Appearing as a guest on Sunday's MSNBC Live with Alex Witt, former NBC News presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin enthused over Joe Biden as the next President, likening his defeat of Donald Trump to Franklin Delano Roosevelt defeating Herbert Hoover, and touting his ability to connect with voters as being like Roosevelt.
As the liberal Goodwin shared a segment with Democratic strategist James Carville, host Witt asked for her reaction to Democrats celebrating Biden's victory, leading Goodwin to invoke the 1932 election from the Great Depression era:
I think what that moment represented was a huge change of mood on the part of all those people in the street, not simply a celebration but a sense of renewal and a huge sigh of relief. And we saw that, too, in 1933 when Roosevelt took his inauguration. All of a sudden, they said -- historians said the whole mood of the country changed because he told the people that it was not their fault, that it was the absence of leadership in the Hoover administration, and that he would take responsibility, people would get back to work.
She then talked up the notion of average people feeling an exaggerated connection toward a public figure they've never even met as she added:
Suddenly, there are headlines all over the country, "The government still lives! A leader has come!" And there was a wonderful letter sent in to Roosevelt by a man whose roof had fallen off, his dog had run away, he lost his job, his wife was mad at him, but he said, "Everything's okay you are now in the White House." So there's this mystery in the relationship between leadership and a people. And it can produce a contagious hope and a contagious optimism, and that's what I think we saw on the streets last night. It was extraordinary.
Witt agreed: "Absolutely extraordinary. I agree."
A bit later, Witt followed up by asking about Biden's promise to give "healing" to the country: "But what about you, Doris, with regard to Joe Biden who says, 'It's a time for unity, it's a time for healing'? Is he the man for the moment?"
Goodwin suggested that Biden's history of family tragedy would help him be an empathetic leader like Roosevelt's experience with polio, and then added:
When you listened to his speech last night, it wasn't just the words, it was that the story of his life backed up those words. And there's an authenticity when that happens. It's almost like he was giving a fireside chat, conversing with the people, telling stories rather than some piece of oratory.. So, yes, I do think that, in some ways, history is aligned to allow a man who is suited for this time to be in there in a position of leadership to help us go through adversity and a time of loss.
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Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Sunday, November 8, MSNBC Live with Alex Witt:
1:35 p.m. Eastern
ALEX WITT: We saw much of this nation yesterday blowing off four years of steam. Give us your sense of this moment.
DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: I think what that moment represented was a huge change of mood on the part of all those people in the street, not simply a celebration but a sense of renewal and a huge sigh of relief. And we saw that, too, in 1933 when Roosevelt took his inauguration. All of a sudden, they said -- historians said the whole mood of the country changed because he told the people that it was not their fault, that it was the absence of leadership in the Hoover administration, and that he would take responsibility, people would get back to work.
Suddenly, there are headlines all over the country, "The government still lives! A leader has come!" And there was a wonderful letter sent in to Roosevelt by a man whose roof had fallen off, his dog had run away, he lost his job, his wife was mad at him, but he said, "Everything's okay you are now in the White House." So there's this mystery in the relationship between leadership and a people. And it can produce a contagious hope and a contagious optimism, and that's what I think we saw on the streets last night. It was extraordinary.
WITT: Absolutely extraordinary. I agree.
(...)
WITT: But what about you, Doris, with regard to Joe Biden who says, "It's a time for unity, it's a time for healing"? Is he the man for the moment?
GOODWIN: It does seem like different leaders' strengths are more suited for one time or another, and history seems to show that during periods of adversity, if a leader himself has gone through trials of fire, he brings a special understanding of that difficulty to the leadership position. I mean, so it surely was with FDR having gone through polio and somehow emerging more warm-hearted and more connected to other people to whom fate had dealt an unkind hand.
With Joe Biden, what you see is, having gone through stuttering, having gone through that unconceivable family loss, having been the third time now that he's running for the presidency, he's learned humility and empathy and resilience, and those traits are absolutely essential. When you listened to his speech last night, it wasn't just the words, it was that the story of his life backed up those words. And there's an authenticity when that happens. It's almost like he was giving a fireside chat, conversing with the people, telling stories rather than some piece of oratory.. So, yes, I do think that, in some ways, history is aligned to allow a man who is suited for this time to be in there in a position of leadership to help us go through adversity and a time of loss.
