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

Doris Kearns Goodwin is an excellent and thoughtful writer who lived the 1960’s first as a student activist and later as a confidant of LBJ. Her husband, Dick, was somewhat older and an important and talented speechwriter and strategist for JFK, LBJ, Bobby Kennedy, and briefly for Eugene McCarthy. He was instrumental in many of the most famous speeches and programs of the Kennedy and Johnson campaigns and presidencies. The book is built on their collective memories generated while reviewing Dick’s extensive memorabilia and documents from the era. Dick’s up close and personal memories are well supplemented by Doris’ memories as a young student activist and later confidant of LBJ. The narrative tone is, as one would expect, decidedly progressive in describing the era ranging from the extreme highs of the successes and accomplishments to the crushing tragedies of the JFK, RFK and MLK assassinations and the debacle of the 1968 Chicago Democratic convention. Throughout, the reader gets a great look at the times and at the personalities/styles of the major players. Through the author’s tone, the reader can also feel the excitement and the often naive, almost religious, fervency of the young, “true believers” who followed the messianic leaders. This book reads like a novel. And there is no doubt about the author’s political sympathies. Nonetheless, it is a great examination of the leaders and the times that squares well with my own observations having come of age in the 60’s and from the other biographies and histories I have read. Recommend highly.

An Unfinished Love Story by Doris Kearns Goodwin – 5 Stars An Unfinished Love Story is an absolute masterpiece that blends history, personal reflection, and a deeply moving love story into a single compelling narrative. This is, without a doubt, one of my favorite books of 2025! I’ve been an admirer of Doris Kearns Goodwin for years. I had the incredible privilege of meeting her at the Lincoln Library in Springfield, Illinois, during an event for her brilliant book Team of Rivals. That signed first edition has a special place in my library. But let’s get to the real magic of this latest work. I received a signed copy of An Unfinished Love Story from my wonderful wife for Christmas, and I’ll admit, it sat on my shelf for a while as I immersed myself in Roman history and philosophy texts. But when I finally started listening to the Audible version a few weeks ago, I was completely captivated. The addition of original recordings of speeches from JFK, Bobby Kennedy, and LBJ makes the book feel even more alive, especially since Doris’s husband, Dick Goodwin, was such a significant behind-the-scenes figure in those political circles. He crafted speeches for presidents, advised Bobby Kennedy, and even met with Che Guevara! There are so many historical gems scattered throughout this book—it’s a history lover’s dream. But what makes this book so special isn’t just the historical context; it’s the personal story of Doris and Dick’s life together. An Unfinished Love Story is a beautifully intimate account of their years spent sifting through old boxes of memories, trying to make sense of the love and legacy they built together. Doris Kearns Goodwin’s storytelling is nothing short of magical—her attention to detail, her ability to weave together significant historical events with personal anecdotes, and her emotional depth make this book unforgettable. I laughed, I cried, and I couldn’t stop turning the pages. The book covers everything from the civil rights movement to US relations with Latin America. It’s an inspiring and emotional journey, filled with beautiful stories of public service, personal sacrifice, and, of course, love. In the end, this is more than just a history book or a memoir. It’s a celebration of life, love, and history as seen through the eyes of two extraordinary people. If you’re a fan of Doris Kearns Goodwin’s work or simply someone who appreciates a well-told, heartfelt story, you need to read this book.

There can be few couples who have witnessed as much history as Richard Goodwin and Doris Kearns Goodwin. Their names are writ large through every chronicle of American history from the 1960s through the 1970s. They saw and helped create the New Frontier and Great Society programs, working side by side with Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. Richard wrote speeches for JFK, LBJ, Eugene McCarthy, and RFK during the 1960, 1964, and 1968 campaigns and was an indispensable aide throughout. Doris was a White House Fellow who became one of LBJ's most important aides in the final year of his Administration and during his post-Presidency. The extraordinary historical events the Goodwins witnessed both before and during their marriage would make this book an important read, but this is also the story of the Goodwins' long time friendship and marriage, told primarily through Doris' eyes as she helped Richard sort through his mammoth collection of papers during the final years of his life. As a result this book is an unputdownable read that I was sorry to finish. Doris Kearns Goodwin is one of the finest historians at work today. Her books Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream, The Bully Pulpit, Team of Rivals, No Ordinary Time (to name only a few) are all wonderful reads, brilliantly written with impeccable scholarship. An Unfinished Love Story definitely deserves a place in every library beside her other works.

I recommend this book with great enthusiasm. It is one of the most heartfelt books I’ve ever read. It’s a tribute to DKG’s husband, Richard Goodwin, but it is also a “you are there” journey through so many of the movements of the mid-1960s which we hold up as examples of what we aspire to achieve at our best: the Great Society, voting rights, an attack on poverty. While I lament the failure to deliver on these visions after 60 years, they continue to shine a light on the nation we must seek to realize. Ms. Goodwin has put together a remarkable blend of history, personal memoir, perspective and human feeling that will remain with me for a long time. I believe it will touch you. Her perspectives and recollections of Bobby Kenned leap from the page. I truly believe that among the men and women who have died prematurely during my adult lifetime, none has probably had a greater negative impact on history than the assassination of Bobby Kennedy. If he had lived and won the presidency, which I think was likely, this country would have been different in so many ways. We would have exited the Vietnam War sooner with less deaths. But most importantly, I think he uniquely among the politicians over the last 60 years had the heart and mind and voice and spirit to bring people together, across race and across class. His contemporaneous remarks the night Martin Luther King died will forever remain with me, his quotation from Aeschylus—“In our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom, through the awful grace of God.” “Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: To tame the savageness of man and to make gentle the life of this world…” “Let us dedicate ourselves to that, and say a prayer for our country and for our people.” I have admired Doris Kearns Goodwin’s writings about presidents and leadership for decades. Never, however, have I admired her soul as I do now. What a life she has lived; what a timeless tribute she has written to her husband. His role was principally that of an agitator and speechwriter. His fingerprints were all over President Johnson’s greatest speeches driving the domestic revolutions of the mid-1960s. He played a big role in Bobby Kennedy’s “Ripple of Hope” talk in South Africa. DKG has rescued the forgotten or never known role of most speechwriters for her husband. This is a worthy tribute and it is, perhaps above all, a tribute to her. I’m confident you will enjoy this, Greg. Warmly, John cc FGP PS – This is a fragment of William Wordsworth’s poem, Intimations of Immortality, which was a favorite of Doris’ husband, Dick. She had read it to him close to his death at the age of 86. When she finished reading it, he turned to her and from memory repeated it: “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.” I love this. It touches me at this stage of my life. For obvious reasons. Not just satisfaction, but glory in what remains behind. The memories, of course, but even more, the satisfaction and confidence that knowing I have four children and they have four spouses and we have ten grandchildren who I know, who I am absolutely certain will go on to do different but good things. No one could ask for anything more than that. And more…there are other leaders whom I know, much younger than I, like you, who through the grace of God will live on much longer than I will, who will continue to pursue the unfinished business of this country and provide the opportunity for everyone to achieve their full potential, without discrimination, with the benefits of health and education that everyone deserves.

Author intro is a good overview of what's to come. Includes photos which most find interesting in true history books. Writing style is good and feels like author is speaking to reader in a personal manner. Good insights about time periods covered. Great book club option.

Very good book. Fascinating non-fiction for those who follow presidential politics- covers a long period of time as historian Doris Kearns Goodwin's husband served as a speech writer for JFK and LBJ. Goodwin herself is a Pulitzer Prize winner for her history of Lincoln's relationship with his Cabinet members, "Team of Rivals."

This is an amazing book that gives you the behind the scenes view of the JFK and LBJ administration’s.

Do you love history? Have a fascination with the 60s? The Kennedys? LBJ? DKG's stories are remarkable, and this book is unlike any other because she’s combined her vast knowledge as an historian along with heaps of cool facts about her remarkable, brilliant husband Dick Goodwin’s illustrious career and pivotal role he played as a presidential speechwriter and political advisor as they unearthed hundreds of letters, journals, memos, (more than 300 boxes that had been in storage and they only started going through them before he died). A trusted member of JFK’s campaign as a speechwriter and later assistant special counsel on Latin American affairs under the president, a close friend of Jackie and Bobby’s too, to LBJ he became indispensable, once again an instrumental speechwriter and special assistant to the president and an integral part of the civil rights movement. The speeches Goodwin wrote for both presidents moved a nation, to belief, action, the creation of programs, that Kennedy dreamt of, and Johnson implemented. And all that doesn’t even include everything he did that led to his professional career. ​ As the title says, it’s a love story rolled up in history, with some of the most interesting facts, intimate tales of relationships formed in his (and her) early days in D.C., what they witnessed up close and personal, the words he wrote, which had a profound impact on the American people from the evolution of the Peace Corps to the signing of the Voting Rights Act. To think, this was all tucked away in storage. Eloquently told with wit, charm, with the dazzle that only Ms. Kearns Goodwin can deliver.

A beautifully told story of a turbulent period of US politics. Also a love story over several decades. Makes sense of complexity with enlivened yet easily understandable prose.

very practising, effective and useful as well as have a very great analysis.

A história eh boa

As usual with Doris Kern Godwin's histories this book is more than just a history of the Kennedys and President Johnson and the fight for civil rights. With the background of the sixties Ms Godwin also gives us a detailed picture of her husband and herself in those exciting times, working in the White House, writing famous speeches for the presidents (her husband), sharing President Johnson's memories near the end of his life (herself) and the many devoted Americans who believed in the changing times and the end of racism. It is also the story of Godwin's life with her husband and their shared interests and love of America. Written after the death of her husband, the book is a tribute to him and to his political fights.

History and Love-story for one and all —- ages, persuasions, you name it!