Mr. President: how and why the founders created a chief executive

Part I. Precedents (for better and mostly worse): little gods on earth: monarchs and their governors; revolution and the retreat from executive authority

Part II. Conjuring the office: first draft; second guesses; Gouverneur Morris's final push

Part III. Field tests: selling the plan; the launch; Washington and the challenge to transcendent leadership; system failure: partisan politics and the election of 1800; Jefferson stretches the limits.