's book Picking Presidents, which explains how to judge if a Presidential candidate is worthy of sitting in the Oval Office."-- "Thomas Friedman, New York Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author"

About the Author

Gautam Mukunda is a Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Center for Public Leadership, author of Indispensable: When Leaders Really Matter, and the host of NASDAQ's World Reimagined podcast. He was formerly an Assistant Professor at Harvard Business School and Distinguished Visiting Professor at Schwarzman College, Tsinghua University.