Summary
Offers the story of how the American presidency was shaped during the Constitutional Convention, in a history that includes Gouverneur Morris, James Madison, and George Washington, each trying to see his vision for the office of the president realized. Full description
- Part I. Precedents (for better and mostly worse): little gods on earth: monarchs and their governors; revolution and the retreat from executive authority
- Part II. Conjuring the office: first draft; second guesses; Gouverneur Morris's final push
- Part III. Field tests: selling the plan; the launch; Washington and the challenge to transcendent leadership; system failure: partisan politics and the election of 1800; Jefferson stretches the limits.