Doris Kearns Goodwin

An Unfinished Love Story by Doris Kearns Goodwin and based upon letters, journals, and documents from Doris and her husband, Dick Goodwin, detailing many presidents and world leaders from the 1950’s to the 1980’s presents the individuals in a fascinating dialogue. The pictures display an average individual running through life with a purpose of not letting life pass silently. Doris adores Lyndon Johnson and her insights into LBJ resound so often in the book. This memoir glimpses into the why of many high profile events. A very detailed journey, but well worth the effort.… (más)

I have been a fan of Doris Kearns Goodwin for several years. My only knowledge of her husband, Dick Goodwin, was as a sidekick of hers when they appeared on the cable and network talk shows together. I grew to like and respect him too. This book is ostensibly about Dick and his relationship with Doris, but it is also about several Democrat administrations and near-administrations that Dick worked for. Doris and Dick are going through his boxes of those years as the book progresses. Her admiration for her late husband permeates everything she says, and that is understandable. His career was nothing short of amazing, and his impact on the foreign and domestic policies of this country will never be known to the average American. Read this book and you’ll find out something about that. My admiration for Doris is further amplified by a personal note I have from her. We lived in the same Long Island village, Rockville Centre, in the 1950s and, in fact, had the same first grade teacher, Sister Marian. I wrote to Doris about that and, much to my amazement, she answered my letter to her with a hand-written note that was just as gracious as she has always been. I’ve always recommended her to friends who don’t know her; now, I recommend her book, “An Unfinished Love Story,” to everyone.… (más)

Intended for a middle grade audience, this new book by Pulitzer Prize winner Doris Kearns Goodwin focuses on how four kids from very different backgrounds - Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson - grew up to lead the country. She has spent years researching these men and the fondness and admiration she feels for them shows in her impassioned accounts of their struggles and achievements.

She writes in her forward:

“It is my fondest hope that this book will make history exciting and interesting to young readers . . . most of all, I hope young readers will be encouraged to follow in the footsteps of the men and women in this book, who, at their best, were guided by a sense of moral courage…and showed great perseverance in the face of opposition as they sought and fought to expand opportunities for all of us.”

She adds in the Preface:

“Their early stories are full of confusion, hope, failure, and fear. We follow mistakes they made along the way - from inexperience, cockiness, carelessness, misjudgments, and arrogance . . . . Their struggles are not so different from our own.”

The book is divided into four sections, each one dedicated to the aforementioned men she has studied extensively, following the journeys they took from childhood to the adult leaders they would become. She explores what traits they had that led them to stand out and step up when the country was in need, focusing on qualities she identifies with “leadership” - including intelligence, energy, empathy, verbal and written gifts, social acumen (i.e., skills in dealing with people), and political acumen (i.e., the ability to perceive the dynamics of power relationships around them and use it to their advantage.) She zeroes in on their communication skills, and in particular, their use of storytelling to reach the common man and get him to feels a sense of commitment to their agendas.

They were also united, she averred, by having strong ambitions, and an unusual drive to succeed. To that end, they worked to enhance the qualities they were given to make themselves into forces to be reckoned with.

She observes that all four were recognized as leaders long before they reached the presidencies. But all had dramatic reversals in life that sent them spiraling downward psychologically and in some instances physically. Each man responded by fighting even harder to overcome the setbacks and accomplish something meaningful in the world. They believed in their ability to effect societal-level changes, and were able to convince followers they could as well. But importantly, their struggles conferred humility on them, and an empathy for others in difficult positions that would inform their political outlooks.

She asserts that leadership means “ambition for the greater good has become more important for you than the ambition for yourself.” But what about malevolent dictators? Yes, there are Lincolns and Roosevelts, but there are also Hitlers, Stalins, and Trumps. They are leaders too, but she ignores that fact entirely. They also have unusual persistence, a drive to succeed, extraordinary communication skills, and an ability to amass and influence followers.

In short, the same qualities that define “good” leaders can also define “bad” leaders, so what actually is the differentiating variable? Could it be a certain moral orientation? Or perhaps it is the presence or absence of empathy that makes them different. It might even be the emphasis of their goals: are they promoting a positive cause that seeks to uplift rather than tear down, such as saving the country or helping to make the world safe for democracy, or are their goals punitive and vengeful, such as killing all the Jews, or “owning all the Libs”? The qualities of leadership are amoral, and this fact was not addressed by the author. The qualities of good leadership, on the other hand, are a different story. As Kamala Harris said in a recent CNN interview, "The true measure of a [good] leader is based on who you lift up, not who you beat down."

There are occasional sidebars in the text to offer explanations of aspects of the narrative that might not be familiar to middle grade readers, such as “What is the State Legislature” and “What Was the Abolition Movement?” “Who was Frances Perkins?” “What Was the Great Depression?” “What is a Stock Market and How Did it Crash?” “What is the Filibuster?”

The book also features some illustrations by Amy June Bates as well as some photos.

Evaluation: The prose and subject matter seem a little sophisticated for middle grade, even with the helpful sidebars offering background. In fact, I found it just fine for an “adult” audience, and moreover enjoyed it immensely. Who, in today’s political environment, would not be buoyed by stories of moral men who put country over personal interests?… (más)