First, a note about page numbers. I do not include the copyright page, contents list, index, references, notes, author information, or bibliography when I calculate the number of pages I cite in the title of these blogs. But whenever I can, I try to cite the number of pages in different formats, the time it took me to read an ebook or the listed time for an audiobook.
In this historical tome a New York journalist and academic historian provides what is really selective biographies of four past U.S. presidents. She claims they were chosen because she had studied them more than others but she also worked in the Johnson White House and later on his memoirs. To the reader, the choice of who to feature seems arbitrary, and I suspect there were other factors involved, such as their early loses (In Theodore Roosevelt’s case, his wife and his mother died on the same day as he was starting his political career.), the unprecedented crises they faced, and their early shared ambitions. In any case, here they are – Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson.
The book is also divided logically into four parts- “Ambition and the Recognition of Leadership”, “Adversity and Growth”, The Leader and The Times: How they Led”, and a less concrete section titled “Transformational Leadership, “ largely on their respective legacies.
Theodore Roosevelt’s cagey solution to the 1902 coal strike was hardly on a par with Abe’s dealing with secessionists and civil war, nor FDR’s with the depression and WWII. Of 70 pages on the FDR presidency, all but two discuss his efforts with the new Deal,
There are scattered throughout the text dozens of trite directives, supposedly guides for potential leaders in any field, such as “ Find Time and Space in Which to Think,” and “Shield Colleagues from Blame” or “Know When To Hold Back, When To Move Forward.” Somehow I doubt that these will ever make it into a text for a course in developing leadership skills in any M.B.A. program.
I learned a huge amount about American history and the personalities of it’s leaders, from this very dry pedantic document, e.g. FDR was an auditory learner, Lincoln a visual one. This book provides more details of specific eras of U.S. politics than 99% of readers will want or ever need to know. There are other numerous biographies of every president and I am not sure how much of this one is based on original research. There are an unusual number of quotation marks and 178 pages of “Notes” that are really references, perhaps because the author was accused of plagiarism in relation to a previous book. (Her non-explanation was that she had neglected to use enough quotation marks.) There is almost no discussion of the rest of the world except as it relates to the U.S.A., and Canada is never even mentioned. I also learned little about the characteristics it takes to become a leader in any field.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/10
Thanks, Cal.
The Passionate Reader 