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Doris Kearns Goodwin's new book, An Unfinished Love Story, is a personal memoir of the love of her husband, the late Richard (Dick) Goodwin, scholar, author, and Political writer. Her writing style is intimate as she shares events and draws you into the historical events of 1960s and 1970s. She discusses her husband in a warm and personal way in the first chapter. The book covers their life together for over forty years and the many decades in American history that they shared and experienced together. Goodwin, an author, journalist, and historian, won a Pulitzer Prize for her book "No Ordinary Time; Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt: World War II." She opens her current book in a unique way. She brings the reader right into meeting her husband by sharing their first meeting.
She states, "There was a buzz of excitement when I arrived at my office at 78 Mt. Auburn Street one June Morning in 1972. Richard "Dick" Goodwin had just taken an office on the third floor of our old yellow building to finish a book project. We all knew who he was. He had worked in John F. Kennedy's White House in his twenties, served as Lyndon Johnson's speech writer in the heyday of the Great Society, and had been in California when Robert Kennedy died."
That is how Doris Kearns Goodwin introduces her future husband to the reader by giving us a quick background to the high regard he receives from the academic community. Doris was not a lightweight in scholarship herself, yet she writes with great humility, having graduated from Colby College and Harvard University, before teaching at Harvard herself.
Richard Goodwin wandered into her office casually that first day with several large cigars in his shirt pocket and introduced himself. He sat down and asked if she was a graduate student sitting at the desk.
She said, "No, I am an assistant professor. I teach a lecture course on the American presidency." He laughed and said, "I was just joking." He knew who she was because she worked for Lyndon Johnson in the White House after he left.
How they became lovers and got married is the amazing story found in this book. I would have brushed him off after a joke like that. But they both were writers, had the same values, loved history, loved books and research, and apparently shared a good sense of humor.
This book reveals Richard Goodwin's personal experiences and feelings about the Kennedy and Johnson years. It includes the great historical upheavals of the period, following John F. Kennedy's assassination and Johnson's fight for the 1964 Civil Rights Bill.
Kennedy's death and its effect on his team, including Ted Sorenson and Arthur Schlesinger, was catastrophic. They could not work for Johnson. But Richard Goodwin stayed the course and did the best he could for Johnson while facing the terrible loss of Kennedy which he never got over. Richard Goodwin wrote many speeches for Johnson that were memorable, including "The Great Society" phrase, which became a mantra of the Johnson administration. However, he left during the Vietnam controversy because he was against the Vietnam decision.
This book is fascinating because it gives personal insight into the feelings of the people who helped shape history.
Jackie Kennedy became a close friend and supporter of Goodwin's ideas. She and Goodwin both felt like outsiders in the Johnson administration. They developed a common bond. Friendships, loyalty, and duty were issues Richard shared with Doris, and she writes about them with warmth and insight.
How did this book come about? Boxes and boxes of saved documents were pored over in their Concord, Massachusetts home at the end of Richard's life. They worked together, sorting out his papers to sift out what was important and what was not. Dick was 85 years old when they discovered he had cancer in 2017. They continued to go over endless saved boxes of documents, a very hard task at any stage of life. It was especially difficult during sessions of radiation treatments and visits to a Boston hospital, but they carried on together. Richard died in 2018 after a heroic battle against cancer. He will be remembered for his dignity in this book, as well as in all the political articles he wrote in magazines and his own book, "Remembering America," which he wrote in 1988. Richard and Doris lived a full life together and shared in writing history as they experienced it.
The book also contains 49 pages of footnotes at the back of the book, which substantiate the facts discussed. The wonderful photos that are included in the book bring a special excitement to it.
In conclusion, the writing style of Doris Kearns Goodwin is clear and direct, reveals intimate feelings shared with her husband, and covers many decades of American history. She makes history come alive. I recommend the book highly because it is written with humility and love.
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