An exploration of the moral blemishes that have dogged the leaders of Great Britain and the United States.

Before Britain had a prime minister – and before they invented America – the dictator Oliver Cromwell urged the artist Lely to paint him ‘warts and all’. This book deals with some of the ‘all’, but is mostly about the warts, the moral blemishes that have dogged the leaders of two of the greatest countries on earth for 300 years.

Scandalously, there are still no qualifications necessary for the job of prime minister or president, two of the most important positions in the world. And that lack of ability shows itself in spades throughout these pages. Robert Walpole knew that ‘every man has his price’ and bought people accordingly. Viscount Goderich broke down in tears, begging the king to fire him. George Washington, the revered saint of American creation, blew with the wind and owned slaves. Abraham Lincoln was prepared to send African Americans back to Africa to save the Union. William Gladstone popped out from Downing street to ‘save’ prostitutes. David Lloyd George gave people titles for money. Warren Harding had a string of mistresses, as did John Kennedy. And all this happened before Donald Trump!

Thank God the fourth estate was there, the free press watching every move of politicians. Who was watching them, of course, is another story.

If you thought – and prayed – that the occupants of No. 10 and the White House were honorable, competent people, you’re in for a bit of a shock.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Table of Prime Ministers and Presidents
• Introduction Scandal
• Chapter 1 The Prime Minister
• Chapter 2 The Fourth Estate
• Chapter 3 Number 10
• Chapter 4 The Whig Ascendancy
• Chapter 5 The Prime Ministers Who Lost America
• Chapter 6 The President
• Chapter 7 The White House
• Chapter 8 The Fathers Who Founded
• Chapter 9 Ministries and Talents
• Chapter 10 From Old Man Eloquent to the Worst President in History
• Chapter 11 Tories: Ultra and Liberal
• Chapter 12 Reform!
• Chapter 13 From War to the Gilded Age
• Chapter 14 Very Odd People
• Chapter 15 Old Gladeye v Dizzy
• Chapter 16 The Barnum Circus
• Chapter 17 From Splendid Isolation to Tipperary
• Chapter 18 War to War Carpeting
• Chapter 19 The New Deal and the Bomb
• Chapter 20 From Boom to Bust
• Chapter 21 From Camelot to Watergate
• Chapter 22 Grocers, Iron Ladies and Politicians Who Ran Away From the Circus
• Chapter 23 Making America Great Again
• Chapter 24 New Labour, New Nightmare
• Chapter 25 The Age of Hysteria
• Bibliography
• Notes
• Plates Section