Published by Basic Books in 2008, the work chronicles United States history with a specific focus on the relative performances of different national leaders, the author contrasting his categorized approach with what he views as the sloppier record of past rankings.

Presidents receive distinct analysis based on multiple factors including economic wisdom, ideal-based foresight, personal character, and more in the book.

[1] Felzenberg's broad motivation for the book came from his interest in American presidents and his intent "not to fix their reputations in concrete, but to provoke discussion.

"[1] Looking back at past discussions over the various American presidents and historical rankings later made of them, the author argues that the academic process has fallen victim to certain negative trends, and he stresses that the analysis must not only attempt to evaluate individuals based on broad assessments of their performance but on a composite approach looking at different leadership categories.

These, in Felzenberg's opinion, should include looking at diverse factors from the performance of the U.S. economy due to presidential actions to leaders' behaviors in advancing the causes of individual liberty to intellectual competence in the administrations managed by the presidents and more.