The Fate of the Union: America's Rocky Road to Political Stalemate illustrates how the circumstances of each quadrennial American presidential contest have piled on the next, melding into the past and suggesting the future.

The book explores the Clinton presidency as a continuum: first, placing it in the context of recent predecessors - from Truman to Bush - and then relating to the events that led to his election in 1992, shaped his inaugural term, and enabled him to win four more years in the White House.