A Personal History of the 1960s
By Doris Kearns Goodwin
Ms. Goodwin and her husband had a close association
with the movers and shakers of the 1960s, and this is the recollection of that.
It’s a supremely interesting book—it reads like a novel most of the time—but it’s
real! She has an amazing memory paired
with a lifetime of written and recorded work to back it up, and the results
are…well…amazing. I don’t know how else to say it.
Ms. Goodwin was a biographer for Lyndon Baines Johnson plus other people; she is also a historian, political commentator, and lots more. Richard Goodwin worked as speechwriter for Ted Kennedy, Lyndon Baines Johnson, Eugene McCarthy, and Robert Kennedy, and of course, lots of other stuff. This book is a personal, diary-like retelling of their two life stories during the sixties, but also the story of how she and he went about digging through his mementos and researching life material for his documentary.
I myself lived in that era, but I was mostly clueless of what all went on in politics those days. But after watching Ken Burn’s documentary on Vietnam and listening to this audiobook, I’m flabbergasted. One thing of note—learning about the stuff that went on back then makes me a little more hopeful about our current situation. Chaos and disaster; treachery and dishonesty. But mixed with idealism and hope.
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