Reliving History

Recently a friend recommended I read Doris Kearns Goodwin’s, An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s.  While I knew of Goodwin from numerous interviews I’d seen on television over the years and, from her seminal work, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, I wasn’t prepared for the emotional encounter I experienced reading this book and reliving the 1960s.

Married to Richard Goodwin for 42 years, the book tells the story of the 1960s from her husband’s point of view as a speech writer and advisor to Presidents Kenndy and Johnson; Senators Robert Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy and others.

Comprised of extensive recollections from her husband, the book sports an alternate point of view from the author herself.  In addition to being a noted American Historian in her own right, Kearns Goodwin also served as a White House Fellow during the Johnson Administration.  This experience resulted in her becoming a confidant to the 36^th President and his biographer, authoring Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream.

I found it fascinating to relive so many seminal moments of the 60’s getting a behind the scenes perspective into; the Kenndy presidential campaign; the Nixon-Kennedy debates; the establishment of the Peace Corp; the assassinations of President Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Senator Robert Kennedy; the Civil Rights Movement; and, the Great Society to mention just a few of the landmark events explored in detail in this treatise on the 1960s.

If you grew up in the 1960s and enjoy history, I encourage you to add this book to your reading list…you won’t be disappointed.