We owe a special thanks to former Attorney General Edwin Meese, currently Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Ed's generosity with his time, advice, and willingness always to go the extra mile assured the success of this project. He moderated six of the nine public programs and was a presenter at two. He brought to each task his deep knowledge of the presidency and the good cheer and wisdom that was evident in every post he held over the course of several decades of public service.

My thanks also go to Executive Vice President Phil Truluck and Vice Presidents Stuart Butler and Kim Holmes of The Heritage Foundation. Each was indispensable to the endeavor, providing guidance and offering sound suggestions. Their assistance was invaluable in helping me to cull the ideas and draw out the most illustrative quotes from the hundreds of pages of transcripts from the Heritage forums that form the heart of this book. Heritage Foundation President Edwin Feulner and Vice President Mike Franc provided invaluable additional advice on the selection of speakers for the events.

Many individuals at Heritage helped to make the public events successful, including Julene Haworth, David Cole, Ryan Ellis, Matt Spalding, Melissa Naudin, Emily Stimpson, Cathi Smith, Melinda Brown, Allison Klucas, and Viktoria Ziebarth.

Vice President Herb Berkowitz and Kristine Bershers helped spread the word about the Mandate project to the public; Andrew Blasko helped assemble photographs; John Dickson posted the nine transcripts on the Web.

Special thanks for assuring the quality of this publication go to Angela Antonelli, David Cole, Dan Fisk, Bill Poole, Jan Smith, Leslie Greenberg, Richard Odermatt, Tom Timmons, Michelle Smith, and Anne Gartland.

Last, but hardly least, I want to express my deep appreciation to each of the presenters and panelists who appeared at the nine public Mandate events. It is their sage advice, based in many cases on years of service to the nation, that is being passed on to those who will serve in future administrations.

--Alvin S. Felzenberg