and doris kearns goodwin. well, doris kearns goodwin is a national treasure.and she's been called america's historian in chief. you know, it's interesting. i think that doris has a lot in common with susan orlean because they both take their time to write their books. and i think one of the reasons why is because they really get to know their subjects. and i think doris loves people. and, you know, because doris is writing about politics so much, about politics is about people. and she understands the way people fit into the contours of history. and her new book, an unfinished love story, is her most personal book. it's a personal history of the 1960 years as she lived it with her husband, -- goodwin, who was one of the great speechwriters of that time. and and and what was so interesting is that in the course of their marriage, they had this prepared sexual argument about who was the better president. lbj or jfk. and she'd worked for lbj. so it he but he also worked for jfk. and and, you know, and throughout their marriage, this is an argument and and it's so

as our robert costa explains. >> welcome the great doris kearns goodwin, everybody. >> doris kearns goodwined and pop culture cachet. >> the teacher is doris kearns goodwin. >> today we explore lincoln's 1861. >> reporter: her work of course is serious, but she shares it with joy. and sometimes a laugh. >> it's fun when a younger person comes up and says, my kids saw you, my grandchildren thought this was exciting. maybe you are something after all. >> reporter: goodwin, now 81, is renowned for telling the story of america, often through the prism of the presidency. her latest book about her late husband does that, too. and it's deeply personal. "an unfinished love story" is about richard goodwin's adventures in the turbulent 1960ss, writing speeches for titans like jfk, lbj and rfk and it's about richard and doris. >> he was an extraordinary character who traversed almost every important moment in the 1960s. >> reporter: some of the most iconic lines from the '60s came from richard goodwin's typewriter. the great society, ripples of hope, we shall overcome. >> he loved poetry, drama. using

so please join me in welcoming doris kearns goodwin and beth laski. . so. let's go back. oh, we're up to this. okay, that was fast. so with all that doris has accomplished now with beth, the work has inspired this wonderful series of docu dramas. but so here's the elephant in the room. why did decide to do television? and both of you, why did you decide that this was the next realm? well, we really owe a lot to the history channel because they came to us. how lucky we were. i see. mary donahue there. she's my great friend and our friend. and they came to us and they asked us if we'd like to work with them on something. and they came up with the idea of george washington, which was a little scary to me because i never had studied george washington. and everywhere i went, people would say, why aren't you doing george washington? and i thought, oh my god, i'm now years old. it will take me ten years to do george washington like it took me everybody else. and i write these big fat books and it'll be another fat book. and then i thought, wow, what if i were able to spend two y

so please join me in welcoming doris kearns goodwin and beth laski. all right. so. let's go back. oh, we're up to this. okay, that was fast. so with all that doris has accomplished now with beth, the work has inspired this wonderful series of docu dramas. but so here's the elephant in the room. why did decide to do television? and both of you, why did you decide that this was the next realm? well, we really owe a lot to the history channel because they came to us. how lucky we were. i see. mary donahue there. she's my great friend and our friend. and they came to us and they asked us if we'd like to work with them on something. and they came up with the idea of george washington, which was a little scary to me because i never had studied george washington. and everywhere i went, people would say, why aren't you doing george washington? and i thought, oh my god, i'm now years old. it will take me ten years to do george washington like it took me everybody else. and i write these big fat books and it'll be another fat book. and then i thought, wow, what if i were able to spend two y

so please join me in welcoming doris kearns goodwin and beth laskall right. so. let's go back. oh, we're up to this. okay, that was fast. so with all that doris has accomplished now with beth, the work has inspired this wonderful series of docu dramas. but so here's the elephant in the room. why did decide to do television? and both of you, why did you decide that this was the next realm? well, we really owe a lot to the history channel because they came to us. how lucky we were. i see. mary donahue there. she's my great and they came to us and they asked us if we'd like to work with them on something. and they came up with the idea of george washington, which was a little scary to me because i never had studied george washington. and everywhere i went, people would say, why aren't you doing george washington? and i thought, oh my god, i'm years old. it will take me ten years to do george washington like it took me everybody else. and i write these big fat books and it'll be another fat book. and then i tho, wow, what if i were able to spend two years, which they projected proj

so please join me in welcoming doris kearns goodwin and beth laski. all right. so. let's go back. oh we're up to this.t. so with all that doris has accomplished now with beth, the work hasseries of docu dramas. but so here's the elephant in the room. why did decide to do television? and both of you, why did you decide that this was the next realm? well, we really owe a lot to the history came to us. how lucky we were. i see. mary donahue there. she's my great friend and our friend. and they came to us and they asked us if we'd like to work with them on something. and they came up with the idea of george washington, which was a little scary to me because i never had studied george washington. and everywhere i went, people would say, why aren't you doing george washington? and i thought, oh my god, i'm now years old. it will take me ten years to do george washington like it took me everybody else. and i write these big fat books and it'll be another fat book. and then i thought wow, what if i were able to spend two years, which they projected projected this might take to do a six ho

so please join me in welcoming doris kearns goodwin and beth laski. all right. so. let's go back. oh, we're up to this. okay, that was fast. so with all that doris has accomplished now with beth, the work has inspired this wonderful series of docu dramas. but so here's the elephant in the room. why did decide to do television? and both of you, why did you decide that this was the next realm? well, we really owe a lot to the history channel because they came to us. how lucky we were. i see. mary donahue there. she's my great friend and our friend. and they came to us and they asked us if we'd like to work with them on something. and they came up with the idea of george washington, which was a little scary to me because i never had studied george washington. and everywhere i went, people would say, why aren't you doing george washington? and i thought, oh my god, i'm now years old. it will take me ten years to do george washington like it took me everybody else. and i write these big fat books and it'll be another fat book. and then i thought, wow, what if i were able to spend two y

kearns goodwin.ichelle, is the civil war and reconstruction specialist in the man of the library of congress, where she oversees the lincoln papers. dana shoaf is a longtime editor of civil war times and engineer of it's a multi-year partnership with the lincoln forum. he recently le forum. he recently left the magazine to become director of interpretation for the national museum of civil war medicine in frederick, maryland. he is also an av c■#ollector of early 19th century antiques and photography. although some family members say he's a hoarder of old hand tools. but no, no judging here. and he is a renowned battlefield guide. melissa winn is the marketing manager at american battlefield trust, the nonprofit organization dedicated to preservings hallowed battlegrounds. prior to that, she was the director photography for history net, a writer edir, preservation advocate, photographer and collector of civil war photographs. she is a member of both the professional photographers association and t c p

when doris kearns goodwin asked me to go binge drinking with her, i accepted it. one answer. good. and i was thrilled to be wall street journal, but it was great experience. i mean, when somebody as you know well, somebody can buy your work and they don't have to talk. that's right. but let me be part of the process at every step along the way. and just to go to the academy awards, i felt really proud of what they done. and the interesting thing is this big fat i had originally tony had written a script that was more chronological and he loved and chase not liked him as a person, loved him as a character. and then was just too big. and they finally this is where imagination comes in. they hit the idea of just doing the 13th amendment, but meanwhile they knew the character of lincoln and that's what mattered to me was that that they got the person was they got the political genius he was got the humor person he was they got the melancholy that he had. and that's what you care about. did they responsibly do that they even i was even able to persuade daniel and steven to tell my favor

kearns goodwin.ichelle, is the civil war and reconstruction specialist in the manuof the library of congress, where she oversees the lincoln papers. dana shoaf is a longtime editor of civil war times and engineer of it's a multi-year partnership with the lincoln forum. he recently left theine to become director of interpretation for the national museum of civil war medicine in frederick, maryland. he is also an avid collector of early 19th century antiques and photography. although some family members say he's a hoarder of old hand tools. but no, no judging here. and he is a renowned battlefield guide. melissa winn is the marketing manager at american battlefield trust, the nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving america's hallowed battlegrounds. prior to that, she was the director photography for history net, a writer editor, preservation advocate, photrapher and colorwar photogr. she is a member of both the professional photographers association and the center for civil war photography. and

kearns goodwin. michelle, is the civil war and reconstruction specialist in the manuscript division of the library of congress, where she oversees the lincoln papers. dana shoaf is a longtime editor of civil war times and engineer of it's a multi-year partnership with the lincoln forum. he recently left the magazine to become director of interpretation for the national museum of civil war medicine in frederick, maryland. he is also an avid collector of early 19th century antiques and photography. although some family members say he's a hoarder of old hand tools. but no, no judging here. and he is a renowned battlefield guide. melissa winn is the marketing manager at american battlefield trust, the nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving america's hallowed battlegrounds. prior to that, she was the director photography for history net, a writer editor, preservation advocate, photographer and collector of civil war photographs. she is a member of both the professional photographers association an

kearns goodwin. michelle, is the civil war and reconstruction specialist in the manuscript division of the library of congress, where she oversees the lincoln papers. dana shoaf is a longtime editor of civil war times and engineer of it's a multi-year partnership with the lincoln forum. he recently left the magazine to become director of interpretation for the national museum of civil war medicine in frederick, maryland. he is also an avid collector of early 19th century antiques and photography. although some family members say he's a hoarder of old hand tools. but no, no judging here. and he is a renowned battlefield guide. melissa winn is the marketing manager at american battlefield trust, the nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving america's hallowed battlegrounds. prior to that, she was the director photography for history net, a writer editor, preservation advocate, photographer and collector of civil war photographs. she is a member of both the professional photographers association an

like doris kearns goodwin talks about in ken burns' documentary. i remember taking joey, my son, to fenway in '99 to the all-star game. tears, looking to the left and right of me, tears coming out of grown men, you know, coming down, streaking grown men's facts. just about the all-century team. my children growing up, i have pictures of all my kids grown up, you know, from 3 to 5 to 10, now, jack, who loves your show, little jack who is now 6'4". >> yes. >> when we're driving in the car, we're talking about the red sox. >> they are. >> we're talking about baseball. it connects. it really does connect generations. today, jack and i will be just as excited watching the red sox opening game as my dad and i were 50 something years ago at atlanta fulton county stadium, watching the atlanta braves. >> if you want another quote from "field of dreams," "dad, do you want to play catch?" if that doesn't melt you. we grew up a different way, because that gets me every time, having a catch with your dad. the beautiful thing about opening day is that everybody