On Friday March 21st, the Bronxville Historical Conservancy (BHC) hosted the 25th annual Brendan Gill lecture. Each year since 2000, BHC co-founder Marilynn Hill has selected a keynote speaker to come to Bronxville and deliver speeches concerning the topic of their choosing. The event was named after Brendan Gill, a member of the Bronxville community who pursued journalism, and wrote for the New Yorker for over 60 years.
This year, Doris Kearns Goodwin visited Sarah Lawrence College to speak about her experience in her career, including her biographies, early childhood, and advice to the next generation. Her lecture focused on four former presidents; Lyndon B. Johnson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Goodwin explained that her love for history emerged at a young age, recording baseball statistics for her father, and learning from a teacher who showed her a deep passion for the subject. Following her high school education in New York, she attended Colby College as an undergraduate, and Harvard University where she earned a PhD in government and met her future husband Richard N. Goodwin.
In her early career, Goodwin spent time with Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th U.S. president. She worked in the White House from 1967-1969, where she was exposed to Johnson’s accomplishments and failures during his term. Goodwin highlighted the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Civil Rights act of 1964 as LBJ’s proudest achievements as he was instrumental in their passage and it helped progress the nation. Despite these accomplishments, it was overshadowed by Johnson’s escalation of the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam war. It was growing incredibly unpopular at home, ultimately leading to the general dislike of Johnson.
Abraham Lincoln was a point of fascination for Goodwin as she admired how he included his three greatest rivals in his cabinet once he took office. Lincoln said that they were the strongest and most able men he knew so he needed them by his side in this pivotal time in our country’s history. Because his cabinet was filled with so many different opinions and personalities, Goodwin said people felt free to disagree without consequences. She also emphasized Lincoln’s insistence on meeting with “ordinary people” because he believed that “public sentiment was everything”. Lincoln’s ability to understand what Americans were feeling especially helped him when presented the task of uniting the North and South. Following the war, some believed that Lincoln did not punish the South enough. But he thought that this would only divide the U.S. more, saying how emotions like anger will “poison you after a while”. Goodwin explained and admired how Lincoln’s empathy was on full display for America.
Goodwin spoke on Teddy Roosevelt’s qualities as well. Today we know the 26th president as the person who established numerous national parks, forests, and monuments in order to preserve the U.S.’s natural resources, but Goodwin shares an additional perspective that is less known. She explains how before the death of his wife and mother, Roosevelt probably hadn’t experienced much darkness and pain. After these events, it allowed him to relate to Americans more, and in many ways made him a better leader on the basis of character. Goodwin states that when someone personally suffers adversity it gives them the resilience to get through, and help others. She went on to say when on the far left there was a rise of socialism, and on the far right there was so much conservatism, Roosevelt was able to forge a middle, and that there was no doubt his character, shaped by this experience, helped him.
Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) began his term during the Great Depression, when 1 in 4 people were unemployed, Americans could not get money from their banks, and there was widespread fear and poverty. Goodwin said how FDR told those who were unemployed, “You have not failed, it’s leadership that has failed”. Goodwin stated that when someone warned FDR if his plan did not work he would be out of office, he replied “If it doesn’t work, I will be the last president”. She explained Roosevelt’s determination to reestablish the economy and help America, saying how he fixes the banking crisis, and restores hope within Americans. She highlighted his famous Inauguration quote, “The only thing to fear is fear itself”. FDR was not the only leader for America at this time though, his wife Eleanor was a brave face for citizens to look to. Goodwin said that even during one of the most difficult times for America she was still an activist, consistently fighting for human rights, and fought against discrimination in the army. She continued to say that Eleanor was “always willing to question” and that productivity in the workplace went up with women during WWII especially with the help of the first lady.
Doris Kearns Goodwin informed so many on Friday, sharing her insightful thoughts and perspectives that aren’t always visible to the public eye. Goodwin truly has a deep love and connection with history, and hopes for the future generations to study it diligently and come to have the same appreciation for it. She said how studying history is so important in troubling times, and its lessons can help provide hope. She emphasized how telling stories can make history come alive, saying how when she wrote her newly published book on her relationship with her late husband, she felt it brought him back to life. Goodwin concluded the lecture by saying how we can keep historical figures alive and ensure their work and legacies are remembered, “so long as we pledge to retell their stories”.
