Around Austin-Doris Kearns Goodwin, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and presidential scholar, addressed a sold-out crowd at the Austin Country Club Thursday October 17th 2024. She commented to questions posed by the Briscoe Center for American History and later the audience. After the interview Dr. Goodwin did book-signings for "An Unfinished Love Story, A Personal History of the 1960s" Published 04/16/2024 and other of her titles including "The Leadership Journey How Four Became President" [Abe, Teddy, FDR and LBJ] Published 09/10/2024.
Highlights of her comments include reminding us that American Democracy has survived tough times notably the Civil War, The Great Depression and WWII.
On leadership she noted that the path to leadership starts early in a child's life and that some are just unusually gifted and some have ordinary skills that are highly burnished.
Preparation matters, she said, noting the infamous JFK/Nixon debate. Nixon the then VP felt little need to prepare while JFK had his close advisors including Dick Goodwin who assembled all the current facts on Nixon and over one hundred likely questions and JFK's answers. On the day of the debate the JFK team visited the site noting that the stage backdrop was gray and so JFK wore a Blue Suit to standout while Nixon blended in wearing a gray suit.
When questioned about the Media and "Trust in Leadership" Dr. Goodwin noted that partisan publications aren't new and that today for example the January 6th 2021 United States Capitol Attack has been reported by various media outlets with widely different explanations. Some reports don't represent the actual facts. She went on to mention the recent Springfield, Ohio false claims and said somehow we'll need to sort out which media can be trusted to present factual information.
The Briscoe center, at the University of Texas, now holds some of her documents and those of her husband Dick Goodwin.
Dick, a known “packrat” saved documents from the JFK and LBJ administrations, the McCarthy Campaign, the RFK Campaign and his own personal diaries from his service at the White House, State Department and the Peace Corp. As a couple they reviewed the contents chronologically and while a sometimes painful remembering the assignations of JFK, MLK and RFK for example it evolved into a book with Doris having to finish the review after Dick’s passing (The Unfinished Love Story).
She stressed, as she’s been on the book tour, that many have commented that we all should make an effort to discuss our personal histories with our younger generation while there’s a chance for dialogue and learning.
Dick Goodwin, a US Army Veteran and Harvard Law Graduate, is considered to have been one of the best Presidential Speech Writers of the era giving polish to content and style especially as needed for LBJ. He coined as an example "The Great Society" for the Civil Rights Leadership- and JFK-inspired legislation and the LBJ/Congress enactment of the historic Civil Rights acts. This legislation paved the way for intergration in America and voting rights for all.
Doris Kearns met Dick Goodwin in 1972 at Harvard where she was a Presidential Scholar and taught classes on the American Presidency. Doris in 1967 had been one of the first in the ongoing White House Fellows program. She was accepted by LBJ despite her having published an article critical of the Vietnam War. She went on to become one of the closest confidants of LBJ, Lady Bird and the Johnson family and worked with LBJ after his presidential years spending monthly visits to Austin and the LBJ Ranch in Stonewall.
Attendees discuss
Booking signing
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