\u3cem\u3ePersonal Memoirs of U.S. Grant\u3c/em\u3e, and Alternative Accounts of Lee\u27s Surrender at Appomattox

It is somewhat troubling that as we try to understand leaders and leadership we are confronted with the problem that our knowledge of central historical events is highly subject to the differing perspectives of various scholars. What can we know? How can we know it? This chapter considers these questions by examining the implications of a particular variation on the general problem of differing historical perspectives. That is, how do we weigh autobiographical accounts of events by the actors themselves? Is there something distinctive about these accounts, or are they best thought of as just one more rendering of history, to be compared on an equal footing with treatments by other writers? We will approach these questions by considering one of the most famous autobiographies in American history, the aforementioned Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant. Its treatment of Lee\u27s surrender at Appomattox is fascinating in its own right, but it also stands in interesting comparison to those of other biographers, of Lee as well as Grant, and of various Civil War historians. In considering these accounts the overall aim of the chapter is to address two sets of questions. First, what can we learn about what Grant thought, felt, and did on that historic day, and what can we learn more generally about Grant as a leader and about leadership itself? Second, in our efforts to learn these things, what challenges are posed by the existence of so many different accounts of what took place at Appomattox? We will proceed as follows. First, Grant\u27s Memoirs will be described briefly. Second, we will compare several aspects of his account of meeting Lee at Appomattox with other accounts. Third, we will do our best to address the questions above about Grant and about the problems of learning about Grant. Finally we will discuss the implications of our efforts

Socioemotional and Task Behavior

In problem-solving groups, individual members engage in different types of behavior, including task behavior, which focuses on the external problem to be addressed, and socioemotional behavior, which addresses the feelings that arise as a result of group interaction. This entry describes these two types of behavior and examines the leadership styles of group leaders who focus on each one

Biography and the Social Cognition of Leadership

In this chapter, we\u27ll discuss why we have a penchant for the depiction of leadership through the stories of individual leaders and why that tendency poses serious challenges to understanding leadership. One of the key distinctions in this collection of essays is the one between leaders and leadership. Following James MacGregor Burns, Richard Couto has tried to focus scholars and practitioners on the dynamics of leadership rather than on the lives of leaders. It may well be a losing battle. We\u27ll try to explain why. Our discussion proceeds as follows. First, we will discuss the ways human wiring leads us from infancy forward to focus on other people, and then how that focus leads us to be extraordinarily intrigued by leaders. Second, we will discuss some of the systematic biases in our perceptions and evaluation of leaders, and the challenges these biases pose for understanding leadership through biographies. Third, we will explore how the focus on leaders combines with basic aspects of social perception to see leaders as by far the most important element in group activity and success. This happens to the near exclusion of other important dynamic elements in our thinking about group performance. Finally, with these problems in mind, we will explore the leadership of four U.S. presidents in the area of equal rights for African Americans and how their efforts and actions have been understood by various historians and biographers

Presidential Leadership and African Americans: An American Dilemma from Slavery to the White House

Presidential Leadership and African Americans examines the leadership styles of eight American presidents and shows how the decisions made by each affected the lives and opportunities of the nation’s black citizens. Beginning with George Washington and concluding with the landmark election of Barack Obama, Goethals traces the evolving attitudes and morality that influenced the actions of each president on matters of race, and shows how their personal backgrounds as well as their individual historical, economic, and cultural contexts combined to shape their values, judgments, and decisions, and ultimately their leadership, regarding African Americans.https://scholarship.richmond.edu/bookshelf/1197/thumbnail.jp

Portrait of the Panama Canal: Foreward

A 1913 edition of the British magazine Puck features a two-page, full-color cartoon depicting Uncle Sam astride the Isthmus of Panama and the nearly completed Panama Canal. The cartoon also shows the pyramids of Egypt, the hanging gardens of Babylon, and other familiar human creations. Its caption reads, The seven wonders of the world salute the eighth. Cradled in Uncle Sam\u27s arm is a figure, a saluting, white-haired, white-suited mustachioed man with the name Goethals printed on his collar. This is my great-grandfather, chief engineer of the Panama Canal

Realignment, Region and Race: Presidential Leadership and Social Identity

The Trump presidency may well be the first phase of a new American political alignment deeply rooted in identity politics. Now more than ever, it seems especially important to understand how leaders compete to engage different human motivations—how presidents, presidential candidates, and other political leaders appeal to potential followers\u27 needs for economic well-being, safety, self-esteem, and a sense of significance. It is time to come to terms with the roles of race and region in US political history. In Realignment, Region, and Race, George R. Goethals addresses this challenge head-on, exploring the place of racial dynamics in American politics from Abraham Lincoln to Donald Trump. He integrates psychology and historical understandings of presidential leadership and politics to explain the way the politics of racial justice and needs for positive social identity have led to different regions in the United States changing party affiliation. He describes the realignment by region of the two major political parties in the United States, the Democrats and Republicans, between the Civil War and the present day, and he considers how for over a century and a half the two parties have offered different social identities, often related to race, that appeal to powerful motives for self-esteem and significance. Goethals\u27s findings uncover deep contexts for understanding how current political leaders engage experiences and attitudes towards African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans in order to tell particular stories about American and regional identities. Realignment, Region, and Race is essential reading for students of politics, history, and psychology, and it is of keen interest to anyone concerned with the power that identity politics has taken on in recent American elections.https://scholarship.richmond.edu/bookshelf/1308/thumbnail.jp

The Quest for a General Theory of Leadership

In this compelling book, top scholars from diverse fields describe the progress they have made in developing a general theory of leadership. Led by James MacGregor Burns, Pulitzer Prize winning author of the classic Leadership (1978), they tell the story of this intellectual venture and the conclusions and questions that arose from it.https://scholarship.richmond.edu/bookshelf/1009/thumbnail.jp

Deifying the Dead and Downtrodden: Sympathetic Figures as Inspirational Leaders

This chapter proposes that leaders often derive their most inspirational qualities from events or actions that transpire before and after, rather than during, their tenure as leaders. These events or actions engender sympathy, emotional support, and adoration for the leader. We identify three types of individuals whose effectiveness as leaders stem from actions that elicit sympathetic responses from others: underdog leaders who attract sympathy from their ability to overcome significant obstacles before they assume their leadership; deceased leaders who attract sympathy and whose deaths elicit reverence and inspiration long after they are gone; and martyrs who make the ultimate sacrifice for noble causes and whose appeal is derived from combined elements of both underdog and deceased leaders. We propose that the self-sacrifice of all three types of leaders cements these leaders\u27 positive legacy, and that these leaders\u27 values both reflect and become a central part of their community\u27s social identity

Lincoln\u27s Legacy of Leadership

Through this in-depth look at Abraham Lincoln, both before and during his presidency, we can learn through his leadership in times of confusion, war, and dissent. The set of chapters included in this volume are based on papers that constituted part of the 2008-2009 Jepson Leadership Forum at the Jepson School of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond. The chapters consider Lincoln’s intellectual, moral, political, and military leadership. The authors include the world’s foremost Lincoln scholars, including Pulitzer Prize winner Daniel Walker Howe, and Lincoln Prize winners Richard Carwardine and Douglas Wilson.https://scholarship.richmond.edu/bookshelf/1007/thumbnail.jp

[Introduction to] The Romance of Heroism and Heroic Leadership

Heroes permeate our culture. From superheroes on screen to the everyday heroics of our public services, the word \u27hero\u27 is a familiar descriptor in every form of media. But what makes a hero? And what makes heroes \u27heroic\u27? Leadership experts George R. Goethals and Scott T. Allison explore how the romantic conceptions of heroes and heroic leaders are constructed, both in real life and in our heads. Looking at the dichotomy of heroism and villainy, they offer insights into Donald Trump\u27s ascension to the U.S. presidency, particularly detailing the correspondence between the needs of the U.S. public and the promises the former reality TV star made in reply. They also consider how three highly charismatic men dramatically and fundamentally changed American society in the mid-twentieth century - Martin Luther King (1929-1968), Elvis Presley (1935-1977), and Muhammad Ali (1942-2016), called here the Three Kings of the U.S. This exciting and innovative study explores how charisma and human needs create images of individuals as heroes and villains. For researchers and students of psychology and leadership, this is a fundamental text on the creation of both genuine heroes, and false idols.https://scholarship.richmond.edu/bookshelf/1365/thumbnail.jp