Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and internationally acclaimed speaker, is making her third appearance at the Jefferson Global Summit.
Goodwin earned a Ph.D. in government from Harvard University and went on to Washington, D.C. as a White House Fellow during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration and eventually became a member of his staff, focusing on domestic anti-poverty efforts. After leaving the administration, Goodwin taught government at Harvard for 10 years and assisted Johnson in drafting his memoirs.
Goodwin has authored a number of books: Her first book, Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream, became a New York Times bestseller and provided a launching pad for her literary career. Her latest, Leadership in Turbulent Times (2018) explores the early development, growth, and exercise of leadership by drawing from the presidents she has studied closely – Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Johnson.
All attendees will be required to wear masks if Erie County is in the "substantial" or "high" transmission rate of community spread on the day of an event. Attendees must also provide proof of full vaccination or a negative Covid-19 test within the last 72 hours. Please see our FULL Covid-19 policy here.
This event will be located at Gannon University in the Yehl Ballroom.
Waldron Campus Center
628 Peach St.
Erie, PA 16501
Doris Kearns Goodwin is a world-renowned presidential historian, public speaker and Pulitzer Prize-winning, New York Times #1 best-selling author. Her eighth book, An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s, will be published on April 16, 2024. Artfully weaving together biography, memoir, and history, this new book takes readers on the emotional journey Doris and her husband, Richard (Dick) Goodwin embarked upon in the last years of his life as they delved into more than 300 boxes of letters, diaries, documents, and memorabilia that Dick had saved for more than fifty years. They soon realized they had before them an unparalleled personal time capsule of the 1960s, of the events and pivotal figures of the decade—John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Robert Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy, and especially Lyndon Johnson, who greatly impacted both their lives. The voyage of remembrance brought unexpected discoveries, forgiveness, and the renewal of old dreams, reviving the hope that the youth of today will carry forward this unfinished love story with America.
Goodwin’s previous books include the critically acclaimed and New York Times best-selling Leadership: In Turbulent Times, which incorporates her five decades of scholarship studying Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson. Leadership inspired the History Channel’s miniseries events Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and FDR, which Goodwin executive produced through her production company, Pastimes Productions, Inc.
Goodwin was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in history for No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II. Her Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln was awarded the Lincoln Prize and was in part the basis for Steven Spielberg’s highly acclaimed film “Lincoln.”
Well known for her appearances and commentary on television, Goodwin is seen frequently in documentaries and on television news, cable networks and late-night talk shows. She even portrayed herself on an episode of the enduringly successful television show “The Simpsons.”
Goodwin’s interest in presidential leadership was inspired by her experience as a 24-year-old White House Fellow, working directly for President Johnson in his last year in the White House, and later assisting him in the preparation of his memoirs. Her first book was the widely praised and enormously popular Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream.
Goodwin graduated magna cum laude from Colby College. She earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Government from Harvard University, where she taught Government, including a course on the American Presidency. Goodwin lives in Boston. She was the first woman to enter the Boston Red Sox locker room in 1979, and is a devoted fan of the World Series-winning team.