Doris Kearns Goodwin

I have a new favorite history author, Doris Kearns Goodwin. I recently read two of her books, Team of Rivals and No Ordinary Time. I enjoyed both immensely!

Team of Rivals is about how Lincoln came to the presidency, who he had to get by to get there and then how they ended up working for him. What I liked about it was it got personal. It told of some of the scandalous, or almost scandalous, things that happened in these men's lives and how they dealt with it. I like hearing about how people cope and how they end up.

No Ordinary Time is set during FDR's presidency, mostly focused on this last two terms. The author lays things out without judging but with feeling and purpose. She doesn't just tell you something happened, if she has evidence as to why it happened then that is laid before the reader as well. She is fair. Many years ago I read Eleanor Roosevelt's autobiography. She is frank and seemed a lot of the time to not know how to deal with people that she had relationships, mother, husband, children, etc.. She really slanted things in my eye at the time towards her doing so much to make up for things she didn't do well. In No Ordinary Time the author has evened things out a bit more and makes more sense of what happened without the emotions of the moment.

Doris Kearns Goodwin writes with ease about both time periods and has really done her research well. She made all the people depicted come to life with real life problems and real life escapes. She didn't make it 'matter of fact' but more facts that mattered and how they impacted those around the subjects.