AMERICAN TURNAROUND is a business memoir of Whitacre's time running both GM and AT&T, complete with his management insights and prescriptive takeaways. Written in a straightforward style by his co-author Leslie Cauley (a Pulitzer prize nominee from the Wall Street Journal), the book is also meant to have a strong undercurrent of American patriotism, as Whitacre feels that too much has been emphasized in the media that American workers are no longer capable of manufacturing anything of substance anymore.

Whitacre's "roll up your sleeves and let's get to work" attitude has won the admiration and respect of executives and employees throughout his days at GM and at AT&T.