Sunday, May 17, 2020

Leadership: In Turbulent Times

Book: Leadership: In Turbulent Times
Basic Information : Synopsis : Characters :  Thoughts : Evaluation : Book Group : New Words : Book References : Good Quotes : Table of Contents : References

Basic Information:
Author: Doris Kearns Goodwin
Edition: epub from the Fresno County Pblic Library
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 1476795924 (ISBN13: 9781476795928)
Start Date: April 29, 2020
Read Date: May 17, 2020
473 pages
Genre: History, Biography,
Language Warning: Low
Rated Overall: 4 ½ out of 5

History: 4 out of 5


Synopsis (Caution: Spoiler Alert-Jump to Thoughts):
Four men are examined whose presidencies were marked by outstanding leadership. The four are Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Delino Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson. Each person is followed through three portions of their lives: development (Ambition and the recognition of leadership), time of testing (Adversity and growth), and their presidencies (How they led: man and the times).

This book is not a set of biographies, but examines their leadership.


Cast of Characters:
  • Abraham Lincoln
  • Theodore Roosevelt
  • Franklin Delino Roosevelt
  • Lyndon Johnson


Thoughts:
Forward
Goodwin asks the questions:
  • What is the nature of leadership?
  • Is a leader born or made?
  • Where does ambition come from?
  • How does adversity affect the growth of leadership?
  • Does the times shape the leader or the leader shape the times?
  • What is the difference between power, title, and leadership?
  • Is leadership all about personal ambition or is there a larger purpose?
She comments that leadership does not come out of a void and it is a two-way street. The first part is what two-thirds of the book is about. The last part is more the results of the development of character.


Part 1. Ambition and the recognition of leadership
Each president faced the fact that they wanted to be greater than their individual environments. Goodwin goes through each president’s early adult life.

Abraham: "Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition"
Lincoln moved to Springfield and within eight months was able to run for the state legislature. Besides not having a party apparatus at this time, Lincoln had become known as open, candid, honest. Everybody loved him.

Lincoln’s election was not certain. But he felt that he could try another 5 or 6 times, if he failed.

Lincoln had a sense of when to be quiet and study and when to act.

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed, is more important than any other one thing. Abrham Lincoln, November 5, 1855 Letter to Isham Reavis In the same letter Lincoln advises the aspiring lawyer: Get the books, and read and study them till, you understand them in their principal features; and that is the main thing..

Goodwin asks, why is education so essential? She gives Lincoln’s answer: because citizens must be able to appreciate the value of our free institutions.

She says that Lincoln in his 20’s had already established a principle of leadership based upon our shared values and needs of liberty, equality and opportunity.


Theodore: "I rose like a rocket"
Chance allows a person to have an opportunity to take advantage of them. To use them to excel, to make things happen.

Roosevelt said that leaders needed to more than anything else to know human nature, to know the needs of the human soul; and they will find this nature and these needs set forth as nowhere else by the great imaginative writers, whether of prose or of poetry. Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography

Roosevelt’s father instilled in him that he had enough money to do whatever he wanted to do. But he must not just be idle and become a socialite. Whatever Roosevelt was to do, he was to do his best work. I am an American; free born and free bred, where I acknowledge no man as my superior, except for his own worth, or as my inferior, except for his own demerit.

As Roosevelt rose up, he realized that the moral world was more nuanced than his own vision. As he saw this he adapted to it. This was something which enabled Roosevelt to grow.


Franklin: "No, call me Franklin"
Roosevelt won people over by being without being pompous, but meeting people on their own terms.

Goodwin quotes Richard Neustadt on leadership that Temperament is the great separator. (Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents.)

Interesting statement that collecting stuff is a way to ordering a disordered world. This was the insight of Walter Benjamin. Roosevelt throughout his life collected stamps. This was his way of retreating and creating a space of quiet for himself. To Roosevelt, each stamp became a fantasy world. One which he imagined what the world was like wherever the stamp came from or what it represented.

Roosevelt preferred getting information orally. When I read this I was thinking back on what I have heard about our current President’s reading habits. Maybe I need to evaluate my thoughts in that regard.

In both of the items above, Goodwin says that Roosevelt was learning ways to traverse across categories of thought, a way of problem solving that would last his lifetime.

He also had as part of his personality that things would turn out alright.

As Roosevelt went into political life, he became a quick study on using compromise to get things accomplished.

While working as the undersecretary of the Navy, Roosevelt had to work under someone for the last time in his life. Doing that, he learned a sense of humility-which did not come easy.


Lyndon: "A steam engine in pants"
Ambition is an uncomfortable companion many times. He creates a discontent with present surroundings and achievements; he is never satisfied but always pressing forward to better things in the future. Restless, energetic, purposeful, it is ambition that makes of the creature a real man. LYNDON B. JOHNSON, The College Star (Southwest Texas State), June 19, 1929

The first leadership position Johnson held was being a principle. Goodwin says that he used all of his leadership attribute which would later be his hallmark:
  • Indefatigable energy
  • Ability to persuade
  • Willingness to fight for what he wanted
  • Intuition
  • Enterprise
  • Initiative
He did this for his students.

Then he became a teacher at a predominately Mexican-American school. Here he learned to put his skills to work based upon empathy and generosity.

Johnson learned that listening is much more effective than speaking. He found that a five minute speech is more moving when followed up with 15 minutes of listening than the inverse.


Part 2. Adversity and growth
Each president has a period in their life when adversity struck them. Goodwin goes through each president’s situation and their response.

Abraham Lincoln: "I must die or be better"
Lincoln felt that public service was a calling for him.

Leaders have the ability to sustain ambition in the face of frustration. One general question which remains open is why can some people extract wisdom from a situation while others do not.

One place which Lincoln lost his confidence was when he needed to go back on his word to Mary Todd about marrying here. He had suffered a large political defeat, ruining his political career advancement. Going back on his word to Todd was a public shame both to him and her. He had lost confidence in his ability to be able to keep his word in matters.

Lincoln’s greatest passion was to link his name to something of human importance.

Something Lincoln was able to do was to break down a complex problem into its simplest components. He was able to do this as a lawyer and then later on as a politician. He thought that it was more important to have a well-thought out case than to be able to speak well in a case. A newspaper reporter noted that Lincoln could change people’s minds because he spoke from the heart.

The leading rule for the lawyer, as for the man of every other calling, Leave nothing for tomorrow that can be done to-day. From Notes from a Law lecture, July 1, 1850

Lincoln recognized that the compromises which Henry Clay had put together had held the nation together. But the tensions were now mounting.

This bit of advice sounds really like we could use it today: If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could then better judge what to do, and how to do it. House Divided Speech, June 16, 1858

Lincoln won his nomination and the Presidency because he understood where things stood.


Theodore Roosevelt: "The light has gone out of my life"
When his wife and child died, Roosevelt was distraught. He sought refuge in the Dakotas. He bought a ranch and he learned and lived the life of a cowboy. This was not considered a retreat for him, but more of a time to confront himself with a strenuous physical challenge. In this way he regained his confidence. He said that by acting as if I was not afraid I gradually ceased to be afraid. Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography

When Roosevelt came back, he took a series of low-level positions. He felt that a person could focus too much on an uncontrollable future. He would be much more calculating of his own choices. Political life was a series of crucibles able to elevate or crush a person. His outlook could be summed up by his philosophy:
  • Hit the ground running
  • Consolidate control
  • Ask questions of whomever you meet
  • Manage by wandering around
  • Determine the organization's basic problems
  • Hit the problems head on
  • When attacked, counterattack
  • Spend political capital to achieve the goals
  • When your work is stymied or done, find a way out.
One would think that as a leader, all which you need to do is to follow the law and do what is good for your society. Roosevelt found out that one also had to gain people’s confidence and support. In these pandemic times it is important to have leadership in the country which you can trust. That trust is the kind earned not assumed because of a political party. But that also raises the question of when the country is divided, how do you as a leader work through the trust issues? I do not think you can start doing that at the start of a crisis.. It must be started early and then built on. The building of a reserve of good feeling through repeated acts of kindness and courtesy.

To be prepared for war is the most effective way to promote peace.

Roosevelt abhorred inaction. As undersecretary to the US Navy, he was under direction, not one who was the party responsible for change. But he found ways, such as being the acting Secretary of the Navy during the Secretary’s absence.

When the Spanish-American War broke, Roosevelt volunteered. He knew that certain things needed to be done, so he did them. He felt this was his one chance to serve his country, even if he should die. But when asked to lead a brigade, he deferred to a man of more experience. He could analyse the situation and decide if he was the best person for a task or if someone else was.

Leadership had to be earned; it was not something to be granted by rank or title.

Roosevelt studied Lincoln and realized the wisdom Lincoln had in yielding on lesser issues so that he could focus on the important ones.

Roosevelt saw that if a leader “continually blusters”, “lacks civility”, or likes to quarrel the leader would not go far. Sort of interesting because that is how I picture Roosevelt. The words certainly fit our current president.

Roosevelt when he was Governor of New York had conflicts with a party boss. But Roosevelt always tried to be honest with him, even if he disagreed. He also gave him options which allowed for face-saving measures by the party boss.


Franklin Roosevelt: "Above all, try something"
One of the characteristics of this Roosevelt is that each person had their own opinion and felt free to give it. But once a decision was made, they lived with it.

When polio struck Roosevelt, he heard that the springs at Warm Springs, AR had recuperative powers. After spending some time there, he bought the run down resort and turned it into a place where fellow polio victims could get rejuvenated. He researched and established a program. He noted that fun must be part of the program as well as working on recovering strength. The key which I saw is that he felt that We’ve got to make these patients more alive every day. I suspect this is true of all people, polio patients or not.

Frances Perkins noted that humility is the first and greatest of virtues…and if you can’t learn it, God will teach it to you by humiliation..

While the love left their marriage due to infidelity, Elanor became Franklin’s feet. Franklin taught her what he wanted to know and how to get at the information. Elnaor went out and interfaced with people and brought back their reactions. It was said that Franklin was endlessly educatable. That is something to be-educable. Always.


Lyndon Johnson: "The most miserable period of my life"
There was a time when Johnson lost that sense of purpose and the drive which led to the accomplishment of that purpose.

Johnson had a serious heart attack when he was the Senate majority leader. While convalescing in the hospital, he became lethargic and did not seem to care about anything. Then he seemed to have a sudden inspiration and full of energy. Goodwin notes that The letters [he received] did not merely occupy his time, entertain or distract him. They invigorated him as would life-giving transfusions. It seems like this is saying that letters and cards provide a way for people to say “I care.” Something to remember in these days of email, texting and social media. Something physical really does say something.

By this time, Johnson had accumulated much power. But his convalescence gave him a pause in this life. He was able to consider, why did he accumulate such power? What purpose? What was his vision?

Johnson did a purely political act of horse trading votes so that the Civil Rights Act of 1957/. It was a watered down version, but it was still the first Act to be passed in this century.


Part 3. How they led: man and the times
This is the part where Goodwin goes through the leadership qualities of each of her four presidents.

Transformational leadership: Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation
When faced with the Union breaking apart he told his secretary: For my part, I consider [that] the central idea pervading this struggle is the necessity that is upon us, of proving that popular government is not an absurdity. We must settle this question now, whether in a free government the minority have the right to break up the government whenever they choose. If we fail it will go far to prove the incapability of the people to govern themselves. Message to the special session of Congress of July 4, 1861

Lincoln surrounded himself with men who were adversaries not only to each other but also with Lincoln. When asked why he chose them, Lincoln said that they were the best, strongest, and most able to help him lead the country. He felt that he had enough leadership abilities to meld them into the positive force which the country needed during the Civil War.

Leadership qualities Lincoln showed:
  • Acknowledged failed policies demand a change in direction
  • Gather first hand information, ask questions
  • Find time and space to think
  • Exhaust all possibility of compromise before imposing unilateral executive power
    • Words have consequences
  • Anticipate contending viewpoints
  • Assume responsibility for a pivotal decision
    • The Emancipation Proclamation was not warmly received either the content or time of the Proclamation when his cabinet first heard it. Lincoln worked through it and assumed responsibility for it.
    • It was accepted because of Lincoln’s emotional intelligence: empathy, humility, consistency, self-awareness, self-discipline, and generosity of spirit
  • Understanding the emotional needs of each member of the team.
    • Everyone likes a compliment
  • Refuse to let past resentments fester; transcend personal vendettas
  • Set a standard of mutual respect and dignity; control anger
  • Shield colleagues from blame
  • Maintain perspective in the face of both accolades and abuse
  • Find ways to cope with pressure, maintain balance, replenish energy
  • Keep your word
  • Know when to hold back when to move forward
    • Timing was one of Lincoln’s gifts of leadership
    • Lincoln let the reaction against defeatist attitudes grow then utilities it to mobilize a spirit of patriotic renewal.
  • Combine transactional and transformational leadership
    • Transactional leaders operate pragmatically
      • Operates in the self-interest of their followers: quid pro quo, bargains, …
    • Transformational leaders inspire followers to identify in something larger than themselves.
      • Before the Emancipation Proclamation the Union soldiers were not sold on freeing the slaves. They were fighting to keep the Union together. With the inspiration of the Proclamation, they took up th cause of freeing the slaves.
  • Be accessible, easy to approach
  • Put ambition for the collective interest above self-interest

Crisis management: Theodore Roosevelt and the Coal Strike
Roosevelt’s concept of leadership was based upon the embattled herro.

Leadership qualities Roosevelt showed:
  • Calculate the risks of getting involved
  • Secure a reliable understanding of the facts, causes, and conditions of the situation
  • Remain uncommitted in the early stages
  • Use history to provide perspective
  • Be ready to grapple with reversals, abrupt intrusions that can unravel all plans
  • Reevaluate options; be ready to adapt as a situation escalates
  • Be visible. Cultivate public support among those most directly affected by the crisis
  • Clear the deck to focus with single-mindedness on the crisis
  • Assemble a crisis management team
  • Frame the narrative
  • Keep temper in check
  • Document proceedings each step of the way
  • Control the message in the press
    • During the coal strike, Roosevelt maneuvered settings so that the stories of the coal miners were told while the coal mine owners were shown to be obstinate. Roosevelt had tried to get them to negotiate.
  • Find ways to relieve stress
    • When Roosevelt could not exercise because of a leg injury, he turned to books. The National Librarian provided a steady supply of interesting reading material which had little bearing on the national issues of the day.
      • But Roosevelt was able to draw from a wide variety of information he had read for future situations
  • Be ready with multiple strategies; prepare for contingent moves
    • It is never well to take drastic action if the result can be achieved with equal efficiency in less drastic fashion. An Autobiography
  • Don’t hit unless you have to, but when you hit, hit hard
  • Find ways to save face
    • Roosevelt created the version of government as defining for the people’s interest in the private struggle between labor and companies or industry.
  • Share the credit for successful resolution.
  • Leave a record behind for the future
    • I call this writing ones own obituary
After the coal strike was temporarily settled, a commission was established to figure out what was appropriate. The idea was that it was non-biased and balanced. They were more interested in finding out justice in the situation than judging it.


Turnaround leadership: Franklin Roosevelt and the Hundred Days
When the American people feel they are doing all right for themselves they do not give much thought to the character of the man in the White House,” Robert Sherwood once observed. However, “when adversity sets in,” as it did in the 1930s, when Sherwood served as a White House aide, they look to the president to “assert himself as a vital, human need. This is so true. When not in a crisis, we think anybody can be President, but when a President does not make the grade, we understand that the President needs to be a special person.

When FDR became President, he knew he had to do three things:
  • Reverse the feelings of helplessness, impotence, dread and panic
  • Countering the financial decay
  • Reform of the economic and social structure
Leadership qualities Roosevelt showed:
  • Draw an immediate line of demarcation between what has gone on before and what is about to begin.
  • Restore confidence to the spirit and morale to the people. Strike the right balance between optimism and realism.
  • Infuse a sense of shared purpose and direction
  • Tell people what to expect and what is expected of them.
  • Lead by example
  • Forge a team aligned with action and change
    • When you see Roosevelt’s inner circle you think, these are just his friends and loyalists. While they seemed to be widely diverse, each held out that there was a need for change
  • Create a gathering pause, a window of time
    • When Roosevelt took over, he had a small window of time to get things planned for and then get things done.
  • Bring all stakeholders on board.
  • Set a deadline and drive full bore to meet it.
  • Set forth and maintain clear-cut rules with the press
  • Tell the story simply, directly to the people
  • Address systemic problems. Launch lasting reforms
  • Be open to experiment. Design flexible agencies to deal with new problems.
  • Stimulate competition and debate. Encourage creativity
    • There is something to having a little conflict Roosevelt said.
    • Crises places a premium on initiative and innovation.
  • Open channels of unfiltered information to supplement and challenge official sources.
    • Roosevelt read people rather than books.
  • Adapt. Be ready to change course quickly when necessary
Goodwin says that it was Roosevelt’s gift of communication which brought his success in forming a common mission, clarifying problems, mobilizing action, and establishing trust.


Visionary leadership: Lyndon Johnson and Civil Rights
Johnson’s father had instilled in him that it was the role of government to look after those in need.

Leadership qualities Johnson showed:
  • Make a dramatic start
  • Lead with your strength
  • Simplify the agenda
  • Establish the most effective order of battle
  • Honor commitments
  • Drive, drive, drive
  • Master the power of the narrative
  • Know for what and when to risk it all
  • Rally support around a strategic target
    • Johnson noted that consensus to some people meant a search for the lowest common denominator, but to Johnson, the Presidency held an obligation to decide what needs to be done regardless of the political implications and then to convince Congress to do it. For Johnson, a successful consensus was the consequence of effective persuasion.
  • Draw a clear line of battle
    • Johnson in some ways was a visionary in that he was looking for the South to move beyond its struggle of color to be able to grow and join in purpose with the rest of the country.
  • Impose discipline in the ranks
  • Identify the key to success. Put ego aside.
  • Take the measure of the man
    • Everett Dirkson quotes Victor Hugo, saying that Stronger than an Army is an idea whose time has come. (The History of a Crime)
  • Set forth a compelling picture of the future
    • Johnson used the anniversary of Kennedy proposing the Peace Corp to talk about the Great Society
    • The challenge of the next half century is whether we have the wisdom to use that wealth to enrich and elevate our national life. Lyndon Johnson, May 22, 1964, Great Society speech
  • The readiness is all
    • There is a tendency that a governmental bureaucracy is much to per-occupied with the day-to-day to effect change.
  • Give stakeholders a chance to shape measures from the start
  • Know when to hold back, when to move forward
  • Let celebrate honor the past and provide momentum for the future
Johnson was able to move both the Presidency and the legislature in the same direction.

As much as Johnson was able to push forward the domestic agenda, he failed to comprehend the effects of the growing Vietnam War. Here is failed to talk about the costs, both in terms of American lives, but the fiscal impacts of the war. The people were not ready for it.

A central measurement of a democratic regime can be gauged by questions its leaders share with the public, how important decisions are explained and defined for the country at large.


Epilogue: Of death and legacy.
Johnson, commenting on Truman.How did Truman make up his mind? He just made up his mind the best he could and kept with it.

Johnson’s thoughts on civil rights evolved to a place where he thought that the essence of government was to insure the dignity of each person.

Johnson’s final speech was at the LPJ Library the day before his death.. It was called the Black in a White Society. In skimming this speech, it does not sound like we have progressed that far. When a black man can get shot for jogging, when voters are denied the right to vote, when there is great wage disparity, all of these things Johnson said we must get rid of. This was fifty years ago.

Lincoln on his final day noted that reconstruction would be a step by step process. There must be sensitivity on how it was pursued along with the events which happen. The process must be flexible.

Lincoln felt that education was the single most important thing a person could engage in. Upon the subject of education, not presuming to dictate any plan or system respecting it, I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as a people can be engaged in. That every man may receive at least, a moderate education, and thereby be enabled to read the histories of his own and other countries, by which he may duly appreciate the value of our free institutions, appears to be an object of vital importance, March 9, 1832 First Political Announcement

The central question of this book is What are the components of this [the Presidents] legacy of living values--and how do they get passed on over time?

Lincoln knew that In a democracy the leader's strength ultimately depends on the strength of his bond with the people.

Evaluation:
What does leadership in a President mean? For this Doris Kearns Goodwin went back and looked at four Presidents-Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson) to understand the development of leadership traits. Then she identifies a crisis in each presidency and understands what traits were used to overcome these difficulties and lead the nation.

I suspect this may not be Goodwin’s “best” book, but it is well-written, easy to read. Please do not read into my statement this is not a good book, rather Goodwin’s histories I put on a pedestal as being well written and good history. You catch the flavor of each President’s life. But the big punch is the list of leadership qualities and the explanation about how each one exercised their leadership skills. One of the things you learn is that there is not one single set of magical traits which makes up an exceptional leader. Each leader used their skills, personality, understanding and the circumstances to form a solution to the crisis.

If for no other reason to pick up the book, take a look at Part III to see the list of leadership skills. While there are overlapping skill sets, each President has a unique set of skills. After reading this book, you will better appreciate how a President leads.

Followup Note: Evidently this book was started around 2013, before our current President was serious about running for office. But I got to think once he got into office, some of the traits Goodwin points out might be influenced by the present officeholder.

 
Notes from my book group:
Many of these questions are either from or adapted from LitLovers.
  • Why the title of Leadership: In Turbulent Times?
  • Does this book work better as a history or a help book?
  • Did the ending seem fitting? Satisfying? Predictable?
  • Which President did you want most to be your President? Least?
    • Which President did you identify with?
    • Which one did you dislike?
  • Every story has a world view. Were you able to identify this story’s world view? What was it? How did it affect the story?
  • In what context was religion talked about in this book?
  • Was there anybody you would consider religious?
    • How did they show it?
    • Was the book overtly religious?
    • How did it affect the book's story?
  • Why do you think the author wrote this book?
  • What would you ask the author if you had a chance?
  • What “takeaways” did you have from this book?
  • What central ideas does the author present?
    • Are they personal, sociological, global, political, economic, spiritual, medical, or scientific
    • What evidence does the author use to support the book's ideas?
      • Is the evidence convincing...definitive or...speculative?
      • Does the author depend on personal opinion, observation, and assessment? Or is the evidence factual—based on science, statistics, historical documents, or quotations from (credible) experts?
    • What implications for you, our nation or the world do these ideas have?
    • Are these idea’s controversial?
      • To whom and why?
  • Are there solutions which the author presents?
    • Do they seem workable? Practicable?
    • How would you implement them?
  • Describe the culture talked about in the book.
    • How is the culture described in this book different than where we live?
    • What economic or political situations are described?
    • Does the author examine economics and politics, family traditions, the arts, religious beliefs, language or food?
  • How did this book affect your view of the world?
    • Of how God is viewed?
    • What questions did you ask yourself after reading this book?
  • Talk about specific passages that struck you as significant—or interesting, profound, amusing, illuminating, disturbing, sad...?
    • What was memorable?

New Words:
  • Hardscrabble (1): involving hard work and struggle.
  • Pantaloons (1): women's baggy trousers gathered at the ankles.
  • Enervated (Franklin, part II): cause (someone) to feel drained of energy or vitality; weaken.
  • Poliomyelitis (Franklin, part II): an infectious viral disease that affects the central nervous system and can cause temporary or permanent paralysis.
  • Prophylactic (Franklin, Part III): a medicine or course of action used to prevent disease.
  • Somnolent (Johnson, Part III): sleepy; drowsy.
Book References:
  • Aesop’s Fables
  • Leatherstocking Tales by James Fenimore Cooper
  • Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail by Theodore Roosevelt
  • The Winning of the West, by Theodore Roosevelt
  • Hunting Trips of a Ranchman by Theodore Roosevelt
  • How the Other Half Lives by Jacob A Riis
  • Henry IV, Part I by William Shakespeare
  • Abraham Lincoln by John Nicolay & John Hay

Good Quotes:
    • First Line: Abrham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson - the lives and times of these four men have occupied me for half a century.
    • Last Line:
    • Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed, is more important than any other one thing. Abrham Lincoln, November 5, 1855 Letter to Isham Reavis
    • Ambition is an uncomfortable companion many times. He creates a discontent with present surroundings and achievements; he is never satisfied but always pressing forward to better things in the future. Restless, energetic, purposeful, it is ambition that makes of the creature a real man. LYNDON B. JOHNSON, The College Star (Southwest Texas State), June 19, 1929
    • The leading rule for the lawyer, as for the man of every other calling, Leave nothing for tomorrow that can be done to-day. Abraham Lincoln, From Notes from a Law lecture, July 1, 1850
    • If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could then better judge what to do, and how to do it. Abraham Lincoln, House Divided Speech, June 16, 1858
    • Leadership had to be earned; it was not something to be granted by rank or title. Chp Theodore Roosevelt: "The light has gone out of my life"
    • humility is the first and greatest of virtues…and if you can’t learn it, God will teach it to you by humiliation.. Frances Perkins
    • For my part, I consider [that] the central idea pervading this struggle is the necessity that is upon us, of proving that popular government is not an absurdity. We must settle this question now, whether in a free government the minority have the right to break up the government whenever they choose. If we fail it will go far to prove the incapability of the people to govern themselves. Lincoln’s essage to the special session of Congress of July 4, 1861
    • It is never well to take drastic action if the result can be achieved with equal efficiency in less drastic fashion. Theodore Roosevelt, An Autobiography, Chp XIII Social and Industrial Justice
    • Stronger than an Army is an idea whose time has come. Victor Hugo, The History of a Crime
    • The challenge of the next half century is whether we have the wisdom to use that wealth to enrich and elevate our national life. Lyndon Johnson, May 22, 1964, Great Society speech
    • A central measurement of a democratic regime can be gauged by questions its leaders share with the public, how important decisions are explained and defined for the country at large. Chp Johnson, Part III
    • Upon the subject of education, not presuming to dictate any plan or system respecting it, I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as a people can be engaged in. That every man may receive at least, a moderate education, and thereby be enabled to read the histories of his own and other countries, by which he may duly appreciate the value of our free institutions, appears to be an object of vital importance, Abraham Lincoln, March 9, 1832 First Political Announcement
    • In a democracy the leader's strength ultimately depends on the strength of his bond with the people. Chp Epilogue
      Table of Contents:
      • 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. How they led: man and the times
        • Transformational leadership: 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 legacy.

      References:
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