Richard N. Goodwin, 'supreme generalist' who was top aide to JFK and LBJ, dies at 86
Source: Washington Post
Richard N. Goodwin, a top adviser and speechwriter to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, who was credited with coining the term “the Great Society” to describe Johnson’s ambitious domestic agenda of the 1960s before parting ways with the president over the Vietnam War, died May 20 at his home in Concord, Mass. He was 86.
The cause was complications from cancer, said his wife, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin.
Early in his career, Mr. Goodwin was something of a prodigy of public service. Before he turned 30, he was a law clerk at the U.S. Supreme Court, a congressional investigator who helped uncover the television quiz-show scandals of the 1950s, a speechwriter for Kennedy, a White House official and a deputy undersecretary of state.
Known for his craggy face, blunt manner and ever-present cigars, Mr. Goodwin had a sharp mind — he was first in his class at Harvard Law School — and, some would say, sharper elbows. He was considered one of the closest confidants of Kennedy and his brother, Robert F. Kennedy, then the attorney general. . .
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/richard-n-goodwin-supreme-generalist-who-was-top-aide-to-jfk-and-lbj-dies-at-86/2018/05/21/23b96a5e-59f8-11e8-b656-a5f8c2a9295d_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.e34bbec0526b
Fascinating life; fascinating obit.
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RIP
