Though he served more than a century ago, the nation’s 26th president’s leadership skills would come in handy during today’s rough and tumble political times, said historian and author Doris Kearns Goodwin in an interview on Greater Boston.
The author of several lengthy presidential biographies joined Jim Braude on Monday to discuss her latest work, "Leadership in Turbulent Times," which delves into the early lives and struggles that helped shape president’s Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson.
“I think if anyone were to come today, of these four guys, and be able to be a leader today it would be Teddy,” Goodwin said.
At age 42, Theodore Roosevelt ascended to the presidency in 1901, following the assassination of William McKinley. He is the youngest person to ever hold the office.
Making her case, Goodwin noted how, like many today, Roosevelt grew up during the industrial revolution, a time of rapid changes in the workplace and technology and experienced firsthand the rise of globalization as well as its consequences. “He knows that people were feeling displaced. He knows that it’s a time that’s anxious where people are feeling the pace is moving to fast, but he would fight he would be on their side,” she said of Roosevelt.
Goodwin added that Roosevelt’s savvy messaging skills would also make him a perfect fit for modern times. “He had these short punchy statements. He would be great at twitter! ‘Speak softly and carry a big stick. Don’t hit until you have to and then hit hard.’ He even gave Maxwell House the slogan ‘Good to the very last drop.’”
According to Goodwin, empathy is the most important trait for any leader. It's an attribute, she said, that grows out of hardship, which each of her presidential subjects experienced. For Roosevelt, he endured the loss of his wife and mother who died the same day — a tragedy, Goodwin writes, that transformed him and later helped shape his presidency.
Known for using the so-called bully pulpit to galvanize support for his legislative priorities, Goodwin said Roosevelt also traveled the country, to places he did not win and places he’d never been to, to understand the plight of citizens.
Asked what President Donald Trump could learn from the subjects in her book, Goodwin suggested it would be worth it to take a page from Roosevelt.
“I think one thing he might not be resistant to is if a schedule were created for him to really see people in other parts of the country, not just to stoke up his base, and remind him that you get energy from the crowd," she said. "So, what if you went to other places and you were able to see how other people are living and maybe you’ll be able to expand an empathy that he has to have.”
