The Leadership Journey: How Four Kids Became President by Doris Kearns Godwin (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers; September 3, 2024) is a fantastic nonfiction volume with four presidential biographies, all tied together with a focus on the qualities of leadership that these presidents portrayed and how they developed these qualities from childhood. The focus of Godwin’s book is Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson.
Note: I read a digital review copy of The Leadership Journey via Netgalley. I also consulted the final published volume. All opinions are my own.
Godwin nicely ties the events of each president’s life into the development of leadership qualities. Going chronologically for each of the boys (aka presidents-to-be), she shows that strength and grit develop out of difficult situations. Each president gets about 70-90 pages in six chapters. Each chapter in the sections begins with a one-line quote from the President that reinforces the events and qualities of leadership that are described in the chapter.
The layout of the book also makes it an accessible and enjoyable read. Although it is a nonfiction book for young readers, the dimensions of the book are not typical; it is slightly wider than “normal.” A different icon represents each president on the top of the section pages, which is just an attractive touch. The chapters include occasional thick black-line illustrations as well as paintings and photos illustrating the given president’s life and era. There are also frequent side bars to further explain concepts, such as the era’s political parties or typical understandings about concepts that would have been familiar to someone in that era. Additional people are introduced in sidebars that add even further interest to the text. Because of the larger pages, nothing feels squashed or overwhelming. It remains highly readable even with all the extra information.
The Leadership Journey is an adaptation for young readers from Godwin’s Leadership: In Turbulent Times. I read it a few years ago and enjoyed it so much that I was planning on rereading it in 2024. Instead, I gave The Leadership Journey a read. Although I didn’t read both books back-to-back to compare, I can say that the adaptation was wonderfully done. While the book for adults felt more thematic in covering the leadership qualities as it went through the president’s life, the more chronological format of the book for youth gave it an accessibility that makes it ideal for a younger attention span and for a teen with less of a historical background.
As a teacher, I love the possibilities! If I taught a class for high schoolers on American history or leadership, I would definitely want to find a way to use this volume during our year. It captures American history in the context of the people who lead us through difficult events, including war. Our younger generation needs to learn what leadership truly means, and these presidents are a great beginning for such learning.
