Leadership: In Turbulent Times

Readers, I can barely believe I neglected to blog about one of my key reading intentions for 2022: I intend to become a "completist" of more authors whose work I love. (I may not have blogged about it, but I discussed my hopes/plans/dreams in this episode of What Should I Read Next.) Doris Kearns Goodwin is one of the authors whose works I'd like to read in their entirety: I'd download them into my brain if I could. In her most recent work, she profiles four United States presidents—Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson—who all governed during times when the country was uniquely beset with turmoil, fear, and also hope. She profiles each in turn, examining the innate qualities that made them promising leaders, the circumstances that honed their leadership skills, and the crises through which they were called upon to lead. Inspiring, illuminating, and—to me—surprisingly timely.