Uncommon sense

by James MacGregor Burns

In this stirring and thoughtful book, Burns seeks to determine why the American system has failed. Why did the U.S. permit racial injustice and poverty? Why did we embark on the Vietnam War and why did U.S. leadership lose its nerve?

196 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1972

About the author

An award-winning author of presidential and leadership studies, James MacGregor Burns was the Woodrow Wilson Professor of Government Emeritus at Williams College and Distinguished Leadership Scholar at the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership of the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, College Park. He received his bachelor's degree from Williams College and his Ph.D. in political science from Harvard, and he also attended the London School of Economics. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he was past president of the American Political Science Association and the International Society of Political Psychology.