By the end of the 20th century, after decades of demoralizing revelations about the mendacity of their elected officials, most Americans had come to accept the fact that deception was not only an accepted practice in government but also pervasive. Whatever the reasons proposed to justify falsehoods - practicality, expediency, extraordinary conditions of wartime - the ability to lie convincingly had come to be regarded as almost being a qualification for holding public office. Although such behaviour has come to be tolerated, little accounting has been taken of the effects of this institutionalized dishonesty in our political culture.

In When Presidents Liejournalist and historian Eric Alterman examines four key presidential lies of the postwar period, all of them regarding a crucial question of war and peace.

When Presidents Lieis history at its most compelling, a balanced, eloquent, and revelatory chronicle of presidential dishonesty and its incalculable costs.