First published in January 1981, Mandate for Leadership served as a conservative plan of action for the Reagan Administration. By the end of Reagan’s first year, he had implemented nearly half of these ideas. This first edition of Mandate for Leadership appeared on the Washington Post’s paperback bestseller list, and the Post called it “an action plan for turning the government toward the right as fast as possible.”
Since 1981, Heritage has published five editions. The 2016 edition of Mandate for Leadership earned significant attention from the Trump Administration, which embraced 64 percent of its policy solutions.