Book SummaryLeadership: In Turbulent Times, by Doris Kearns Goodwin

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Leadership: In Turbulent Times

Are great leaders born, or are they made? In Leadership: In Turbulent Times, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin contends that it’s the latter: Great leaders often grow from personal challenges that shape how they lead later on. Specifically, Goodwin describes the personal crises of four U.S. presidents—Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), and Lyndon B. Johnson—and how these experiences affected their leadership through four different national crises: the Civil...

Leadership: In Turbulent Times Summary Abraham Lincoln and Why He Freed the Slaves

Abraham Lincoln, who was president from 1861 to 1865, inherited a nation in crisis, writes Goodwin. By his inauguration, seven Southern states had seceded from the Union, and his own party was divided: Should they try to keep the slave states in the Union, or had the time for compromise ended?

(Shortform note: Goodwin doesn’t outright state why Southern states seceded after Lincoln’s election, a point of contention in Lincoln’s time and one that remains controversial today. A 2011 survey by the Pew Research Center found that 38% of Americans believe that states mainly seceded because they wanted to continue practicing slavery, while 48% believe that they did so over states’ rights.)

Although Lincoln wanted to ensure the Union’s survival, he ultimately chose not to compromise, asserts Goodwin. His decision to free the slaves by issuing the Emancipation Proclamation marked a turning point in the Civil...

Leadership: In Turbulent Times Summary Theodore Roosevelt and How He Learned to Act

Goodwin argues that like Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, who led the country from 1901 to 1909, struggled with the limits of presidential power and ultimately expanded it in a major way: He was the first president to ever settle a labor dispute. He was instrumental during the coal strike of 1902, when coal miners and mine owners faced off in a months-long strike that threatened to plunge the nation into crisis.

(Shortform note: Following the precedent Roosevelt set, several later American presidents also got involved in labor disputes. However, these interventions weren’t always as well-received as Roosevelt’s. Notably, during the Korean War, President Harry S. Truman determined that striking steelworkers were damaging the war effort and seized steel mills—a move the Supreme Court later declared unconstitutional.)

Goodwin contends that Roosevelt’s decision to intervene during this strike is evidence of courage and a bias towards action—both of which he developed after experiencing his own personal crisis. In this section, we’ll examine how he developed these qualities and why they were essential to how he handled the...

Leadership: In Turbulent Times Summary Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the Way He Learned Empathy

Like his fifth cousin, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), who was president from 1933 to 1945, was instrumental to American workers’ well-being: He was tasked with getting the nation through the Great Depression. Despite this major challenge, FDR successfully turned the nation’s economy around—which Goodwin attributes partly to his ability to empathize with others.

(Shortform note: FDR’s immense popularity suggests that Americans agreed with Goodwin that FDR successfully revitalized the nation’s economy. FDR easily won a second term, capturing the electoral votes of every state but Maine and Vermont. His popularity continued: FDR ultimately won four elections and is the reason why American presidents are only allowed to serve two terms today.)

In this section, we’ll discuss the crisis that taught FDR the power of empathy. Then, we’ll see how this skill helped him lead the nation through an economic catastrophe.

How FDR’s Crisis Improved His Ability to Empathize

Goodwin explains that FDR’s crisis was his...

Leadership: In Turbulent Times Summary Lyndon B. Johnson and the Power of Purpose

Like FDR, Lyndon B. Johnson, who was president from 1963 to 1969, entered office in a time of crisis. Not only was the nation already struggling to pass civil rights legislation, but then-Vice President Johnson also entered the White House due to a tragedy: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Despite the struggles the nation faced, Johnson successfully united the country in its time of grief and passed landmark civil rights legislation—which Goodwin attributes to his clarity of purpose.

In this section, we’ll first discuss the crises that taught Johnson why a clear purpose matters. Then, we’ll see how having one helped him deal with a nation in grief.

How Johnson’s Crises Taught Him Purpose

According to Goodwin, Johnson had two personal crises that taught him the importance of purpose. Johnson’s first crisis happened when he lost an election to the US Senate in 1941—which, Goodwin argues, was as traumatic to Johnson as the crises faced by the other presidents she discusses. Johnson didn’t separate his private and public life: Since his father had been a Texas state representative, Johnson had known from his early childhood that he wanted...

Shortform Exercise: How to Learn From a Personal Crisis

Every president we’ve discussed in this guide went through some failure or tragedy—but responded in a way that ultimately improved his leadership. Answer the following questions to discover how you can respond to your own setbacks in ways that improve your life.

Describe a recent setback you experienced (for example, losing your job).