Leadership: In Turbulent Times, by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Review by Dave Gamrath
One-liner: Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin provides historic examples of successful presidential leadership during times of crisis, documenting how Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson navigated against long odds to successful outcomes.
Book Review:
Pulitzer prize winning Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin has written multiple presidential biographies. In her latest, Leadership: In Turbulent Times, Kearns Goodwin draws on four of her previous bestselling biographies to detail challenges Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson overcame on their road to becoming President, and how these challenges helped to shape their performance when confronting national crises. Although facing very different struggles, each of these four drew strongly on lessons learned from personal adversity to guide them as national leaders, and cement them in American history as successful leaders in turbulent times.
Kearns Goodwin divides her book into three sections. Each section includes a chapter covering each of her four subjects. Her first section describes the early life of these future Presidents, and how they followed very different paths towards leadership. On the surface it seems a stretch to compare the poverty Lincoln and Johnson faced to the wealth and privilege of the Roosevelts. But even the Roosevelts traveled a difficult road in developing their remarkable leadership skills. Embedded within the development of all four, whether rich or poor, was the shaping of their values towards empathy for less fortunate Americans. As young, budding leaders, all four grew to believe that a key element of their life mission was the improvement of life for the disadvantaged. They were all highly ambitious, and this ambition strengthened their passion to help struggling Americans.
Always a remarkable storyteller, Kearns Goodwin writes in a way that allows the reader to feel the pain each of her subjects felt when adversity struck, including Lincoln’s severe depression as he struggled to find success as a young lawyer and budding politician; Teddy Roosevelt’s depth of despair after the tragic deaths, on the same day, of his wife and mother; Franklin Roosevelt’s plight as he fought to overcome being paralyzed by polio; and Lyndon Johnson’s severe depression after a major political defeat. All of these setbacks came very close to ending their ambitions, if not, as in Lincoln’s case, even his life. Many thought Lincoln’s depression would kill him, and no one believed FDR could overcome being paralyzed by polio. They all fought lengthy battles to pull themselves out of their depths of despair, and somehow find a clear path forward. From these efforts, each became a highly successful leader.
Although the four served decades apart, their specific leadership successes focused on by Kearns Goodwin involved fighting for basic rights for the working class and the most disadvantaged in American society. Lincoln skillfully maneuvered the passage of the Emancipation Proclamation, leading to the ending of slavery in America. Theodore Roosevelt, without legal authority, was able to end a major American coal strike to the benefit of the laborers. FDR led the country out of the depths of the Great Depression. Lyndon Johnson led the passage of the Civil Rights Act. As Kearns Goodwin walks the reader through the complex challenges facing each of these leaders, she identifies 15 to 20 specific leadership strategies employed by each President. Although these strategies differed to account for specific circumstances, all reflected the leadership qualities these Presidents had developed. All four had their own unique leadership styles, yet all four were able to build a coalition of support, including support from the opposing political party, as well as from a majority of Americans.
Even though Leadership: In Turbulent Times focuses on these specific accomplishments of each president, they all achieved much more. Lincoln won the Civil War and began the process of healing the country. Theodore Roosevelt broke up the Trusts. After leading America out of the Great Depression, FDR led America to success in World War II. Kearns Goodwin admits that Lyndon Johnson had many flaws, and readily admits his failure in Vietnam, but even still, Johnson did much towards racial justice and the alleviation of poverty in America through his Great Society programs.
Kearns Goodwin writes “It is my hope that these stories of leadership in times of fracture and fear will prove instructive and reassuring”, and “from them (we can) gain a better perspective on the discord of our times.” Lincoln, the Roosevelts and Johnson all brought people together, built strong coalitions across political divides, inspired confidence and healed wounds. They took extensive political risk for the sake of improving the lives of deprived and underprivileged Americans. They exerted enormous personal effort, to the detriment of their own health, into achieving these goals. And for this, they remain an inspiration.
Clearly today’s turbulent times drove Kearns Goodwin to write this book. In addition to her defining examples of successful presidential leadership strategies, Kearns Goodwin more importantly defines the personal qualities a successful leader requires to solve enormous problems, and to bring people together, even under the most difficult circumstances. These include optimism, authenticity, empathy, compassion and coalition building. Comparing how these qualities resided in and were utilized by Lincoln, Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt, and even Lyndon Johnson, gives the reader a stark, harsh distinction between these past leaders and our current President.
Being an avid reader of American history, I am fully aware that Kearns Goodwin’s subjects were not perfect, and are at times the focus of legitimate criticism. Kearns Goodwin touches on these imperfections, which are important in a thorough analysis. But flaws in their behavior, performance or character are remarkably minuscule when compared to those exhibited on a daily basis by our current President. Kearns Goodwin provides a compelling historical perspective, providing the reader clear, vivid benchmarks from which to judge current Presidential failure.
Reviewer Opinion:
As always with Kearns Goodwin’s books, it reads like a good novel.
Reviewer Rating of Book:
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