Richard Naradof Goodwin (December 7, 1931 – May 20, 2018) was an American writer and presidential advisor. He was an aide and speechwriter to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, and to Senator Eugene McCarthy and Senator Robert F. Kennedy. He was married to historian Doris Kearns Goodwin for 42 years until his death in 2018 after a brief diagnosis of cancer.
Early life and education Goodwin was born on December 7, 1931, in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Belle (née Fisher) and Joseph C. Goodwin, an engineer and insurance salesman. Goodwin was raised Jewish. Goodwin graduated from Brookline High School, and in 1953 graduated summa cum laude from Tufts University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1954, and served as a private in post-World War II France. After returning to the United States, he studied at Harvard Law School, graduating in 1958, summa cum laude. He was first in his class and president of the Harvard Law Review.
Career
Early career After clerking for Justice Felix Frankfurter of the U.S. Supreme Court, Goodwin became counsel for the House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce where Goodwin was involved in investigating quiz show scandals, particularly the Twenty-One scandal. This affair provided the story for the 1994 movie Quiz Show, in which Goodwin was portrayed by actor Rob Morrow.
Kennedy administration Goodwin joined the speechwriting staff of John F. Kennedy in 1959. Fellow Kennedy speechwriter Ted Sorensen became a mentor to Goodwin. Goodwin was one of the youngest members of the group of "New Frontiersmen" who advised Kennedy; others included Fred Dutton, Ralph Dungan, Kenneth O'Donnell, and Harris Wofford, all of whom were under 37 years old. In 1961, after Kennedy became president, Goodwin became assistant special counsel to the President and a member of the Task Force on Latin American Affairs. Later that year, Kennedy appointed him Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs; Goodwin held this position until 1963. Goodwin reportedly opposed the Bay of Pigs invasion and unsuccessfully tried to persuade Kennedy not to order the operation. In August 1961, Goodwin was part of a delegation headed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Douglas Dillon that was sent to Uruguay to attend a conference of Latin American finance ministers. The topic under discussion was the Alliance for Progress, which was endorsed by all countries representatives excepting Cuban representative Che Guevara. However, Guevara had no intentions of going home empty handed; he noticed that Goodwin smoked cigars during the meetings, and through an intermediary challenged him, suggesting he wouldn't dare smoke a Cuban cigar. Goodwin accepted the challenge, and subsequently, a gift of cigars in an elaborate polished mahogany box arrived from Guevara. Guevara expressed his desire to talk informally with Goodwin, and Goodwin received permission from Treasury Secretary Dillon. However, during the last day of the conference, Guevara had critical words for the press concerning the Alliance for Progress, and being the only representative to do so, speaking passionately on the topic, was upstaging the business-like, pin-striped, former-Wall-Street-banker Dillon. Dillon retracted his agreement for Guevara and Goodwin's meeting. However, Guevara persevered, and Goodwin agreed to listen, but he stressed that he had no real negotiating power. Later that evening at a party, Brazilian and Argentinian officials acted as intermediaries; Guevara and Goodwin were introduced, and went to a separate room so they could talk. Jokingly, Guevara "thanked" Goodwin for the Bay of Pigs invasion that had occurred only a few months earlier, as it had only solidified support for Castro. The ice was broken between the two men. Although they understood their countries were not destined to be friendly allies, they focused on what they could accomplish for the sake of peace. Ultimately, they came to the non-binding conclusion that if Cuba would be willing to desist from forming any military alliances with the USSR, and not try to aid revolutionaries in other Latin American countries, America would be willing to stop trying to remove Castro by force and lift the trade embargo on Cuba, and vice versa. They agreed to reveal their conversation to only their respective leaders, Castro and Kennedy. Despite agreeing to detail to Castro what he discussed in their meeting, Guevara afterward contacted Goodwin through the Argentine participant of the meeting Horatio Larretta to express his appreciation. After returning from Uruguay, Goodwin wrote a memo for Kennedy on the meeting, where he stated how successful he was in convincing Guevara that he was a member of Guevara's "newer generation" and how Guevara also sent another message to Goodwin where he described their meeting "quite profitable." While the meeting prompted a "minor political furor," President Kennedy was ultimately satisfied with the outcome of Goodwin's efforts, and was the first to smoke one of the contraband Cuban cigars Goodwin had brought back. "'Are they good?' the president asked. 'They're the best,' Goodwin replied, prompting Kennedy to immediately open Guevara's gift and sample one of the Havanas." In July 1962, Goodwin met President Kennedy and U.S. Ambassador Lincoln Gordon and began assisting in plans for the eventual 1964 Brazil coup against then-Brazil President João Goulart. Goodwin also did significant work in the Kennedy White House to relocate ancient Egyptian monuments that were threatened with destruction in the building of the Aswan Dam, including the Abu Simbel temples. Historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., in his book A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House, called Goodwin:
the supreme generalist who could turn from Latin America to saving the Nile Monuments, from civil rights to planning a White House dinner for the Nobel Prize winners, from composing a parody of Norman Mailer to drafting a piece of legislation, from lunching with a Supreme Court Justice to dining with [actress] Jean Seberg — and at the same time retain an unquenchable spirit of sardonic liberalism and unceasing drive to get things done. Following the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Goodwin, at the request of Jacqueline Kennedy, arranged for an eternal flame to be placed at Kennedy's grave at Arlington National Cemetery.
Johnson administration
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