This book looks systematically at the extent to which Jews, women, African Americans, Latinos, Asians and gay men and lesbians have entered the higher circles of power that constituted what sociologist C. Wright Mills called 'the power elite.' Using a deft combination of academic research and telling anecdotes, the book examines the backgrounds and careers of such well-known members of the power elite as attorney general Alberto Gonzales, secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, former secretary of state Colin Powell, and former C.E.O. of Hewlett-Packard Carly Fiorina to explain why and how the power elite has diversified and the effect this diversification has had on the way power works in the United States.