I am currently reading "The President's Club" (http://www.amazon.com/The-Presidents-Club-Exclusive-Fraterni...), which is a book about the unofficial club formed by former presidents. It's also, necessarily, about the relationships that all of the presidents in the modern era (Hoover on up) have had with each other, both in and out of office.
One of the major themes (so far) is the notion that nothing can prepare you for being president. The job is so hard, so complex, and the amount of information the president has access to is so much more than everyone else, that all new presidents have I-knew-it-was-hard-but-not-this-hard moments. The only exception perhaps being Eisenhower, whose job as Supreme Allied Commander in Europe during WWII actually did prepare him for being president.
One of the major themes (so far) is the notion that nothing can prepare you for being president. The job is so hard, so complex, and the amount of information the president has access to is so much more than everyone else, that all new presidents have I-knew-it-was-hard-but-not-this-hard moments. The only exception perhaps being Eisenhower, whose job as Supreme Allied Commander in Europe during WWII actually did prepare him for being president.