In September 2003, seven former heads of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs gathered for the first time ever to compare their experiences working for every president from Richard Nixon to Bill Clinton. For two days, these congressional liaisons, charged with moving their respective presidents' legislative agendas through an independent - and sometimes hostile - Congress, shared first-hand views of the intricacies of presidential-congressional relations: how it works, how it doesn't work, and the fascinating interplay of personalities, events, and politics that happens along the...