I just finished reading An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s by Doris Kearns Goodwin. To be honest, while this book sounded intriguing I hadn’t added it to my Must Read Pile because that pile is very much out of control. But when a friend told me Kearns Goodwin was coming to town?!

Well, that changes everything.

The event, hosted by Joe Donahue, was two months ago. Her book and the 60s seemed exceptional relevant given current events. During the course of doodling my way through it, it became increasingly more relevant.

I’m not an expert on the 1960s. I do consider myself pretty well-read and I’m familiar with the major plot points. Even so, this book rattled me in a way I don’t fully understand. I knew what was going to happen, and yet each time Something Happened I found myself near tears. I’ve never been so close to tears so many times reading about something where I basically know the ending.

While reading An Unfinished Love Story, I coincidentally also began rereading Stephen King’s 11/22/63, which was bit surreal. King’s book is about a guy who travels back in time to prevent JFK’s assassination. (11/22/63 is one of those books I try to assign to others to read. Just convinced my son, so I’m joining him.)

Flip through my sketchbook.

I promise no big spoilers. Add it to your Must Read list.

It wasn’t easy, but I narrowed this down to 10 15 doodles I wanted to share.

1

Everyone was young. So. Very. Young.

When I dove in, the contenders for the 2024 presidential race were an octogenarian and a septuagenarian. It’s hard to wrap my head around the youth of JFK’s campaign.

When Kennedy won, he won the popular vote by a tiny margin. The tiniest of the 1900s.

In all fairness to the newspaper I doodled below… it’s possible that the article explains he was the youngest elected president. But I didn’t check. Or let that stand my way with this doodle.

If Bobby Kennedy had been elected, he would have replaced JFK as the youngest president elected. And, I believe, the youngest president ever.

Before reading this book, I knew very little about Bobby … just the bits and pieces I picked up while reading about JFK.

I’ve added Matthew Algeo’s All This Marvelous Potential: Robert Kennedy's 1968 Tour of Appalachia to my Must Read pile.

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2

LBJ did his homework

When approached to be John F. Kennedy’s vice president, LBJ asked his staff to look into how many vice presidents became president. At the time, the number was ten. Seven of those guy didn’t even campaign for the job.

I added a little motion to these guys and come context in my Webster Miscalculated post. (Find out who said the vice presidency “wasn’t worth a warm pitcher of piss.”)

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3

11/22/1963 came out of the blue for me

Despite reading not one but TWO books simultaneously about Kennedy’s assassination, it still crept up on me and punched me in the gut.

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4

“Political affairs are kaleidoscopic.”

Both Theodore Roosevelt and LBJ were “men of irrepressible energy” frustrated by the VP role … but “in the most violent twists of the kaleidoscope” became presidents due to assassinations.

(The story behind the eternal flame… I mean, you just have to read this book. Unbelievable. And Dick Goodwin was there for so damned much. It’s unreal.)

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5

LBJ “just had to eliminate one.”

LBJ considered Bobby Kennedy a “damn albatross.” In order to remove him from VP contention, he nixed his entire cabinet and anyone who met with him regularly. While he “just had to eliminate one,” he also eliminated:

Orville Freeman, Agriculture Secretary
Sargent Shriver, Director of the Peace Corp and Office of Economic Opportunity (and Bobby’s brother-in-law)
Adlai Stevenson, U.N. Ambassador
Dean Rusk, Secretary of State
Robert McNamara, Defense Secretary (FUN FACTS: his middle name was Strange and he invented the seat belt!)

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6

He wanted to make love to congress

Giving Dick Goodwin direction about his State of the Union address in 1965 (his “marriage proposal to Congress”), LBJ said he “wanted to make love to the Congress just like he made love to Lady Bird.”

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7

Skinny-dipping with staff

I recently doodled a bunch of skinny-dipping presidents bobbing in the water, if you want a peek.

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8

“Momentum is not a mysterious mistress.”

“It is a controllable fact of political life that depends on nothing more exotic than preparation,” LBJ said. He also advised his staff on proper pacing: “It’s like a bottle of bourbon, if you take it a glass at a time, it’s fine. But if you drink the bottle in one evening, you have troubles. I plan to take a sip a time and enjoy myself.”

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9

Dick was LBJ’s “stud duck”

Eh… I recently learned some disturbing things about male ducks from People I Mostly Admire, episode 136. I will never look at ducks the same way again. (I know this new stuff isn’t what LBJ had in mind, but I can’t get past it.)

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10

We have a duty as patriots

“It is not our privilege but our duty as patriots, to write, to speak, to organize, to oppose any president and any party and any policy at any time which we believe threatens the grandeur of this nation and the well-being of its people. This is such a time.” - Dick Goodwin

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11

Franking privileges: I should have them, right?

I knew about franking privileges, but I did not know that the signature is (or was?) the postage! Can you even imagine how much POTUS stuff I’d be mailing out regularly if I had franking privileges?

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12

If these guys were old-timey, Dick Goodwin would have challenged Averell Harriman to a duel

Partially sharing this doodle because I love when Harriman pops up. Partially because one of these days I want to do a post or a newsletter all about duels. But also because … wow. Goodwin and Arthur Schlesinger wanted to end the Vietnam War. Harriman accused them of being “murderers” who were “killing American boys.”

I tried to cut down on the doodles in this post, but here I am subtly sharing that Doris Kearns Goodwin had an article published with the unfortunate title How to Remove LBJ … right as she was selected as White House Fellow. And also that Teddy Kennedy wanted to make damned sure that it was clear everyone knew it was “the Kennedy from New York” (Bobby) who wanted to halt bombing and not him.

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13

LBJ announced he wasn’t seeking a second term

For the good of the country! 🇺🇸

Spoiler: LBJ dropping out did not end the war. Though Johnson couldn’t prove it at the time, Richard Nixon had his people derail negotiations with the promise that Nixon would win the election and would friendlier to Saigon. The war was extended and bombings increased… not because they were effective, but because they played well politically.

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14

We haven’t done nearly enough

Despite everything he did for Civil Rights, when giving the keynote address at his library for a Civil Rights Symposium in 1972 he declared “the progress had been much too small.” He added that he was “kind of ashamed of myself that I had six years and I could not do more than I did.” He wanted to “overcome unequal history” and “assure that all Americans play against the same odds.”

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15

Al Gore’s speech

Gore asked Dick Goodwin to help with both is victory and concession speech. It makes me happy knowing this. Not as happy as if the other speech was used. But still.