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Table of Contents
About The Book
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.
Product Details
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster (April 16, 2024)
- Length: 480 pages
- ISBN13: 9781982108663
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Raves and Reviews
"An illuminating and inspiring blend of biography, history, memoir and marital banter."—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"A touching invitation to eavesdrop on a long marriage between two people who had an unusual level of access to presidential policy and personality."—San Francisco Chronicle
"Just as An Unfinished Love Story is a testament to the Kearns Goodwin marriage, so is it a love story of the United States and its democratic government. The many speeches written by Goodwin, the writings of Kearns Goodwin and both their reflections demonstrate that words do indeed matter."—The Columbus Dispatch
"An intimate political history....about the love of historical research, in this case demonstrated by a joint examination of 300 boxes of documents, drafts, and the personal flotsam accumulated over the course of a marriage played out in the arena of American politics. And about the love of America, its past and future, its struggles and promise"—The Boston Globe
PRAISE FOR DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN
"America's historian-in-chief."—New York magazine
"A giant on the history and biography shelves."—The Washington Post
"With her skillful grasp of revealing detail, Ms. Goodwin brings political figures back to life."—The New York Times
"She's a national treasure."—Anderson Cooper
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High Resolution Images
- Book Cover Image (jpg): An Unfinished Love Story Hardcover 9781982108663
- Author Photo (jpg): Doris Kearns Goodwin © Annie Leibovitz 2018(0.1 MB)
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