Doris Kearns Goodwin is already seated in the foyer, bantering with a well-wisher, when I arrive a few minutes early. The grande dame of American history — author of Team of Rivals on Abraham Lincoln, and other bestsellers about historic US leaders, notably the Roosevelts and Lyndon Johnson, for whom Goodwin worked as a young woman — has chosen her Boston club for lunch.
Located in the town’s Back Bay neighbourhood, The Quin House has no dress code, which is a relief since I have forgotten to bring a tie. Though she turned 82 the week before we meet, Goodwin gives me a whirlwind tour. The club’s style is eclectic (a piece of flashy modern art here, a gilt-framed portrait of a lugubrious bygone notable there) and its membership skews young. “Isn’t it fun?” she asks of the whimsical decor. Every Tuesday, Goodwin dines here with five women friends, including Jill Abramson, who was the New York Times’s first female executive editor.
We are meeting the day after Jimmy Carter’s funeral in Washington’s national cathedral and 10 days before Donald Trump’s second inauguration. There is no better moment to tap the brains of America’s beloved presidential historian. Dressed in a colourful jacket and blouse, the diminutive Goodwin turns heads as we cross the dining-room floor. Keith, our waiter, who has a thick Boston accent, greets her like royalty. “I’ll have a glass of Sancerre,” Goodwin says after he has laid out a choice of soft drinks. I duplicate her order.