Leadership: In Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin

[gilda_elise]

Are leaders born or made? Where does ambition come from? How does adversity affect the growth of leadership? Does the leader make the times or do the times make the leader?

In Leadership, Goodwin draws upon the four presidents she has studied most closely—Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson (in civil rights)—to show how they recognized leadership qualities within themselves and were recognized as leaders by others. By looking back to their first entries into public life, we encounter them at a time when their paths were filled with confusion, fear, and hope.

Leadership tells the story of how they all collided with dramatic reversals that disrupted their lives and threatened to shatter forever their ambitions. Nonetheless, they all emerged fitted to confront the contours and dilemmas of their times.

No common pattern describes the trajectory of leadership. Although set apart in background, abilities, and temperament, these men shared a fierce ambition and a deep-seated resilience that enabled them to surmount uncommon hardships. At their best, all four were guided by a sense of moral purpose. At moments of great challenge, they were able to summon their talents to enlarge the opportunities and lives of others.

Much of the information about FDR wasn’t new to me. To a lesser extent, the same could be said of Abraham Lincoln and TR. But I learned quite a bit about LBJ, to the point where I could see the similarities between him and the other three men. All four faced adversity, and through that, came to understand their fellow countrymen who had so much less. They would gain the empathy to try to use their power to help those less fortunate. All four would succeed to different degrees.

Perhaps it was a coincidence, but it would be Lincoln and FDR who would have more success, the two men who would die in office. By refusing another term, TR and LBJ gave up the opportunity to cement their legacies. Both would stumble, TR by running as an independent, LBJ with the Vietnam War, and fall.

The book is set in three parts: Ambition and the Recognition of Leadership, Adversity and Growth, and The Leader and the Times: How They Led. Done in this way, the book, step by step, reveals the four men.






Links are to more information regarding each book or author, not to the review.

1. The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson
2. The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig
3. The Autumn Throne (Eleanor of Aquitaine #3) by Elizabeth Chadwick
4. Grant's Final Victory: Ulysses S. Grant's Heroic Last Year by Charles Bracelen Flood
5. Doctor Sleep (The Shining #2) by Stephen King



6. The High House by Jessie Greengrass
7. Leadership: In Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin







Leadership: In Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Comments

[bradygirl_12]

Sounds interesting! I already know a lot about the first three, and have some knowledge of LBJ. He was a good domestic leader, but as we all know, Vietnam destroyed his presidency and legacy.

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

Same here, which is why I set up to record the series that CNN is having about LBJ. The book was an eye-opener in the good that he did, his relationship with FDR, and how he sought to emulate him. Vietnam, indeed, was his downfall.

[aeris444.livejournal.com]

Congrats on another book!

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm on a roll. ☺️

[honor-reid.livejournal.com]

I read Doris Kearns Goodwin's book Team of Rivals a long time ago but from what I can remember it was really good and through. This one sounds fascinating I know a fair amount about Lincoln, and FDR but learning more about Teddy and LBJ would be interesting.

I am glad that you enjoyed it!

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

I have Team of Rivals, but haven't gotten round to it yet. I did enjoy No Ordinary Time, her book about FDR and Eleanor during the War. But this book did open my eyes to LBJ.

And, yes, I thoroughly enjoyed it. 🙂

[evan0woods.livejournal.com]

[severina2001.livejournal.com]

Yay for one (weighty tome) more!

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

Lots of information, but presented in an easy to read fashion. On to the next!