The book is a year-by-year march through the ’60s as viewed by newcomers to the corridors of power. But it’s also a rather sweet portrait of a devoted couple growing old together ... This is not a news-breaking book, and it’s not about dish; that’s not really the Kearns Goodwin brand. But it is eminently readable, appealing especially to anyone fascinated by the period covered, and a touching invitation to eavesdrop on a long marriage between two people who had an unusual level of access to presidential policy and personality.
The tension in the book is provided by the tensions of the era — LBJ versus RFK, white versus Black, young versus old, tradition versus experimentation, Richard Nixon versus Hubert Humphrey. But it also is marked by the gentle tension between a woman who saw romance in the struggles and torment of Lyndon Johnson and a man tied tightly to the Kennedys ... Above all, this book is a reminder of the uncashed check of American promise ... A love story, to be sure. But also a tragic story, of hopes dashed and dreams unfulfilled. Sit down and weep.
Manages to be different than anything that has come before ... Gives us hundreds of interesting vignettes about the time she and her husband spent with these historic characters. But the spine of the book is the eternal debate about who deserved more credit for the landmark legislative accomplishments of the ’60s — JFK or LBJ.
Had he not been married to one of America’s great historians for 42 years, it is doubtful Dick Goodwin would warrant a book of his own ... The result is a book that reads like biography but is replete with the myopia and defensiveness of memoir ... It is not without its keenly observed revelations ... But these vignettes are intermittent, making the rest of the book feel small and unbefitting of one of America’s greatest historians, who inserts herself into the narrative in occasionally jarring ways.
Glorious ... This memoir presents Goodwin’s deepest love as she writes about her husband and the commitment they shared to an era that has yet to fulfill its promise.
A useful vehicle by which to consider today’s political climate in light of the 1960s ... Doris Kearns Goodwin once again shows off her considerable storytelling skills.
The narrative is dominated by larger-than-life personalities, especially the tenacious LBJ, who was determined to uplift the downtrodden by riding roughshod over anyone who objected. It’s a vivid portrait of peak liberalism.
As befits all great researchers and eyewitnesses to history, the Goodwins collected a vast trove of archival material from their years as presidential advisers and authors, and it is this unparalleled source material that historian, biographer, and political commentator Kearns Goodwin mines to galvanizing effect in a memoir that purrs with beguiling intimacy and bubbles with effervescent appreciation for an exceptional marriage during more than four decades of profound mutual engagement with politics, social struggles, and each other.
