An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s

by Doris Kearns Goodwin

An Unfinished Love A Personal History of the 1960s by Doris Kearns Goodwin, one of America’s most beloved historians, artfully weaves together biography, memoir, and history. She takes you along on the emotional journey she and her husband, Richard (Dick) Goodwin embarked upon in the last years of his life.

Dick and Doris Goodwin were married for forty-two years and married to American history even longer. In his twenties, Dick was one of the brilliant young men of John F. Kennedy’s New Frontier. In his thirties he both named and helped design Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society and was a speechwriter and close advisor to Robert Kennedy. Doris Kearns was a twenty-four-year-old graduate student when selected as a White House Fellow. She worked directly for Lyndon Johnson and later assisted on his memoir.

Over the years, with humor, anger, frustration, and in the end, a growing understanding, Dick and Doris had argued over the achievements and failings of the leaders they served and observed, debating the progress and unfinished promises of the country they both loved.

The Goodwins’ last great adventure involved finally opening the more than three hundred boxes of letters, diaries, documents, and memorabilia that Dick had saved for more than fifty years. They soon realized they had before them an unparalleled personal time capsule of the 1960s, illuminating public and private moments of a decade when individuals were powered by the conviction they could make a difference; a time, like today, marked by struggles for racial and economic justice, a time when lines were drawn and loyalties tested.

Their expedition gave Dick’s last years renewed purpose and determination. It gave Doris the opportunity to connect and reconnect with participants and witnesses of pivotal moments of the 1960s. And it gave them both an opportunity to make fresh assessments of the central figures of the time—John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Robert Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy, and especially Lyndon Johnson, who greatly impacted both their lives. The voyage of remembrance brought unexpected discoveries, forgiveness, and the renewal of old dreams, reviving the hope that the youth of today will carry forward this unfinished love story with America.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, Politics, Book Club, Audiobook

480 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2024

About the author

Doris Helen Kearns Goodwin is an American biographer, historian, former sports journalist, and political commentator. She has written biographies of numerous U.S. presidents. Goodwin's book No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1995. Goodwin produced the American television miniseries Washington. She was also executive producer of "Abraham Lincoln", a 2022 docudrama on the History Channel. This latter series was based on Goodwin's Leadership in Turbulent Times.

Reviews

[CoachJim · Rating 5 out of 5]

For better or worse, your generation has been appointed by history to deal with those problems and to lead America toward a new age. You have the chance never before afforded to any people of any age. You can help build a society where the demands of morality, and the needs of the spirit can be realized in the life of the Nation … a place where men are more concerned with the quality of their goals than the quantity of their goods.
(Page 165) From the commencement speech by President Johnson at the University of Michigan on May 22, 1964 presenting his idea of a “Great Society”, a speech written by Richard Goodwin.

Richard Goodwin, the author’s husband, has been called the “Thomas Paine of our generation.” He became a member of John Kennedy’s speechwriting staff in 1959 as Kennedy was beginning his quest for the presidency. He continued throughout the sixties working for President Kennedy, President Johnson, and Robert Kennedy, and was the author of many of the outstanding speeches given by these men.

Prior to his death in 2018 he and the author went through his many boxes of memorabilia from his time serving presidents in the sixties. This is neither an academic history nor a biography. This book is a memoir of those days spent discussing the people and events they witnessed. The history here is revealed in these discussions.

Here we have a person in Richard Goodwin who served the two presidents of the 1960s. Doris Goodwin, who would eventually work for Lyndon Johnson, was upset by the picture which Dick began painting when he went to work for Eugene McCarthy and Robert Kennedy. He wrote that the “good times that began with John Kennedy in 1960, and ended with his death in 1963 juxtaposed to the bad times of 1968.” (Page 322) She points out that he ignores the changes LBJ brought about like the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, medicare, and The Great Society. These along with the tax cuts Kennedy had proposed were not passed in 1963, but in the years 1964 and 1965 during the Johnson presidency.

In this decade the battle for Civil Rights was waged. In December of 1972 Johnson delivered a keynote address at a major civil rights symposium at the LBJ library. The speech makes an excellent assessment of where civil rights stood in 1972 and still sits today. Johnson stated that he believed “the essence of government” was to ensure “the dignity and innate integrity of life for every individual .. regardless of color, creed, ancestry, sex or age.” That the difficulty of being “Black in a White society” remains the chief unaddressed problem of our country. “[But] if our efforts continue, and if our will is strong, and if our hearts are right, and if courage remains our constant companion, then, my fellow Americans, I am confident we shall overcome.” (Pages 381-382)

As someone who came of age in sixties and remembers many of the people and events from this time it was thrilling to read a “ground-level” view of these events. Doris Kearns Goodwin and her husband Richard Goodwin were participants in these events and not just observers. There is a challenge in this book for us now to live up to and fulfill the ideals from that decade.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Dissenters are sometimes accused of demeaning the presidency. That office should demand respect. It's dignity however flows not from private right or title or the man who occupies it but solely from the fact that it's occupant is chosen by the people of the United States. It's their office and if they or any among them feel it's wrongly used then it is their obligation to speak."

Those words were Richard Goodwin's response to people saying that anti war protesters were traitors, unpatriotic and disloyal. I think some people today need to read these words because they still ring true.

Doris Kearns Goodwin is a nerd superstar. If you love History and if you are my friend on Goodreads you know I do, than you've heard of this woman. Now I'm a fraud because I still haven't read Team of Rivals....I'm getting to it. Doris is an icon and apparently her husband is too. I've obviously heard of Richard Goodwin but I never put the pieces together that he was Doris' husband. Dick as he was known was a speechwriter for pretty much every major Democratic politician over the last 60 years. He worked with JFK, his brother RFK( the only RFK we acknowledge here), Eugene McCarthy( I need to read up on him...was he the original Bernie Sanders?) and even Al Gore.

An Unfinished Love Story is Doris and Dick's trip down memory lane. In the last years of Dicks life they when through a treasure trove of boxes that told the story of the 1960's. Doris of course worked with LBJ a man whose legacy is finally being restored. LBJ was one of this countries greatest Presidents. Medicare, The Voting Rights bill, the Civil Rights bills and the Fair Housing bill are just a couple of his accomplishments....but Vietnam....but Vietnam. Vietnam fucked him just like it fucked my Uncle Mike who drafted during that administration and well he came back but not really. So I have some personal conflicts with LBJ. But unlike a certain current U.S. president, I don't think LBJ wanted war. I don't think he enjoyed the massacres of children. LBJ made terrible mistakes in Vietnam and those mistakes broke my uncles brain but he wasn't a blood thirsty genocidal monster.

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. I knew I would get something out of this but I didn't expect to be pulled so fully into these stories. I have a list of the Presidents I wanted to read about this year and LBJ wasn't on it but after this book I need to move him up. This not only a great history book but its a wonderful love story.

A Must for History Buffs!

[Lorna · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s is a beautiful book by beloved historian Doris Kearns Goodwin that encompasses the genres of biography, memoir and history as she tells the story of their last years together in their loving forty-two year marriage. It was during this time that they decided that they had to go through the many boxes of memorabilia, letters, diaries, documents and historical records that Richard Goodwin had saved from the 1960s, essentially a personal time capsule illuminating public and private moments of the turbulent 1960s when people believed that they could make a difference in the world in which they lived. It was a time of deep personal convictions and struggles for racial and economic justice. It tells about how the leaders and heroes of that decade—John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy and Lyndon Johnson—impacted not only both of their lives in profound ways, but the nation, too.

This cache was made up of more than three hundred boxes from the 1960s, when Richard Goodwin was considered one of the most brilliant young men of President Kennedy’s New Frontier and later named and helped to design the Great Society as championed by President Lyndon Johnson. Goodwin later was a speechwriter and close friend of Robert Kennedy. Doris Kearns was a graduate student when she was selected as a White House Fellow working directly for President Lyndon Johnson and later assisting in writing his memoir. Over the years, the Goodwins had argued over the achievements and failings of the leaders they served, often with anger and frustration. However, as they delved though the historical records, Richard Goodwin and Doris Kearns Goodwin ultimately came to understand one another and the series of both unsettling and heroic events that not only shaped their lives, but the lives of us all. It was heartwarming how they managed to lovingly, although often gingerly, delve into the historic and personal contents of the multiple boxes. It was very personal as they opened a bottle of wine when they sat down for a marathon evening of viewing the Kennedy-Nixon debates in 1960, or when they had to steel themselves for the fateful day when President Kennedy was killed in Dallas on November 22, 1963, or the speech of Lyndon Johnson in 1968 when he dropped out of the presidential race, or the rioting and bloodshed during the Democratic convention in Chicago in 1968.

“Book after book of my career as a historian, the practical knowledge Dick had gained during his time in the political cauldron of the Sixties filtered into and enriched my own comprehension of the pressures, limitations, and actual parameters of political choice and action.”

This is a record of the heartbreak and machinations that were involved in getting through the major legislation during the Johnson presidency honoring the legacy of John Kennedy. Johnson was a statesman and politician believing that the president can control and shape the legislative calendar by determining the order and speed with which he sends messages to the Hill. The Great Society was an ambitious series of policy initiatives, legislation and programs to end poverty, reduce crime, abolishing racial inequality and improving the environment.

“A measure must be sent to the Hill at exactly the right moment, and that moment depends on three things: first, on momentum; second, on the availability of sponsors in the right place at the right time; and third, on the opportunities for neutralizing the opposition. Timing is essential.”

“Momentum is not a mysterious mistress. It is a controllable fact of political life that depends on nothing more exotic than preparation.”

This was the decade of loss and trauma with the assassinations of John Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert Kennedy. It was also a decade of unrest and demonstrations against the war in Vietnam. The nation was in turmoil. But at its heart, this is a love story of two people devoting their lives to public service thinking they could make a difference as they shared their lives and their experiences over forty-two years. There is a reason why Doris Kearns Goodwin has long been one of my favorite historians. I have more books of hers that I look forward to reading about Lyndon Johnson and the Roosevelts. However, now I am looking into many of the books authored by Richard Goodwin about the unsettling 1960s.

“One afternoon Dick asked me to slowly recite one of his favorite poems, Wordsworth’s ‘Intimations of Immortality.’ When I had nearly finished, he was breathing very deeply, and I thought for certain he had fallen asleep. I went on reading until the end. When I finished, he turned toward me, and from memory repeated:”

“Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind.”

[Vanessa M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve overheard and read praises for years about historian Doris Kearns Goodwin’s writing. On my 30th birthday my husband downloaded Team of Rivals to a small MP3 player for me and after a few listening attempts I gave up. I was not ready as a reader for that large tome. I’ve thought about trying the book again this fall or winter right before An Unfinished Love Story was published. I decided to read An Unfinished… as my first Kearns Goodwin and I’m so grateful that I did.

An Unfinished Love Story details much of the history of the 1960s decade from the perspectives of Kearns Goodwin and her husband, Dick. They both worked for “Lyndon,” under the Johnson administration. Mr. Goodwin left his administrative position in 1965 and Ms. Kearns Goodwin began hers in 1968. Mr. Goodwin saved scads boxes of memorabilia and documents from his career. Together, they unpacked those boxes and spent precious evenings and weekends going back over poignant events that affected them personally over that historical decade of America’s history.

Richard Goodwin was JFK’s speechwriter. He worked very closely with President Kennedy and formed a lifelong friendship with Mrs. Jackie Kennedy Onassis. He worked for Eugene McCarthy’s political campaign, RFK’s campaign, President Johnson, and many other aspects of political life. Doris Kearns Goodwin worked for Lyndon Johnson and wrote his biography. She earned her doctorate in government from Harvard University in 1968 and had a teaching career as well as being a great biographer.

For someone who was not born until 1980, I very much appreciated this more personal approach to sharing what happened during that tumultuous and poignant decade in American history. I felt a tender sense of awe and respect in the way that Kearns Goodwin shared her marriage, her love story.

Highly recommended for readers interested in this important decade of American history or for those who enjoy social historical accounts.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

5+
“Too often, memories of assassination, violence, and social turmoil have obscured the greatest illumination of the Sixties, the spark of communal idealism and belief that kindled social justice and love for a more inclusive vision of America.”

Richard Goodwin had been the major speech writer for both J.F.K. and Johnson as well as the one to coin the phrase “Great Society”. He worked on the campaigns of both former presidents and was a close friend and confidant of Bobby and Jackie. He was an idealist who believed the work of both presidents would be the beginning of a country that could truly bring justice and equality to all. Having spent decades involved in politics, Dick had accumulated over 300 boxes of memorabilia: personal letters, speech drafts, and other noteworthy keepsakes.

After his eightieth birthday, he was ready to relive his past by sorting through those troves of history. Together with his wife of forty years, they lovingly explored the evidence of those tumultuous political times and all the memories they evoked. It was like a movie they played, multiple date nights they shared, each giving their perspective of the events and their differing loyalties to the two former presidents. After Dick’s death, D.K.G. felt compelled to peruse the contents of the yet unfinished boxes and share Dick’s incredible political history.

Doris Kearns Goodwin has long been a respected historian and a favorite author of mine. Her writing is always accurate and compelling. But this book is not just history. It is a love story of a brilliant man who lived his passion for politics and helped shape and influence the programs of those eventful times. It is also the love story of Dick and Doris, their lifelong belief in a country they have loved and their influence on the presidents they were so committed to. I am just dazzled by the genius of this book and that of both Godwins.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”

Charles Dickens

[Belle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here is the book I didn’t know could be written. It should be no wonder that Doris Kearns Goodwin would be the one to do it. If this is DKG’s swan song, wow - she achieved! Recognizing that 81 is the new 71, of course. There could be more from her!

This book has been described as part history, part biography and part memoir. I agree and here are some good bits of each:

MEMOIR: (who knew Doris was married to this man?? I surely didn’t!)

“Throughout the Sixties, Dick [Goodwin] had participated in an inordinate number of pivotal, defining moments of the decade. He was there with JFK on the “Caroline”, a member of the small team that traveled with the candidate through the 1960 Presidential campaign; he was in that room to help JFK for his first debate with Richard Nixon; he was in the White House in the middle of the night when the president’s coffin returned from Dallas; he was at Lyndon Johnson’s side during the summit of his historic achievements with the Great Society and civil rights; He was in New Hampshire with Eugene McCarthy’s crusade, and with Robert Kennedy when he died in a Los Angeles hospital. Now, in Chicago , he was a central figure in the convention’s debate over the Vietnam peace plank.”

HISTORY: (My 1998 baby just asked if the riots he’s watching on tv now were worse than the Vietnam ones. I read this part of the book shortly after he asked so this is for him.)

“During the voting on the Vietnam plank, demonstrators in Grant Park, numbering around ten thousand, announced their intention to march to the convention hall. They had no permit to do so. When three protesters climbed the flagpole and started to take down the American flag, the police charged into the crowd surrounding the flagpole. Chaos ensued. The police threw tear gas bombs; the demonstrators responded with rocks and bottles. As people spilled into the street, the Chicago Tribune reported, ‘Michigan Avenue was turned into a bloody battleground.’”

BIOGRAPHY: (June 5, 1968 at the Ambassador Hotel)

“It was nearing midnight when Dick rose to accompany [Robert] Kennedy and a small group of family and friends and staff down to the hotel’s Embassy Ballroom where nearly two thousand supporters awaited his arrival and victory statement. Just as they were leaving, Dick received a call from an important McCarthy supporter. Dick never looked up as Bobby touched him on the shoulder and said, ‘I’ll go downstairs and do this, then we can talk some more over at the Factory,’ a local club where the campaign had reservations for a private party…. Shrieks sounded up and down the corridors outside, shrieks multiplied on every television…. Robert Kennedy had been shot.”

STOP READING AND GO LISTEN TO ROBERT KENNEDY’S FINAL SPEECH ON YOUTUBE NOW.

The end of this story has started me down Rabbit trails of Bobby Kennedy, Ethel Kennedy after Bobby’s Death and I definitely need to read The Death of a President by William Manchester.

I feel like I participated in a once in a lifetime opportunity in reading this book. I am most grateful for DKG for writing this and all her presidential history and that great baseball book too. She has been my most bountiful guide through many moments of my own discovery of our rich American history. ❤️

[Cathrine ☯️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

5☮️☮️☮️☮️☮️
Every time I've heard Doris Kerns Goodwin speak I have said to myself, you need to read one of her books. Well, it finally happened and now I'm determined to read more.
If you came of age in the 60's with an interest in history, it's not to be missed. I had no idea who her husband was, or his contributions to some of the most iconic political speeches of that decade, his friendships and relationships with the Kennedys, Johnsons, and even Che Guevara.
The times they were a changing and she took me on one of the most enjoyable and bittersweet walks down memory lane.
The audio book was read by the author.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are many 5-star reviews, however this was not my experience. The audiobook was "read by the author with Bryan Cranston." Let's just say that out of more than 18-hours of narration, Bryan Cranston features for less than 30-minutes. I wish that their roles were reversed. Overall, it was a very claustrophobic experience and I skimmed the last 2-3 hours of listening.

[Libby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tremendously enjoyed this history of Richard Goodwin's years in the Kennedy and Johnson White House. I also learned a lot about the author, Doris Kearns Goodwin (including her work with President Johnson), and would like to read more of her work. So much packed in here. Informative.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eminent US historian Doris Kearns Goodwin pens this powerful memoir to shed light on an electric decade through which she and her husband lived. The 1960s were a time of great change in the realm of politics, society, and personal growth. This book is a flashback of sorts related to the memories of Dick and Doris, as triggered by the discovery of a box of documents. Readers can enjoy the memories and detailed storytelling that Doris Kearns Goodwin offers, breathing new life into the significant changes that the 1960s brought America and the world as a whole. A stunning memoir that should receive significant accolades.

While Dick and Doris Goodwin spent decades married to one another, their nuptials with American politics could be said to have lasted much longer. Both served their country well and had many memories to share. With the discovery of a large box of documents in the Goodwin home, this book served as a launching pad to a number of stunning memories. Both Goodwins had time working with US presidents and this book presents those memories, many of which have not been readily documented before for the curious reader.

Dick Goodwin was involved in the early stages of the John F. Kennedy candidacy and eventual arrival in the White House. He helped shape Kennedy’s New Frontier and could be said to have shaped it through a number of key speech themes that the president used in presentations. While Kennedy’s time in office was short, Dick Goodwin’s memories were long and detailed, including trying to push Civil Rights legislation and the struggle to overcome hurdles the Senate and states sought to erect. The reader is sure to be impressed with all that is recounted on this and other matters during Kennedy’s Administration.

When vice-president Lyndon Johnson took over the White House, Dick Goodwin was there to serve as a bridge. Seeking to continue the legislative ideas of Kennedy, Johnson pushed for Civil Rights legislation and that related to voters’ rights. The 1960s was a tense period and Johnson’s presidency proved to be a turning point in the political realm. A stern southerner, Johnson had to overcome the pressure of his fellow senators—as Johnson was a long-time Majority Leader in the Senate before he became vice-president—to push for effective legislation. Dick Goodwin stayed close to the political centre until the very end, as the tumultuous rise of political drama turned 1968 into a year few would forget.

Doris Kearns was a twenty-something graduate student when she won a White House fellowship, permitting her to work for President Johnson in the latter stages of his presidency. She saw some of the later years of the man’s leadership and his eventual decline at the hands of the Vietnam War. Doris Kearns met Dick at this time and they soon forged a lasting relationship that created a stunning union of ideas. After her marriage, Doris Kearns Goodwin became an eminent historian, whose ideas and research opened the door to new analyses on a number of key events in history, including biographical information on Johnson in his latter years. Her insights proved useful to understand the latter time of Johnson's presidency and his waning years after leaving the White House.

I do enjoy books that expand my knowledge of history, as well as biographies in general. Doris Kearns Goodwin exceeded my expectations in both regards with this quasi-memoir. Filled with a bunch of great information, she highlighted some of the things I knew about both the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations, as well as a significant amount about which I had no idea. Admittedly, I did not know about Dick Goodwin's work for Kennedy or Johnson, or how he was pushed aside during the 1968 election year. Kearns Goodwin delivers a stellar narrative that flowed with ease, instilling so much information and personal perspectives. This was complemented by some great audio clips (the audiobook reader's treat) that added depth to an already stunning collection of memories. I was in awe and have taken a great deal away from this reading experience, hoping that there will be other books like this and provide such in-depth behind the scenes admissions.

Kudos, Madam Kearns Goodwin, for a wonderful walk down memory lane and the exciting time that was the 1960s.

Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a love story about Doris Kearns Goodwin’s late husband Dick Goodwin. It also is a love story to JFK, Lyndon Johnson and RFK. She practically canonizes them. It was just too much. Plus the author narrates the 18 hour audio in a chipper style. That was so annoying. The book needed a good haircut and a professional narrator.

[Bill Gates · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked either the best time or the worst time to read Doris Kearns Goodwin’s new memoir. As I finished it, I was also deep in the writing of my first autobiography. On one hand, reading a book as thoughtful and well written as An Unfinished Love Story inspired me to push myself even more as an author. On the other hand, Goodwin sets a daunting example. Trying to write as well as she does is like trying to sing along with Lady Gaga.

I’m a big fan of Goodwin’s—Team of Rivals is one of my favorite history books ever—so I wasn’t surprised that An Unfinished Love Story was so compelling. It starts with a clever conceit. Doris was married for 42 years to Dick Goodwin, a policy expert and White House speechwriter who played a crucial role in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations of the 1960s. Toward the end of Dick’s life, he and Doris started going through 300 boxes of papers and memorabilia he had collected—an exercise that led them to reopen an old debate about the relative merits of the two presidents, and especially the question of which man deserves more credit for the accomplishments of the Great Society.

The book is partly about Doris and Dick’s decades-long relationship, and partly about a pivotal time in American history. It works on both fronts.

I had never heard of Dick Goodwin before I read the book. I did know about Ted Sorensen, who had a major influence on Kennedy’s thinking and speeches; Dick Goodwin, it turns out, was just as important. He helped shape the Great Society, the most dramatic shift in America’s public safety net since Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. He was a senior advisor on Bobby Kennedy’s presidential campaign, and many years later, drafted Al Gore’s statesmanlike concession speech after the 2000 election. (Goodwin also led the investigation in the real-life game-show scandal that was the subject of the movie Quiz Show; he’s played by Rob Morrow.)

The book left me with more admiration for both Kennedy and Johnson. When the Goodwins began the project of going through Dick’s papers, each had clear opinions on the two presidents: Dick was a Kennedy guy who quit the Johnson administration in protest over the Vietnam war and the president’s domineering style, while Doris preferred Johnson’s political savvy and ability to get things done. She worked at the White House during the latter’s administration and became a confidante; after he left office, she went to Texas to help him with his memoir.

Sadly, the Goodwins’ project was cut short by Dick’s death in 2018. In the end, he and Doris came to see both presidents in a more nuanced way. After reading the book, so did I. Doris takes you behind the scenes so you can watch the two presidents and their teams figure out how to move their agenda forward, recruit good people, and explain their plans to the public. At the same time, she doesn't shy away from the contradictions and flaws in their characters, particularly in LBJ's case.

Doris’ personal experiences, and her retelling of Dick’s, make the history feel more real. She’s not just reporting on what happened—she can tell you what it was like to be there, using intimate personal details to bring the era to life in a way I hadn’t seen before. In one funny and revealing moment, Johnson complains that Dick Goodwin is getting too much attention from the media—to the point that he tells a reporter that no one by that name even works at the White House.

I think this book will resonate with a lot of different readers. For one thing, it’s hard to deny the similarities between the 1960s and today—a time of political upheaval, generational conflict, and protests on college campuses. Whether you already know a lot about the ’60s or you’re just dipping your toe into those waters, whether you want a deep dive into the art of political writing or a charming story about a married couple who adored each other, you’ll get it from An Unfinished Love Story.

[Linden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Doris and her late husband Dick, a speechwriter for JFK and LBJ, are going through his boxes of memorabilia. He was a pivotal figure during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, and she, much younger, was a student intern, though they didn't meet then. This remarkable book chronicles events in the 1960's as both reflect on their memories as spurred by each item in the boxes. The tone is conversational and friendly, and since they were there it has an immediacy and accessibility not often found in nonfiction. I gained so much insight into JFK's New Frontier and LBJ's Great Society. Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in American history.

[Bruce Katz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable on multiple levels: interpersonal, historical, political, cultural. Late in their lives together, Doris Kearns Goodwin and her husband, Dick Goodwin, spent countless days going through cartons of his papers. Dick was active in both the JFK and LBJ White Houses and he became a close personal friend of Bobby Kennedy and Jaqueline Kennedy. The book goes through those years: JFK's campaign for president, the formation of the Peace Corps, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassinations of JFK, Bobby, and Dr. King, LBJ's determined efforts to get civil rights legislation passed, the Vietnam War and the fractures it brought out in American politics and culture, LBJ's deep depressions and insecurities. Lots of anecdotes, like Dick being called to LBJ's ranch without notice and having to fly across the country in a tuxedo. Doris being chosen as a White House fellow in LBJ's White House just as an article she c0-authored that was critical of the Vietnam War was released. The intense intergenerational rivalries. The '68 convention in Chicago. The race riots. And of course, the deep affection and respect Doris and Dick shared in their many years together.

I lived through those years but I was young. I entered college in '67. So my knowledge and understanding of what was happening around me was profoundly limited. Reading -- well, listening to -- "An Unfinished Love Story" was eye-opening and makes me eager to learn more.

[Char · Rating 5 out of 5]

My interest regarding this book centered around my fondness for Doris Kearns Goodwin. I didn't even know who her husband was, other than that he too, was involved in politics. I've come away with an immense respect for the man and his skills.

Dick Goodwin has passed away, but Doris made him come alive here. A speechwriter for JFK, then for LBJ, then to McCarthy, to Bobby Kennedy, and he's had a hand in many others as well. This audio version plays the original recordings of some of these speeches, and let me tell you, some of them gave me the chills. Kennedy asking "Do not ask what can my country do for me...." *shiver*
Dick Goodwin wanted to make America a better and more equal place, as evidenced by many decades of working towards civil rights, poverty, and voting rights.

Imagine working for a man, (JFK), growing close to him, and then the guy gets shot. During that time he became very close to Jackie and Bobby Kennedy. Years later when Bobby Kennedy declared his run for the presidency, he wanted Dick on his side and Dick went. Only to have RFK shot as well. His friendship with Jackie lasted for the rest of her life, but then she passed from cancer. Obviously Dick Goodwin has been through some shit: he must have been a very strong man.

Doris and Dick went through boxes of voluminous diaries, notes, and various reports, as Dick's health was slowly declining. Where any of Dick's letters were quoted, they were narrated by Brian Cranston. D & D were able to finish, but Doris took many years before she felt capable of putting it all together for this book. Hearing about when the man passed made me tear up. They had been together for about 40 years or so, and it was clear in her voice how much she cared for this impressive man.

My highest recommendation, especially on audio! Fascinating!

*Thanks to my local library for the free audio download. LIBRARIES RULE!*

[Louis Muñoz · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

This was a fascinating read. Doris Kearns Goodwin and especially her husband Richard "Dick" Goodwin not only had center seats at many of the pivotal/seminal moments of the 1960's, they often had lead supporting and even starring roles at many points. Thus we get a book that's both from a historian's and an insider's perspective, but even more, from people who are simultaneously objective, looking at events in hindsight, but also intricately, passionately involved in how the 1960s unrolled and about the aftereffects of everything that happened.

My one big carp with this book is that it feels like we hear about EVERY-SINGLE-TIME Dick Goodwin smokes a cigar! (Having said that, it's mildly amusing hearing about him trying to teach chain-smoker Jackie Kennedy how to smoke a cigar.) But otherwise, this book embodies a very interesting kind of historical work and we are all the richer for it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another wonderful story from DKG. This one is a memoir of her life and her marriage and it is a fantastic story to unfold. If you have read any of her other historical books you will want to read this one, it’s the icing on the cake, thoroughly enjoyable.

[Joseph Sciuto · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have told this story quite a few times over the years, probably because it has had such a profound impact on me.

It was back in the early nineties while I was working at a famous/ infamous Los Angeles restaurant. It was a Saturday evening and we had just opened at 5pm. A well dressed man in his early sixties walked into the restaurant. He was early and was waiting for five other guests to arrive.

Our General Manager told me to sit him on table four which was a table for six or more guests and looked directly out at Santa Monica Boulevard. He followed me and sat down at the very end of the table. I asked him if he would like a drink and he replied, “Yes please, a Johnny Walter Black on the rocks.”

I brought him the drink and he asked where I was from and I told him from the Bronx but that my father was born and raised in Massachusetts. In the city of Lawrence and during the summer time they lived in the resort city of Salisbury Beach.

He was also from Massachusetts, and when I asked him if he now lived in Los Angles he replied, “God no!” He still lived in Massachusetts but travelled the country quite a lot. He was even quite familiar with the part of the Bronx I was from.

He continued, “That for the longest time he didn’t visit Los Angeles, and it was only lately, after twenty years, that he started to come back to visit friends.”

I asked, “Did you dislike the city that much?”

He simply shook his head and took a sip from his glass and replied, “I was Robert Kennedy’s chief advisor during his 1968 run for president. I was at the Ambassador Hotel, celebrating his California victory in the primary, when he was killed.”

He took another sip from his glass and continued, “I don’t know what you think about President John F. Kennedy or Senator Ted Kennedy, but one thing I can tell you for sure and that is that Robert F. Kennedy is the best human being I have ever known.”

His eyes watered over as he finished the scotch in his glass and looked out at Santa Monica Blvd. I picked up his glass and remarked, “This one is on the house.”

He replied, “You don’t need to do that.”

“Oh yes I do,” as I walked over to the bar with the empty glass and felt tears rolling down my cheeks.

The other guests arrived just as I turned from the bar with the new drink. He stood up and greeted all his guests and then, like a real gentleman, he introduced me to each of his guests and remarked, “He’s been a joy to talk to while I waited.”

Ernest Hemingway remarked, “To be a great writer, one has to write honestly.” I have met and conversed with many politicians, made friends and conversed for hours with many of the Hollywood elite, and talked to Nobel Prize winners in a range of different fields and to this very day the words, ROBERT F. KENNEDY IS THE BEST HUMAN BEING I HAVE EVER KNOWN were to me the most honest statement any one individual said to me while working at that famous/infamous restaurant.

It was after talking to that gentleman that I decided to put aside all innuendos and rumors I have ever heard about the Kennedys and to do my own historical research on the Kennedys and no one individual and historian has been more helpful and knowledgeable to me than the great Doris Kearns Goodwin. First, with her biography “The FItzgeralds and the Kennedys,” followed by “Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream,” and finally with “An Unfinished Love Story. The Personal History of the 1960’s.”

“An Unfinished Love Story,” to me at least, is a tribute to her late husband Richard Goodwin who was a speech writer and advisor to President John Kennedy, President Lyndon Johnson (until he stopped working for him in 1965 over the Viet Nam War, which he did not support. The war took priority over Civil Rights and replaced the great record of accomplishments President Johnson had compiled during his first two years as President), for a short time for Senator Eugene McCarthy, and finally for Senator Robert F. Kennedy when he joined the democratic race for president against McCarthy.

To say that Mr. Goodwin was a man of great moral integrity might be an understatement. He could have made a fortune, not by being one of the great speechwriters of all time and an advisor, but by simply selling his great skills to the highest bidder.

Mr. Goodwin and his wife Doris Kearns, toward the end of his life, decided to go through the attic filled boxes in their home in Concord, Mass. that were titled the 1960’s. What they uncovered was a treasure throve, a first hand account, of the 1960’s through the eyes of her husband, through his many speeches, random ideas, and concrete ideas while working for two Presidents, senator McCarthy, and Robert F. Kennedy.

She also contributed with her written recollections of the 1960’s as a graduate student, an activist, and finally working for President Johnson during the very end of his term as President, and eventually went down to his home in Texas and helped him write his memoirs.

Many of the famous speeches delivered by Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, and by Robert F. Kennedy were drafted by Mr. Goodwin who never compromised his belief in equal rights for all, and the hope of a better future for all mankind.

“An Unfinished Love Story,” is a treasure that I highly, highly recommend.

And as for my historical research into the Kennedys I learned that to truly understand history one cannot rely on newspaper articles, or rumors, or partisan insanity and disinformation.

One simply needs to do the research and read actual accounts of what happened and how the individuals, often unheard of heroes, influenced the country and made it the envy of the world…at least until recently when our 45th president, our republican congress, and our corrupt Supreme Court decided to take a wrecking ball to it. I can only hope that more Americans wake up to the fantastic job President Biden has done in restoring America to its once prominent place. “The Shining City on the Hill.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYiOU...

And yes, I have no doubt that the customer, the advisor to Robert F. Kennedy, saw the greatest human being he has ever met in Mr. Kennedy. After Robert Kennedy rose from the shadows of his legendary brother, President Kennedy, he represented the very best in a human being and proved it over and over again. First, with his trip to South Africa in support of the anti-apartheid movement and then in his legendary run for president and the promise of a presidency that would fight for the equal rights and opportunities that all Americans deserved and an end to the war in Viet Nam.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn’t put this book down. A true page turner for any lover of American history. What a life she has lived; what a timeless tribute she has written to her husband.

[Carmel Hanes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was pretty young in the sixties, and don't remember much of the specifics of what took place then, but I do have vague memories of crucial events and the people in power at the time. While I didn't understand the importance of all that was taking place while I played with my Barbie dolls and rode my bike in a safe neighborhood, I did "feel" the angst of that time period through TV news stories and family members. This was a pretty revelatory and stunning reliving of those times, enhanced by this insider view of the presidencies of Kennedy and Johnson.

What struck me most was hearing some of the actual speeches given, the focus and intentions of these two men, and the accomplishments that led to some of the freedoms and values I , and others, have enjoyed most of my life. I confess to becoming choked up a few times as I listened to this audiobook, feeling a sense of pride and gratitude for what they tried to do, and did do, for this nation. And, conversely, I felt a piercing sadness at how these times compared with today' world, and all that is being broken. It's a very troubling comparison, starting with what has been, and is being said, by our current "leaders". Those were times when statesmanship and integrity meant something.

A comprehensive and detailed look at what can be accomplished when we elect people who truly do have the nation's well-being at heart and are willing to step into the lion's den to try to make things better for the common man. Imperfect as they were, their legacy is one I can applaud. It was a fascinating revisit of my childhood.

4.5 rounded up.

[Bradley Roth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always enjoyed books by Doris Kearns Goodwin, so when I saw she had written another I decided to read it. Still, I wasn't prepared. It is truly a masterpiece. It's a combination of 1) a biography of her husband Dick Goodwin, 2) a memoir, and 3) a history of the turbulent 1960s. It is simply wonderful. I recommend "An Unfinished Love Story." She should get another Pulitzer Prize.

[Sherry Sharpnack · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will read anything Doris Kearns Goodwin wishes to write, as she is that rare combination of historian and excellent writer.
However, this book by Goodwin isn't a history or a biography per se: in it, she finishes a project that she and her husband, Dick Goodwin, began together before he died from cancer. Mr. Goodwin - Dick, for the sake of brevity, not to denigrate him - was deeply entrenched in all the major political campaigns of the tumultuous 1960's in the USA. He was a speechwriter w/ Nebraska's Ted Sorensen for JFK; the same, plus other roles for LBJ; and worked on the presidential campaigns of Eugene McCarthy and then Bobby Kennedy. Dick wrote some of the most stirring words of my lifetime, maybe of yours too. He wrote JFK's Peace Corps proposal speech given at the University of Michigan, and LBJ's "We Shall Overcome" speech to Congress pressing the Civil Rights bill, in which Goodwin was also instrumentally involved in getting passed.
I enjoyed the back-and-forth between Doris and Dick, b/c Doris was a White House Fellow in the Johnson White House, and LBJ specifically chose her to help him write his memoir, which evolved into her first book, while Dick was in the JFK campaign before JFK was even considered for Vice President for Adlai Stevenson in 1956. So, the merits of JFK vs. LBJ as president was really entertaining, and served to reinforce my thought that the one was a continuation of the other. LBJ definitely didn't get enough credit for supporting the race to the moon: we all remember JFK calling for it, and its completion occurring under Nixon. No one thinks of the massive funding that LBJ ensured between those two administrations! Johnson's dropping out the presidential race was presented very emotionally, for both Dick and Doris - for different reasons - and gave more nuanced views than my dim memories of it.
All I can say is: what an ACCOMPLISHED household they made! And Doris' great grief at losing her long-time partner, moving out of their shared home, and what to do w/ all their books were an interesting coda. I'm looking forward to more of Kearns Goodwin's biographies/histories in the future. 4+ stars, rounded down to 4.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

She did it again. With an assist from her husband, Dick. Doris Kearns Goodwin has crafted another gem and may have repositioned herself as my favorite biographer/historian.

An Unfinished Love Story is their story, but mostly it reveals his remarkable journey in the 1960s, serving as a speechwriter for John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Eugene McCarthy, and Robert Kennedy. Lightning struck multiple times in his life, and he recorded much of it in papers and memorabilia that he kept in boxes, untouched, for decades. It was time to open the boxes.

I am accustomed to presidential biographies, which follow one man from beginning to end, but this book follows an agenda—civil rights—through the administrations of two presidents and multiple other leaders in the ‘60s. Until that agenda gets hijacked by the increasing conflict in Vietnam, and attacked repeatedly by the assassin’s bullet. Somehow Dick Goodwin remained focused, balancing loyalty with strategy.

We follow Dick during the whirlwind JFK presidential campaign, and with him when he loses his place in the White House. Our hopes raise as its doors open to him once again, before everything is thrown into doubt.

Next is a look at Dick’s work with LBJ, with a ride on the roller coaster is his euphoria and destruction. Finally, outside the White House again, Dick rejoins the campaign trail with McCarthy and then switches to support his friend, Robert, before the chaotic days in Chicago and Los Angeles.

As Dick retreats in the book, Doris ascends, working in the Johnson White House herself and, more importantly, his Texas ranch. Taken together, both of their stories build a personal, heartbreaking picture of Lyndon Johnson. It’s hard not to feel bad for the man as he loses so much, even as Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Kennedys lose it all. The contrasting tragedies of Johnson and the others reveals instant death on the one hand and a slow, agonizing fall from grace on the other. Jack Kennedy never had to sit back and reflect on his legacy and his failings. Johnson was tortured by them.

With Doris, Johnson insists that his memoir should present him as a statesman, not “some backwoods politician.” But he is exactly wrong: I read the stories of the presidents to discover who they are as people—their human side. It’s easy to be a rich and powerful figurehead, out-of-reach at the top; I want to be the Goodwins and discover the real person behind the statesman. True power comes from openly revealing yourself for posterity.

The last chapters of the book are difficult to read, and must have been enormously challenging to write. Lyndon, and then Dick, ultimately pass from the scene completely. I always make the joke that in my favorite literary genre of historic biography every book ends the same way: The main character dies. But that’s not right. Sometimes they all die.

And yet, they all live.

[Maureen Grigsby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doris Kearny Goodwin has always been the BEST storyteller, but her personal insights into the extraordinary history lived by her and her husband, Dick Goodwin was just outstanding.

[DavidA · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History is informative and touching. Written by one of my favorite writers, Doris Kerns Goodwin shares with readers her life with her late husband, Richard Goodwin – a gifted and caring speechwriter. I enjoyed learning about their lives both before and after they were married. I also enjoyed learning more about Jackie Kennedy and Lyndon Baines Johnson. As a college student during the 1960s, this book brought back a lot of memories – the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy, as well as the civil rights struggles, the Viet Nam War, the bombing in Cambodia, and the killings of four students at my alma mater. In many ways, these moments in history never leave you. One final comment. Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., an adviser to President Kennedy, and a good friend of Dick Goodwin, is mentioned throughout this book. As a history major at Kent State University, my last course was during the summer of 1965. It focused on World War II to the present day. Throughout the course, Dr. William Zornow, our professor, kept reminding us not to miss our last class. As we gathered in Bowman Hall on that last day, Dr. Zornow pointed to the back of the lecture hall and said with a big smile, “I don’t think our guest speaker needs an introduction.” We all turned around and there wearing a suit and a signature bow tie was Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. It was quite a moment for all of us.I would later purchase his new book, A Thousand Days, from The Book of the Month Club. The price for this hardback was $9.00.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think everyone loves the author’s work because it’s thoroughly researched, gleaning with insights otherwise uncovered. This felt different.
Obviously it’s personal and too much for my liking. Did she have to include the quote about her husband’s ugly face?
Expected a better overall description and while the parts about her trajectory and presidential relationship were fine, the late husband’s campaigning was dull.

[Jim Gahring · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had some interesting things that perked my interest, but the adoration of LBJ was a bit much so this one misses the mark for me.

[Em theglitterybookworm_ · Rating 2 out of 5]

i consider myself a little bit of a history buff, and the amount of times i said “i just don’t care” while reading this was honestly alarming.

[Kristina Coop-a-Loop · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doris Kearns Goodwin crafts another exceptional book with her memoir/history/biography, An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s. I’m not crazy about the title; it seems awkward to me, but the book itself is engrossing, detailed and an important read—as I think all her books are. AULS is focused more on the events and career of her late husband, Richard Goodwin. However, the book is structured in such a way that you experience their life together during these turbulent times. The history is foremost, as always, but as experienced by her husband, a speechwriter for John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Senator Robert F. Kennedy.

If you have any interest at all in history—and I don’t understand how anyone cannot as the events of the past continue to affect our present and future—you may be interested in this book. I remember attending a lecture by DKG a few years ago and she discussed this book. I was excited to read it and it does not disappoint. I knew nothing at all about her husband and this book opened my eyes to the important roles he played in the supporting JFK’s New Frontier policies and crafting Johnson’s Great Society. The problems society faced then—poverty, racism, growing gaps between the middle class and the affluent—are still with us today and growing worse. Racism, bigotry and hatred are once again in vogue and there is very little shame attached to expressing these feelings openly. The people in politics during the 1960s seem less jaded, more idealistic, more hopeful. What hasn’t changed is the idea of some politicians that loyalty to the leader matters more than loyalty to the country or the U.S. Constitution. When Goodwin parted ways with President Johnson due to Johnson’s continued support for the Vietnam War, he was called a traitor, unpatriotic and disloyal by the president’s supporters. In response, Goodwin crafted an essay about loyalty that is just as appropriate now (if not more so) than it was then:

The government of the United States is not a private club or college fraternity. Its policies are not private oaths or company secrets. Presumably a man enters public life to serve the nation. The oath taken by every high officer of the nation, elected or appointed, is to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, not an Administration, a political party or a man.

Dissenters are sometimes accused of demeaning the presidency. That office should demand respect. Its dignity, however, flows not from private right or title or the man who occupies it, but solely from the fact that its occupant is chosen by the people of the United States. It is their office, and if they, or any among them, feel that it is wrongly used, then it is their obligation to speak. (298)

Obviously not an idea supported by the current president and his sycophants.

AULS is a brilliant book covering the career of Richard Goodwin. It focuses on the 1960s and weaves in historical accounts of that time and bits of personal memoir as well. There are color photographs, a bibliography, notes, and an index for those who wish to investigate further. Doris Kearns Goodwin is an excellent speaker; I have been lucky to attend several of her lectures and book signings; the last one was in 2025 at the Chautauqua Institute in New York (state).

Highly recommend this book to history lovers, anyone wanting to know more about the 1960s, or anyone wanting to dip their toe into narrative historical nonfiction.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book that is both a memoir and a glimpse into the political history of the 1960s. I did not realize that Dick Goodwin was such an important figure in history. He was close with the Kennedy's and LBJ and was a key player in the policies and speeches of the era. I loved the many anecdotes and personal histories mixed in of the Goodwin's experiences. Highly recommended read for anyone that wants to learn about the 1960s and enjoy a love story throughout.