An Unfinished Love Story, Doris Kearns Goodwin, author and narrator
This is a book which can only be described as a tribute to Richard Goodwin, the beloved husband of Doris Kearns Goodwin. It is also a love letter, of sorts, since it describes their relationship through the years as they searched through the boxes of his records.
She is a Presidential historian and Richard advised, supported and worked for Presidential candidates and Presidents. This book describes how Doris and Richard met, how they managed their lives and how they dealt with tumultuous times, especially during the 1960’s. The Vietnam war was raging, President Kennedy was murdered, Martin Luther King was murdered, Robert Kennedy was murdered and civil unrest followed. Riots were frequent as those who felt betrayed took to the streets. Kearns Goodwin has romanticized those years, leaving out most of the angst and political conflict as she describes events through their eyes, almost clinically, making sure the end result was a positive one for them and the politics they supported.
Reading about the history made me realize the parallels that exist in our own current time. Riots are the natural reaction of dissatisfied groups. The definition of riot, however, depends on which party is guilty. If it is the Democrats rioting, it is a justified protest. If it is any other party, today, it is an insurrection, a demonstration of criminal behavior. We are supporting the Ukraine war as we supported the Vietnam War, to our ultimate failure. We are not supporting our Middle East ally’s war with the same intensity because of what appears to be the clear political goals of the Democrats to maintain power, above all. We have experienced millions of dollars in damages from riots about George Floyd, the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, and highly questionable elections. The Democrats solution continues to be throwing money at it with no success. Many of the programs they create do nothing but support their own; a case in point about a form of rent control from the New York Times article follows:
"While aggressive evictions are reducing the number of rent-stabilized apartments in New York, Representative Charles B. Rangel is enjoying four of them, including three adjacent units on the 16th floor overlooking Upper Manhattan in a building owned by one of New York’s premier real estate developers."
I submit, the author has written a testimonial to herself and her husband successfully, but she has done little to shed more light on the issues or the history, or to further the cause of humanity or America with this treatise. She has presented a positive view of Democrat policies, but her book shows none of their drawbacks. Instead, it really seems to show how little success they have had, in the end. Perhaps that is in the eye of the beholder, however. Still, maybe it is time for a change. since she expounds on the virtues of their accomplishments and programs, even though we witness today, their utter failure. Immigration issues are worse. Schools have failed, unrest is everywhere. Maybe, if winning at all costs is the goal, throwing money at every problem without an honest eye to solving it, is the actual problem.
The Goodwins had an exciting, rich life, as the book expresses, however, for me, the best part of this audio were the moments when I listened to the excerpts of momentous speeches, in the voices of the LBJ, FDR, JFK and RFK. Those were special historic times and their words in their own voices brought them home.