Richard N. Goodwin

Richard N. Goodwin (born December 7, 1931 in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American writer who may be best known as an advisor and speechwriter to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson and to Senator Robert F. Kennedy.

Related Topics:
December 7 - 1931 - Boston, Massachusetts - American - Speechwriter - Kennedy - Johnson - Robert F. Kennedy

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Goodwin graduated summa cum laude from Tufts University in 1953. He went on to study law at Harvard University, graduated summa cum laude in 1958 and joined the Massachusetts State bar the same year. After clerking for United States Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter in 1958, Goodwin came to Senator John F. Kennedy's attention in 1959 while working as special counsel to the Legislative Oversight Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives, where Goodwin was involved in investigating the Twenty One quiz show scandal (which provided the story for the movie Quiz Show).

Related Topics:
Tufts University - Harvard University - United States Supreme Court - Felix Frankfurter - John F. Kennedy - U.S. House of Representatives - Twenty One - Quiz Show

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Goodwin joined Kennedy's speech writing staff in 1959, and after Kennedy's successful presidential bid, served as assistant special counsel to the President in 1961. Goodwin was also a member of Kennedy's Task Force on Latin American Affairs and in 1961, was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, a position he held until 1963. As one of Kennedy's specialists in Latin-American affairs, Goodwin helped develop the Alliance for Progress, an economic development program for Latin America. From 1963 to 1964, Goodwin served as secretary-general of the International Peace Corps and in 1964 became special assistant to President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Related Topics:
Latin America - Alliance for Progress - Peace Corps - Lyndon B. Johnson

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Goodwin left government service in 1965, though returned briefly in 1968 to write speeches for presidential candidates Robert F. Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy and Edmund Muskie. After leaving government, Goodwin served as a fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut from 1965 to 1967 and as a visiting professor of public affairs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1968. After Senator Kennedy's death he retired from politics and became a writer.

Related Topics:
Robert F. Kennedy - Eugene McCarthy - Edmund Muskie - Wesleyan University - Middletown, Connecticut - Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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Along with acting as a contributor to Rolling Stone and The New Yorker, Goodwin has published numerous books, articles and plays. Goodwin married Doris Kearns Goodwin in 1975 and had three children with her.

Related Topics:
Rolling Stone - The New Yorker - Doris Kearns Goodwin

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