The Scarlet Thread of Scandal: Morality and the American Presidency

Dunn's invaluable book offers an impartial examination of historical basis of the conduct of our past presidents. Rather than taking the standard polemical swipe at one political party, this book succintly and usefully explores how the moral integrity and failings of previous presidents have much to tell us. By force of a clear, readable writing style, Dunn offers strikingly lively vignettes of each president to have served, and through this to deliver an authoritative narrative regarding the moral underpinnings of our culture and what should be expected of our leaders. Cutting through both the inanity and ideological preconceptions associated with most, if not all, of the writing that address the political scene, Dunn's detached, scholarly and firmly objective treatment of what he terms, "the seamless garment of personal and public morality" that underlies our nation's highest elective office, promises to enliven the commentary on this timeless topic. This book offers a history lesson that civic-minded individuals should assuredly encounter.