How the Best Did It

Leadership Lessons from Our Top Presidents

Talmage Boston

• Publisher: Post Hill Press
• Year: 2024
• eBook ISBN: 9781637586983
• Edition: 0
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Personal Success
• Index: History

AS SEEN ON BILL O’REILLY

How the Best Did It is an accessible and insightful explanation of how the most important leadership traits from America’s eight greatest presidents can be implemented by today’s leaders.

“A discerning examination of what all of us can learn from some of our most effective leaders who have held—and wielded—ultimate power at the highest level.” —Jon Meacham

David O. Stewart (author of George Washington: The Political Rise of America’s Founding Father) on the George Washington chapter:
“In How the Best Did It, Talmage Boston demonstrates rare gifts in sifting gold nuggets from the endless gravel beds of known facts about eight leading presidents, then delivering them concisely and persuasively. In his insightful study of George Washington, he finds the core of America’s first great leader without exaggerating his talents, and makes him someone from whom we can learn and cherish.”

Annette Gordon-Reed (Pulitzer-winning historian and coauthor of Most Blessed of the Patriarchs: Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination) on the Thomas Jefferson chapter:
“Thomas Jefferson was one the most effective American leaders of his time, creating a political party that dominated American politics for more than a quarter of a century. With great insight and clear writing, Talmage Boston brings Jefferson to life as the talented leader who shaped the course of early American society.”

Ronald C. White Jr. (author of A. Lincoln and three other notable books on Lincoln) on the Abraham Lincoln chapter:
“Talmage Boston offers a wise and wide-ranging understanding of Lincoln’s leadership qualities. What makes Boston’s chapter distinct is the personal questions that challenge the reader to apply Lincoln’s values to their lives today.”

Table of contents

• Copyright
• Table of Contents
• FOREWORD
• INTRODUCTION
• CHAPTER ONE: HOW TO MOVE UP THE LADDER—LIKE GEORGE WASHINGTON
• CHAPTER TWO: HOW TO MAXIMIZE HARMONY, IMAGINATION, LONG-TERM VISION, AND POWER—LIKE THOMAS JEFFERSON
• CHAPTER THREE: HOW TO BE THE MOST SUCCESSFUL AND ESTEEMED LEADER IMAGINABLE—LIKE ABRAHAM LINCOLN
• CHAPTER FOUR: HOW TO USE INFORMATION, EXPAND ONE’S DOMAIN OF POWER, AND BROKER RESOLUTION OUT OF CONFLICT—LIKE THEODORE ROOSEVELT
• CHAPTER FIVE: HOW TO STARE DOWN ADVERSITY AND COMMAND PUBLIC SENTIMENT—LIKE FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
• CHAPTER SIX: HOW TO ORGANIZE AND LEAD A STAFF, REAP DIVIDENDS WITH PATIENCE, AND PLAY HARDBALL WHEN NECESSARY—LIKE DWIGHT EISENHOWER
• CHAPTER SEVEN: HOW TO GROW IN OFFICE, STAY CALM IN A CRISIS, AND HAVE WORDS INSPIRE PROGRESS—LIKE JOHN F. KENNEDY
• CHAPTER EIGHT: HOW TO INSPIRE OPTIMISM AND MAINTAIN PRINCIPLED VISION—LIKE RONALD REAGAN
• CLOSING THOUGHTS
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• The Twenty-Four Leadership Traits of Our Top Presidents
• Endnotes