The

The You could argue that the presidency of the United States is the greatest test of leadership in the world.

It isn't easy to lead the most powerful country on earth, especially when you are the focal

point for the hopes of millions of people. Americans, for better, for worse, look to the president

to lead their country, to protect them from all threats, to generate prosperity and to secure

their future. It's an incredible burden, and Americans often blame their

leaders for when things go wrong, regardless of whether that thing was really their fault.

It's a tough job, and I've heard many people over the years say that they would be miserable

if they had to do it. If the presidency is an incredible test of leadership, it stands to reason that we can learn

much about leadership from those presidents who we consider the most successful. Now, there's a whole

cottage industry on the art and science of leadership. Well, our guest today has studied presidential

history in search of leadership lessons that we can apply in our own lives.

He's written a book titled How the Best Did It, Leadership Lessons from Our Top Presidents.

He's been a public speaker and trial attorney who has written many op-eds and several books and is the host of a podcast called Cross-Examining History.

His name is Talmadge Boston, and we're so happy he's here on this podcast.

So Talmadge, tell me about the journey that led you to write this book. Well, Richard, I'm glad to be

on your podcast. I've been a student of presidential history since I was seven years old, and I'm now

70 years old, so that's a long time. And with each passing year, it becomes more intriguing.

My last book before this one, eight years ago, was called Cross-examining History.

A lawyer gets answers from the experts about our presidents, and it was the edited transcripts of my on-stage interviews with leading presidential insiders, people like Henry Kissinger,

James Baker, Linda Johnson, Rob, Andy Card, and John Sununu, but mainly presidential biographers

on the order of David McCullough, John Meacham, Evan Thomas, Doug Brinkley, Mark Up to Grove.

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