It is often said that politics is an amoral realm of power and interest inwhich moral judgment is irrelevant. In this book, by contrast, John Kaneargues that people’s positive moral judgments of political actors andinstitutions provide leaders with an important resource, which hechristens ‘‘moral capital.’’ Negative judgments cause a loss of moralcapital which jeopardizes legitimacy and political survival. Studies ofseveral historical and contemporary leaders – Lincoln, de Gaulle, Mandela,Aung San Suu Kyi – illustrate the signiWcance of moral capital forpolitical legitimation, mobilizing support, and the creation of strategicopportunities. In the book’s Wnal section, Kane applies his arguments tothe American presidency from Kennedy to Clinton. He argues that amoral crisis has aZicted the nation at its mythical heart and has beenrefracted through and enacted within its central institutions, eroding themoral capital of government and people and undermining the nation’smorale.