(FORTUNE Magazine) – Did bedtime reading for young Jerry Useem consist of the collected works of Peter Drucker? Naaah. But for some reason, Useem has long shown uncanny interest in the arcana of management and business history and a rare ability to serve up insights on those topics with flair and wit. He cites one influence close to home: his dad, Michael, a professor at the Wharton School and a respected management writer himself. I also credit a few misspent years after college when Jerry worked up case studies for the Harvard Business School--they still talk about the one on whether Beavis and Butt-head were corrupting America's youth, entitled, naturally, "This Case Sucks." For FORTUNE, Jerry has written covers on, among other topics, the lessons of the dot-com crash, what it takes to be a post-Sept. 11 leader, and why companies fail (which he co-authored with consultant Ram Charan).

Not surprisingly, he's all over this special issue on today's embattled CEOs, but Useem is hardly our only go-to guy. Senior editor Vera Titunik and executive editor Joe Nocera put the magazine together with big assists from senior editor Beth Fenner and senior writer Pattie Sellers, and a fine cover story by Betsy Morris. Fran Fifield conceived and executed the elegant design, and Courtenay Dolan led our crack photo team. Our aim was to capture in a memorable, useful, and, yes, cheeky way this remarkable moment in the history of that classic FORTUNE subject--the CEO. We hope you like it.