Doris Kearns Goodwin, born on January 4, 1943, in Brooklyn, New York, is a distinguished American biographer, historian, and former sports journalist. Her work has significantly contributed to the understanding of U.S. history through the biographies of numerous U.S. presidents. Goodwin's profound insights into leadership and history have earned her a Pulitzer Prize for History in 1995 for her book No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II. Additionally, she played a pivotal role in the production of the American television miniseries Washington, and was the executive producer of the 2022 docudrama Abraham Lincoln on the History Channel, based on her book Leadership in Turbulent Times.

Goodwin’s interest in leadership and historical figures began during her tenure as a professor at Harvard University, further influenced by her experiences working for President Lyndon B. Johnson in the White House and assisting him with his memoirs. This led to her bestselling book Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream. Following this, she authored the Pulitzer Prize-winning No Ordinary Time, and later, the Lincoln Prize-winning Team of Rivals, which served as the basis for Steven Spielberg’s Academy Award-winning film Lincoln. Her book The Bully Pulpit, detailing the friendship between Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, won the Carnegie Medal and became a New York Times bestseller.

Goodwin graduated from Colby College in 1964 and obtained a doctorate in Political Science from Harvard University. She resides in Concord, Massachusetts.