The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 98, July 1994 - April, 1995 Page: 301
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Light at the End of the Tunnel
ciding what to make of her personal disclosures. In any event, it is diffi-
cult to imagine a relationship between a biographer and her subject
more personal than the one that Kearns Goodwin has described. She
even presumes to be writing the book that Johnson should have written
but did not-because of his conviction that his memoir should reflect
his aspirations to be a statesman rather than his real personality.
This level of involvement obviously poses serious problems for a biog-
rapher, and to her credit, Kearns Goodwin acknowledges them, just as
she acknowledges everything else. But as she discusses the most serious
of these problems, she tries to take the easy way out. Again let me quote
Kearns Goodwin:
It is, of course, impossible for me to sort out dream or memory from fantasy. Af-
ter all, I was listening to a man who had always had a peculiar relationship with
words. If there were inconsistencies with facts-his grandfather at the Alamo-
how much more treacherous were memories and dreams and yet how much
more revealing. For what a man like Johnson chose to remember may be as im-
portant to understand as what really happened.'
How fortunate that fantasies and distortions are just as revealing "as
what really happened." Such a revelation certainly eliminates the need
to conduct a lot of time-consuming research beyond the interviews.
Kearns goes on to confess, "What I can offer here is simply my account
and my interpretation of what Johnson told me ... ."8
Unfortunately for those interested in understanding Johnson's life,
the key words in Kearns Goodwin's admission are "my interpretation."
She has compiled an invaluable historical resource: Lyndon Johnson's
recollections of his life and career and his reflections on the meaning of
that life. One way to exploit this material would be to study the available
records, both archival and published, on Johnson's political career and
then compare Johnson's version of events with the information from
those other sources. Such a comparison would provide a basis for judg-
ing what Johnson remembered. But Kearns Goodwin pursued a differ-
ent strategy. Her alternative was to subject Johnson's memories,
fabrications, fantasies, and dreams to psychological analysis. This ap-
proach cast Kearns Goodwin as the ultimate insider. She not only had
access to Johnson's innermost thoughts, but she could also derive mean-
ings from those thoughts that eluded even Johnson. In other words, she
claimed to know Johnson better than he knew himself.
According to Kearns Goodwin, the key to understanding Johnson was
his childhood relationship with his mother and father. As Johnson grew
7 Ibid , xvii.
" Ibid.1994
301
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 98, July 1994 - April, 1995, periodical, 1995; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101216/m1/339/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.