by italics, and are very helpful. This is where Carter ties in relevant personal thoughts, past and present leaders and political players, and current events. Rather than being a distraction, these italicized notes are quite helpful and serve as a kind of a guide throughout the book. A good example of this mentioned by Carter is the 1978 FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act), which Congress passed and which Carter supported, but which was circumvented by President Bush in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks. If you're considering buying this book, you're likely beguiled by some of the suspicious, one star reviews here on Amazon. I'd like to address this before I continue with my own review. The latest tactic from conservative extremists is to criticize and demean anyone who has a differing political bent. It's a sad and distasteful way to represent the proud party of Lincoln; himself a gentleman and free thinker. In the spirit of free speech and intelligent discourse, there is certainly a place to argue the merits and deficiencies of our leaders. But a book review of any merit will focus on matters of writing style, content, and narrative; that's why it's called a "book review" and not a "cable news debate". Further, it lacks a fair and balanced sense of integrity if one criticizes a book they have never read. The lack of genuine content in these reviews makes this fact embarrassingly obvious. And, really, intelligent people of any political stripe deserve more than