Page 121 | Volume 1 | The Leadership Journal of Dallas Baptist University

121 individual and the times they lived in, it is challenging for Goodwin to venture beyond already established points about leadership given the space limitations she has in constructing the background to her ultimate culminating points about leadership. This also contributes to the leadership lessons coming across as scattered and disparate. As one online reviewer noted, the 70 leadership lessons Goodwin compiled in her third section can read “like a compilation of Dale Carnegie bromides.” She also puts all of Lincoln’s leadership lessons into the bin of “transformational leadership,” which, within the field of leadership studies has become an almost Amazon-like term synonymous with positive leadership. The chapters on the Roosevelts’ crisis management and turnaround leadership have much more focused leadership implications and best represent Goodwin’s strength as a crossover writer. Perhaps the single greatest factor contributing to the scattered impression of the book is its inclusion of Lyndon B. Johnson. For those who have read Robert Caro’s penetrating biographies of LBJ’s ruthless style of leadership, Goodwin’s portrayal of Johnson comes across as dubious. Johnson’s achievements may be worthy of close study, but his inclusion alongside Lincoln and the Roosevelts seems forced. Goodwin’s compelling storytelling, however, may lead the reader to a different conclusion. Though the choice of the four leaders may perplex readers, and the methodology might cause cognitive overload in terms of all the leadership lessons, Leadership in Turbulent Times is a worthy study of presidential leadership. One of its greatest contributions is the reminder that in order to truly understand a leader, you have to study and consider how they responded to, grew from, and were shaped by times of challenge and adversity. Dr. Mark Cook (Leadership Studies, '18) serves as Assistant Professor of Leadership and Biblical Studies at Dallas Baptist University. BOOK REVIEWS

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