Dr. Doris Kearns Goodwin
Monday night was special in Fresno, with the lecture given by historian and Pulitzer Prize winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin. Following on from the previous night’s all-in no-holds-barred slug fest between the presidential candidates, it was impressive to see that Dr. Goodwin had tailored her remarks to specifically acknowledge the verbal fisticuffs of the preceding evening, blending couldn’t- be- more current, real world politics into the historical milieu for which, in print, she’s best known. She was able to give all those in attendance a well considered, broad based perspective on what we’re seeing and experiencing in the current political environment.
In her remarks and in the Q & A afterward, Dr. Goodwin said that the lack of respect and decorum in the present presidential contest is without precedent, and amounts to a sideshow that occludes an honest to goodness examination of the issues of the day. And, moreover, this provides a terrible example for children and those whose first glimpse of politics this is, thinking as one would that the behavior witnessed is acceptable. She cited Congressional decorum of an earlier day, wherein if one congressman called another congressman a liar on the floor of either the house or senate, that congressman would probably face censure from his colleagues. She spoke of the ways in which the vaunted leaders of our history dealt with anger, and how leaders from Lincoln to Franklin Roosevelt to Obama knew that it was essential for them to find methods to allow their anger to dissipate- which they’ve often had to do- realizing that outright venting is, for the most part, not just counterproductive but downright destructive and contrary to the statesman-like conduct effective leaders must embody and espouse.
In this era where political, ethnic, and religious differences have wrought serious divides, Dr. Goodwin suggested the importance of military service as an arena where those differences can be bridged. Moreover, she strongly recommended the institution of a compulsory national service scheme for everyone just out of high school, effectively bringing thereby those of varied backgrounds into close contact and through mutual service providing an opportunity for those in service to become good citizens, for those in service and those served to learn from and understand one another.
Though made interesting and given context through the use of historical anecdote, what Dr. Goodwin had to say was of paramount importance for not just now, but for the future growth and social, as well as political, cohesion in this time of division. Given that her visit occurred just now seems nearly uncanny in its fortunate timing. The tragedy in all this locally, though, is that with her overarching message of decorum and unity, those who were there to hear it were the same shall we say ‘mature’ white people, and not a diverse mix of ethnicities and ages from which, one hopes, the message would achieve resonance- and spread. Actually, there were very few people of any type, with 500 by my estimation. The Fresno Bee, one of the event’s sponsors, suggested 1,000, but I suspect either the reporter was seeing double, or he sought to minimize the embarrassment wrought by the paucity of attendees. There should have been 5,000 from the student community alone.
One can only opine that in this political environment given over to middle of the night tweets, irrational sound bites, and TV debates that would make Jerry Springer blush, Doris Kearns Goodwin’s lecture, for all its importance and good sense is, sadly for all of us, a less compelling draw.