William Leuchtenburg has finished a book decades in the making

Is it too early to start putting the 2016 presidential election in historical perspective?

Maybe.

But it is never too early to ask presidential historian and UNC-Chapel Hill emeritus history professor William Leuchtenburg to size up today’s presidential politics in light of the experiences of other presidents and presidential candidates.

Leuchtenburg recently completed work on a 752-page book, “The American President: From Teddy Roosevelt to Bill Clinton,” scheduled for publication in December by Oxford University Press.

Oxford says the book will be “an enthralling account of American presidential actions from the assassination of William McKinley in 1901 to Bill Clinton’s last night in office in January 2001. William Leuchtenburg, one of the great presidential historians of the century, portrays each of the presidents in a chronicle sparkling with anecdote and wit.” ...