Oval Office Lessons

Doris Kearns Goodwin discovers modern leadership lessons in the actions of great presidents.

- Adam Grant

Historian and political scientist Doris Kearns Goodwin won the Pulitzer Prize for No Ordinary Time, a biography of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. She wrote the definitive book on Abraham Lincoln, Team of Rivals. Now, with Leadership: In Turbulent Times out September 18, she reveals the management secrets of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson. Here, she talks with Adam Grant—the Wharton organizational psychologist, author (Give and Take, Originals), and podcast host (TED’s WorkLife)—about what we can learn from these presidents about storytelling, crisis management, and having a life beyond work.

I think of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Franklin D. Roo sevelt as among the greatest presidents in history. Why did Johnson also make the cut?

Because of what [he helped accomplish for] civil rights, his vision with the Great Society, and his ability to deal with Congress on a bipartisan basis, which is so sorely lacking in these last decades. Clearly, that leadership was not translated to the war in Vietnam. He also instilled my interest in presidential history, when I was a 24-year-old White House fellow to him. I had been active in the anti–Vietnam War movement in graduate school, and [shortly after the fellowship began], an article I had written for The New Republic came out. The title was “How to Remove LBJ in 1968.” I thought he’d kick me out of the program, but instead he said, “If I can’t win her over, no one can.” I ended up working for him that year, stayed on, and then helped on his memoirs.

What’s the most important lesson that business leaders can take from these presidents?