Goodwin takes BU stage

Renowned author and historian Doris Kearns Goodwin spoke about her new book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln at the Boston University's Tsai Performance Center as part of the ongoing Barnes & Noble at Boston University author series Monday night.

History department chairman Charles Dellheim introduced Goodwin to a crowd of about 200 and said he respected her intelligence and elegance of style.

"Doris Kearns Goodwin took us into the private worlds of the Kennedys and the Roosevelts," he said. "She is also the first woman to infiltrate the Red Sox locker room and emerge unscathed."

Goodwin said she wrote the book because she was looking for a subject to keep her interested for several years.

Goodwin opened her lecture with a joke and said the book "took longer to write than it took for World War II to be fought.

"The qualities that make a good person make a good political person," she said.

Goodwin drew a crowd of university students and Boston community members alike.

College of Communication sophomore Sydney Levin said her mother used to read her Goodwin's stories when she was younger.

"Mom used to read to me from Wait Until Next Year, her memoir about being a Dodgers fan," she said.

Colby College alumnus Marshall Finn said he reads many of Goodwin's books and finds them interesting.

"I'm not a regular reader of history books," he said. "But I like Doris Kearns Goodwin because of her literary style. I was intrigued by the author, felt a connection."

Boston College freshman Katie Sellers said she is interested in history and her professors wanted her to see the lecture.

"I heard about the lecture on the news," she said. "I told my professor and he went on a rant about her. He told me I should go to the lecture and hear her speak. I heard a different side to a figure I hadn't known that much about. She put a warmer face on him."

Emerson alumna Emily Patrick said she has been interested in Goodwin since high school and found her war stories the most interesting.

"Her stories about her son in Iraq moved me the most," she said. "So did her general attachment to those characters she writes about."

Boston minister Tim Hawkins said he liked Goodwin's portrayal of powerful world leaders.

"I had heard of Doris Kearns Goodwin at Barnes & Noble and was excited to hear her speak," he said. "The high point was the discovery of how rare great leadership is. In a time of unrest, a great leader is able to build their confidence in how things should be, and take people with him."

Goodwin said powerful leaders should not be out of touch with the people.

"Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson all had an inexplicable feeling of where the country was," she said. "Knowing the mood of the country is the key to being a great leader."