Leadership
In Turbulent Times
by Doris Kearns Goodwin
6 more
More Recommenders
“@lorirusso It?s a favorite of mine. Plus @DorisKGoodwin?s fanstastic book Leadership: In Turbulent Times is another to put on your list. | @lorirusso It’s a favorite of mine. Plus @DorisKGoodwin’s fanstastic book Leadership: In Turbulent Times is another to put on your list. | As we approach the end of 2018, I wanted to share some of the books that I’ve enjoyed reading this year. | Oh man. This is taking rate my room into slightly creepy territory. But yes, I do love those books.”
Source →“@lorirusso It?s a favorite of mine. Plus @DorisKGoodwin?s fanstastic book Leadership: In Turbulent Times is another to put on your list. | @lorirusso It’s a favorite of mine. Plus @DorisKGoodwin’s fanstastic book Leadership: In Turbulent Times is another to put on your list. | As we approach the end of 2018, I wanted to share some of the books that I’ve enjoyed reading this year. | Oh man. This is taking rate my room into slightly creepy territory. But yes, I do love those books.”
Source →“@lorirusso It?s a favorite of mine. Plus @DorisKGoodwin?s fanstastic book Leadership: In Turbulent Times is another to put on your list. | @lorirusso It’s a favorite of mine. Plus @DorisKGoodwin’s fanstastic book Leadership: In Turbulent Times is another to put on your list. | As we approach the end of 2018, I wanted to share some of the books that I’ve enjoyed reading this year. | Oh man. This is taking rate my room into slightly creepy territory. But yes, I do love those books.”
Source →“@lorirusso It?s a favorite of mine. Plus @DorisKGoodwin?s fanstastic book Leadership: In Turbulent Times is another to put on your list. | @lorirusso It’s a favorite of mine. Plus @DorisKGoodwin’s fanstastic book Leadership: In Turbulent Times is another to put on your list. | As we approach the end of 2018, I wanted to share some of the books that I’ve enjoyed reading this year. | Oh man. This is taking rate my room into slightly creepy territory. But yes, I do love those books.”
Source →“@lorirusso It?s a favorite of mine. Plus @DorisKGoodwin?s fanstastic book Leadership: In Turbulent Times is another to put on your list. | @lorirusso It’s a favorite of mine. Plus @DorisKGoodwin’s fanstastic book Leadership: In Turbulent Times is another to put on your list. | As we approach the end of 2018, I wanted to share some of the books that I’ve enjoyed reading this year. | Oh man. This is taking rate my room into slightly creepy territory. But yes, I do love those books.”
Source →“@lorirusso It?s a favorite of mine. Plus @DorisKGoodwin?s fanstastic book Leadership: In Turbulent Times is another to put on your list. | @lorirusso It’s a favorite of mine. Plus @DorisKGoodwin’s fanstastic book Leadership: In Turbulent Times is another to put on your list. | As we approach the end of 2018, I wanted to share some of the books that I’ve enjoyed reading this year. | Oh man. This is taking rate my room into slightly creepy territory. But yes, I do love those books.”
Source →Recommended by 8 notable people, including Bill Gates and Ryan Holiday
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Reading Profile
Should I read this?
Doris Kearns Goodwin structures Leadership as a sequence of long, scene-driven presidential portraits that trace ambition, crisis, and decision-making across four case studies. Reading feels like watching extended political vignettes: private crises, public maneuvering, and personality sketches woven into comparative threads. The most useful material is the textured narrative that makes abstract leadership tensions concrete. The main limitation is recurring detail and archival detours that slow momentum; readers who wanted sharp, short prescriptions will likely find the pace indulgent.
Read this if...
- •a mid-career nonprofit director steering an organization through a public crisis who wants full-length historical examples to compare moral tradeoffs and decision cycles
- •an executive running an internal leadership seminar who needs vivid, story-driven anecdotes to prompt discussion rather than bullet-point tactics
- •a graduate student drafting a comparative paper on leadership development who needs narrative case material and extended sequences to cite and critique
Skip this if...
- •you'll likely put it down when chapters linger on archival minutiae and the same personality themes repeat—those long detours are a common drop-off point
- •annoying if you prefer brisk, actionable advice or modern corporate case studies instead of long political biographies
- •lose interest if you want hands-on exercises or clear step-by-step methods—this lacks hands-on exercises and reads as narrative first
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 the four presidents she has studied most closely?Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson (in civil ri...
Before You Buy
Reading Specifications
Difficulty:hard
Audience Fit
- a mid-career nonprofit director steering an organization through a public crisis who wants full-length historical examples to compare moral tradeoffs and decision cycles
- an executive running an internal leadership seminar who needs vivid, story-driven anecdotes to prompt discussion rather than bullet-point tactics
- a graduate student drafting a comparative paper on leadership development who needs narrative case material and extended sequences to cite and critique
- you'll likely put it down when chapters linger on archival minutiae and the same personality themes repeat—those long detours are a common drop-off point
- annoying if you prefer brisk, actionable advice or modern corporate case studies instead of long political biographies
- lose interest if you want hands-on exercises or clear step-by-step methods—this lacks hands-on exercises and reads as narrative first
Check formats, pricing, and availability options for Kindle, physical print, or audiobooks directly.
View available editions on AmazonKey themes
Why recommended
Recommended by 8 sources and appears in Books Recommended by Ryan Holiday, Leadership, and Politics.
Recommended by notable people
People and public figures who have recommended this book.
Recommendation Signals
Recommendation proof is sourced from public posts, interviews, reading lists, and cited references.
Ryan Holiday
Author and media strategist
“@lorirusso It?s a favorite of mine. Plus @DorisKGoodwin?s fanstastic book Leadership: In Turbulent Times is another to put on your list. | @lorirusso It’s a favorite of mine. Plus @DorisKGoodwin’s fanstastic book Leadership: In Turbulent Times is another to put on your list. | As we approach the end of 2018, I wanted to share some of the books that I’ve enjoyed reading this year. | Oh man. This is taking rate my room into slightly creepy territory. But yes, I do love those books.”
View sources (4) ▾80%
Appears In
Not sure if this is the right fit?
Consider The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy. Recommended by 8 sources.
“Soft-spoken, heavily illustrated fable built from short dialogues and watercolor sketches. Each spread pairs a spare line of text with a loose drawing, so the pleasure is visual and aphoristic rather than narrative; readers collect felt-true sentences more than plot. Most useful when you want quick consolations, a prompt for conversation with a child, or a pause during a rough day. Limiting if you want sustained argument, concrete advice, or tightly plotted storytelling: the repetition of gentleness can feel sentimental or thin after a while.”
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Each recommendation is collected from a public source — interviews, articles, or curated lists — and linked to its original URL. Books with many verifiable recommendations from respected people rank higher.