Skowronek revisits his political time thesis and focuses on how it helps us make sense of the presidencies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. The essays—some of which predate his book The Politics Presidents Make, some of which followed it, and one of which is wholly original to this volume—make his arguments about the politics of leadership generally accessible while also drawing them forward and highlighting new issues for our times.

Skowronek explains the typical political problems that presidents confront in political time, as well as the likely effects of their working through them. This allows him to draw out parallels in the politics of leadership between Andrew Jackson and Franklin Roosevelt and between James Polk and John Kennedy—and to develop a new and revealing perspective on the leadership of George W. Bush.