Americans often use terms such as To err is human, or nobody s perfect, or we all make mistakes. Of course, this is true, as it is for all of America s leaders through the years.

This book is about decisions made in politics or public policy that may be considered unwise; bad decisions that had unintended negative consequences for the decision-maker. This will not include personal decisions like deciding who to marry or whether to get divorced but rather to look at those political and policy decisions that can be considered, at the very least, unwise. Similarly, Kennedy s decision to visit Dallas in November 1963 led to his death but doesn t really qualify as a decision of real political or policy calculation. Lincoln going to Ford s theatre would be in that same category.

Instead, Unforced Errors lists 15 political calculations made by political figures, often at the pinnacle of their own success, which changed American history.