Leadership in turbulent times / Doris Kearns Goodwin

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part 1. Ambition and the recognition of leadership -- Abraham: "Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition" -- Theodore: "I rose like a rocket" -- Franklin: "No, call me Franklin" -- Lyndon: "A steam engine in pants" -- Part 2. Adversity and growth -- Abraham Lincoln: "I must die or be better" -- Theodore Roosevelt: "The light has gone out of my life" -- Franklin Roosevelt: "Above all, try something" -- Lyndon Johnson: "The most miserable period of my life" -- Part 3. The leader and the times: how they led -- Transformational leadership: Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation -- Crisis management: Theodore Roosevelt and the Coal Strike -- Turnaround leadership: Franklin Roosevelt and the Hundred Days -- Visionary leadership: Lyndon Johnson and Civil Rights -- Epilogue: Of death and remembrance.

In this culmination of five decades of acclaimed studies in presidential history, Doris Kearns Goodwin offers an illuminating exploration of the early development, growth, and exercise of leadership. 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. 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 hardship. 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. This seminal work provides an accessible and essential road map not only for aspiring and established leaders in every field but for all of us in our everyday lives. In today's polarized world, these stories of authentic leadership in times of fracture and fear take on a singular urgency.

English