Customer Reviews

Remembering America: A Voice from the Sixties

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Richard Goodwin clerked for a Supreme Court justice, played an important role in the politics of the 1960's, and was personally acquainted with JFK, RFK, LBJ, and Eugene McCarthy. As such, one might imagine that he's got some great stories to tell. And he does. But, lest you get the wrong idea, let me tell you some things you won't find in Remembering America.

Like some others, I bought the book after seeing the movie Quiz Show, to read more about the Van Doren scandal. And, yes, the book is about Van Doren; it's also about a lot of other things, and the quiz show scandal of the late 1950's is only a small part. There's a lot more here than that.

So many books written about JFK and RFK idolize them and give them godlike status. Goodwin clearly admires them both, and is not an impartial judge of either - but in all fairness, I don't believe he would claim to be unbiased. But, if you're looking for effusive, gushing praise of the Kennedys, a la Pierre Salinger, you'll probably find Remembering America a disappointment. Goodwin presents fairly well-rounded portraits of both men.

Perhaps you want historical analysis, complete with graphs, footnotes, and scholarly reasoning. This isn't it. This is Goodwin's own recollections over his career, include his brief (and hilarious) Army service; his admiration of, and later pity for, Johnson; his shock and grief when Robert Kennedy (who had become a close friend by then) was assassinated; his personal impressions, memories of, and anecdotes about a wide variety of significant people, from Felix Frankfurter to Che Guevara.

Maybe you want "the voice of the sixties," complete with all the garbage that often passes these days for political and historical thought about that period: self-indulgence, combined with the sanctimonious suggestion that the baby boomers were the only people ever to be troubled by or try to change the world around them, topped with the arrogant idea that they are always right. Nope, you won't find that here either. Goodwin does recall that decade as turbulent, exciting, and volatile; I wouldn't be surprised if he considered those years the best times in his life. But he does not consider the era or people to be sacred.

So what's here to like? A hell of a lot.

Goodwin was very close to many of the major political figures of the 60's, and it shows in his book. He gives insights into the men who ran the country during that decade of change, and helps to introduce the reader to the men as they really were, not necessarily who they seemed to be. I found Goodwin to be a very truthful author, which is important to me.

Goodwin is very much a free thinker, often taking actions that he feels are "right", rather than those that would be best for his career. I found this refreshing, and maybe this is more of Goodwin remembering how things should have been rather than how things really were, but I have found no evidence to refute his claims. He presents everything in a thoughful way, rather than a dry recounting of facts.

A note on the tone of the book: If you can't stomach liberal politics, then this is not the book for you. Goodwin wanted to change the world, and that world would have been one laden with liberal policies. Conservatives may end up beating themselves over the head with this book. You have been warned! :)

Richard N. Goodwin gives a detailed analysis on of the most intriguing and eventful era's in U.S. history. His personal account and experience with the most powerful leaders was strikingly fascinating. The book begins with a brief description of his childhood. From Goodwin's Anti-Semitic dilemmas to his scholastic achievement that lead to his admission to New York's Columbia University. After his graduating at the top of his class at Harvard Law School,he received a clerical job working for a Supreme Court justice. To the justice's disgusts, Goodwin decides to work on a presidential campaign for then Mass. Senator, John F. Kennedy. Richard N. Goodwin proceeds through his exciting and successful election of 1960. JFK awarded Goodwin for his splendid work on the campaign , as a top consultant to Latin America. After the assasination, he is forced to work with LBJ. Not content at first, he sees Johnson under a different limelight. The author is more pleased and optimistic about Johnson, only to be let down with Vietnam. LBJ's erratic behavior and his paranoid personality, leads to an early exit from The White House. I highly recommend this book to to individual's who enjoy reading about contemporary American History. As someone who was fortunate to be born a decade later , I was still able to appreciate the historical significance Goodwin's rise and fall within the political arena.

Through Dick Goodwin's masterful retelling of this chapter in history, we are given the opportunity to be a fly on the wall inside the political machinery of one of the most exciting and, at the same time disappointing, decades in our history.

I thought this book was great!!! A real behind the scenes look at the Kennedy and Johnson administrations in the early 60's. Mr Goodwin graduated number one from Harvard Law School and clerked for Felix Frankfurter. Goodwin penned some of the most memorable speeches of the decade and coined phrases such as the Alliance for Progress and the Great Society. He witnessed LBJ at his best, (Civil Rights), worst (Vietnam paranoia) and hilarious, an on the toilet meeting with LBJ and swimming naked in the White House pool with LBJ and Bill Moyers. He grew disillusioned with Johnson's war in Vietnam and left the administration in 1965. He was an intimate of Bobby Kennedy and worked for both Bobby and Eugene McCarthy in 1968. The interesting thing about this book is how much relevance it has today with the war in Iraq. A president from Texas, low approval ratings, congressional investigations, and a closed and paranoid White House. Some things never change.

This is a great book by Richard Goodwin who's place in history is unique to no one other. He was envolved deeply in the quiz show scandal of the late 1950's, the Kennedy and Johnson administrations as well as Mccarthy's and Robert Kennedy's run for the white house in 1968. I highly recommend tis book for all interested in that era as America lost it's simplicity.

This is one of the best books I have ever come across on the sixties. Great stories about JFK, LBJ and RFK.

Right Back to the 60s and John Kennedy and the promise of it all ~ fascinating You Are There...

a book asks us to stop living our own lives in order to learn about someone else's...

that's a lot to ask if you have a good life! even so, hours spent reading Remembering America will be some of the Best Time You Ever Spent...

thanks Richard Goodwin for writing this ~ and for being who you are and playing the part you have contributed to your time ~

This book is a good overview of the 1960's from a man who was heavily involved in the politics of the time. It is not a book which comes without its biases as Mr. Goodwin definitely portrays himself in a light which is glorious. If a reader can look beyond his self glorifying rhetoric, they will find good insights of this extremely important era.