Leadership: In Turbulent Times
Leadership: In Turbulent Times is written in the companionable prose that has made Goodwin's books instant best sellers. It chronicles the careers of Franklin Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, and Lyndon B. Johnson. These tales will be familiar to readers of presidential biographies, but they may be unfamiliar to newcomers. Then again, Goodwin is recounting these stories not for their own sake, but to demonstrate some crucial characteristics of skilled democratic leadership. Thus, it is to Goodwin's credit that she draws out the differences and quirks amongst the four presidents.
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Despite the underlying pattern of resilience forged through suffering that these tales seem to share, each keeps its own inherent drama. Leadership: In Turbulent Times is extremely engrossing when Goodwin overcomes the temptation to draw trite lessons or messages from the past, in favor of savoring the obstinate distinctiveness of each circumstance or personality.
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Unfortunately, when Goodwin reaches her chapter on the four presidents' crisis management - which should be the book's crowning achievement - she falls prey to the childish lexicon of self-help platitudes and bullet-point banalities. Nonetheless, it would be unjust to discount the significance of collective reflection on these four presidents, particularly in these trying times.
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Author: Doris Goodwin
Publishing year: 2018
Goodreads rating: 4.41/5
