by Doris Kearns Goodwin.
I bought the paperback version, the one with the title and the author’s name on the deep blue cover. The font is very small and the printing very light. After a few pages, I almost decided not to continue, if not for the attractive writing style of the author. I am glad I finish the book, but I hope that the 368 pages of texts in small and light print did not do any harm to my eyesight. The author, a Harvard person, spent her internship at President Lyndon Johnson’s White House. At the end of his Presidency, Johnson asked her to help him with writing his memoir. This was remarkable, as Johnson was of the opinion that “All the historians are Harvard people. It just isn’t fair. Poor old Hoover from West Branch, Iowa, and had no chance with that crowd…..Nor does Lyndon Johnson from Stonewall, Texas.” The book is an account of how four US Presidents, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt (TR), Franklin Roosevelt (FDR), and Lyndon Johnson (LBJ), led the country through the turbulent times of the Emancipation Proclamation, Coal Strike, The New Deal and Civil Rights. The organization of the book is somewhat unusual. Instead of finishing the story of one President at a time, it is divided into three parts, each about different aspects of the four Presidents. Part I, entitled “Ambition and the Recognition of Leadership”, is concerned with the early lives and experiences. Part II, entitled “Adversity and Growth”, narrates how each President reacted to the major adversity fate befallen on them. Part III is entitled "The Leader and the Times: How they led." Here, the stories of the turbulent times and the leadership skills each displayed in guiding the country through the turbulences are told with great skill. While the historical events described in Part III are known, in general contours if not in detail, to anyone with some acquaintance of US history, Part I, dealing with the young and formative years of the four Presidents, contains a rich collection of interesting episodes and insights. Both Lincoln and TR loved reading. While Lincoln had to walk miles to borrow a book from the local library, TR’s rich father could get a book to his hands a day after he requested it. TR had very poor health, and his father built a gym in the house for him to exercise to build up his body strength and health. FDR was an avid stamp collector, and LBJ coached the school debate team from no standing to championships. FDR’s mom said she never thought her son can be President. LBJ told his college roommate when he took a job mopping floor in the hallway outside the college president’s office, “The way you get ahead in the world, you get close to those that are the heads of things,” When LBJ was elected to the House of Representatives, he did manage to get close to President FDR. While each President’s upbringing and growth from adversity are fascinating, the most interesting and colorful personality that emerges from these pages is that of TR. From a sick boy who had difficulty breathing during an asthma attack, he became an assemblyman, cowboy, civil service commissioner, police commissioner, assistant secretary of the navy, governor, vice President, and President. He volunteered to enlist in the Army and fought in the Mexican-American War in 1898. He led the Rough Riders to battle in Cuba, exhibiting great courage and leadership during the Battle of Kettie Hill. Due to Army politics, it was not until 2001 that TR was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery. He was the only one among the four who had combat experience. He coined the phrase “Speak softly and carry a big stick”, which should be good advice for anyone engaged in diplomacy. In Part III of the book, how each President navigated the turbulent times are narrated in detail: Emancipation Proclamation (Lincoln), the Coal Strike (TR), The New Deal (FDR), and Civil Rights (LBJ). The author skillfully relates the various leadership principles and actions employed to the actual events. The book concludes with an Epilogue, entitled “On Death and Remembrance”, a moving account of the final days of the four Presidents. Among the memorable tributes were the words reported by the New York Times when FDR died: “in the streets of every American town, strangers stopped to commiserate with one another. Over and over again one heard the same lament: ‘We have lost our friend.’” In summary, a well written and unusual book linking leadership principles and several turbulent periods of American history.
Cartoon depicting Theodore Roosevelt taming the Coal Strike of 1902 (Source: Wikipedia)
First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation by President Lincoln, painted by Francis Carpenter in 1864 (Source: Wikipedia)
The Tennessee Valley Authority, part of the New Deal, being signed into law in 1933 (Source: Wikipedia)
LBJ Civil Rights Speech March 15, 1965 (Source: Wikipedia)
Link of review in amazon.com.
Placed 2nd among 620 reviews as of 4/4/23
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