Leuchtenburg (history, U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) explores how the legacies of Franklin Delano Roosevelt influenced the presidencies of his successors. He focuses on the Democratic presidents: Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama (for the first 100 days). He does include some discussion of Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford, as well as a more substantial treatment of Ronald Reagan's presidency. The focus is generally on the ways that the various presidents interpreted, echoed, and/or distanced themselves from the New Deal domestic policies of the Roosevelt administration. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)