Leadership: Lessons from the Presidents for Turbulent Times

The New York Times No. 1 Bestseller

'What Goodwin brings to this book - above all her other attributes - is a true sense of wisdom . . . superb' Professor Andrew Roberts, author, Churchill: Walking with Destiny

In this culmination of five decades of acclaimed studies in presidential history, Doris Kearns Goodwin offers an illuminating exploration of the origin, uncertain growth, and exercise of fully developed leadership.

'A marvelous banquet with four great presidents who provide lessons for all. Pull up a chair' Warren Buffett

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 four of the presidents she has studied - Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson - to show how they first recognized leadership qualities within themselves, and were recognized as leaders by others. By looking back to their first entry into public life, when their paths were filled with confusion, hope, and fear, we can share their struggles and follow their development into leaders.

Leadership tells the story of how they all collided with dramatic reversals that disrupted their lives and threatened to forever shatter their ambitions. Nonetheless, they all emerged fitted to confront the contours and dilemmas of their times.

No common pattern describes the trajectory of leadership. Although set apart in background, abilities and temperament, they shared a fierce ambition, a hunger to succeed beyond expectations. All four, at their best, were guided by a sense of moral purpose that led them at moments of great challenge to summon their talents to enlarge the opportunities and lives of others.

This seminal work provides a roadmap for aspiring and established leaders. In today's polarized world, these stories of authentic leadership in times of fracture and fear take on a singular urgency.

'Doris Goodwin is the grand master of presidential biography ... Riveting, uplifting, and incisive, Leadership is a culminating work of a true intellectual artist' Jim Collins, author Good to Great, co-author Built to Last

'Pulitzer- and Carnegie Medal-winning historian Goodwin draws on 50 years of scholarship in this strong and resonant addition to the literature of the presidency . . . extremely relevant' Booklist

'Remarkable ... comprehensive, human, and engaging, clearly the results of long study' Publishers Weekly, starred review