In this multifaceted look at rhetorical leadership, twelve leading scholars in three different disciplines provide in-depth studies of how words have served - or failed to serve - American presidents. To be effective, they find, presidents must be able to articulate the common good in a particular situation and they must be credible on the basis of their own character. The chapters examine George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton.