Cultural Writing. Politics. Journalism. Over the past thirty years covering presidential politics for the Los Angeles Times, award-winning journalist Robert Scheer has conducted in-depth interviews with Presidents Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Clinton, and Bush I. These conversations have shaped journalism history and significantly impacted national debate--such as his eminent 1976 Playboy interview in which then-presidential candidate Jimmy Carter admitted to lusting in his heart; and a 1980 Los Angeles Times interview with George Bush I, who bungled his campaign against Reagan in the Republican primary by detailing for Scheer his vision of a "winnable nuclear war." In PLAYING PRESIDENT, Scheer offers an unparalleled insight into the presidential mind. He anchors his seminal interviews and profiles with new analyses of each President, offering insights that will educate readers of all political stripes.

Robert Scheer (born 1936) is an American journalist who formerly wrote a nationally syndicated op-ed column for the San Francisco Chronicle from a liberal perspective. He teaches communications as a professor at the University of Southern California and edits the online magazine Truthdig.