Decades of reading, teaching, and writing about recent United States history and especially about twentieth-century presidents form an essential background to the composition of this book.
As with every book I published, the assistance of others has been invaluable.
John Wright, my literary agent, facilitated my writing and publication by HarperCollins. Conversations with Peter Kovler helped shape my conclusions about Donald Trump. Rebecca Dallek and Mike Bender came up with the title. Geri Dallek, Matthew Dallek, Michal Kazin, David Kennedy, and Richard Weiss read the manuscript and provided constructive suggestions for revision of construction and content.
I am indebted to Jonathan Jao for encouragement and editing of the manuscript that has made this a more readable book. Sarah Haugen, the associate editor, skillfully managed the work of converting the manuscript into a book. The copy editor, Josh Karpf, did an excellent job of eliminating errors and improving my prose. Any errors that remain are entirely my responsibility. I would add to this that my critical assessment of Trump as a president and politician are the result of his behavior, and future commentators on his term as president will more than likely view him as lacking the background and temperament to serve as an effective leader.