Doris Kearns Goodwin's Husband Not Given Ride Home By Police

The Boston Herald reports:

Apparently, being a former Kennedy speechwriter doesn'’t carry quite the same cachet as actually being a Kennedy - at least when it comes to drunken-driving arrests.
Because Richard Goodwin, longtime family retainer who advised JFK, RFK and Ted Kennedy, was arrested in his hometown of Concord and charged with drunken driving after he plowed his car into a police cruiser. Ooooops!
Goodwin, 74, the hubby of historian Doris Kearns Goodwin and a legendary political player, was not given a ride home, a la Patrick Kennedy. Oh nooooo. He was arrested and taken to the Concord PD where he was charged with operating under the influence of alcohol (a second offense), operating to endanger and a marked-lane violation.



Middlesex District Attorney spokesgal Melissa Sherman said police were called to Monument Street in Concord at about 8:45 p.m. last Friday for a motor vehicle accident.
"“He is alleged to have struck an unmanned police cruiser that was on a private detail as well as another vehicle," said Sherman. "“Upon further investigation, the responding officer determined that the defendant was under the influence of liquor."
Goodwin pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Monday and was ordered back to Concord District Court for a pretrial hearing. His attorney did not return our calls. Too bad. We were going to suggest the Ambien defense. . . .
If convicted, it would be GoodwinÂ’s second drunken-driving rap. He lost his license for a year in 1993 after being found guilty of operating under the influence. In that incident, Goodwin reportedly hit several parked cars behind a Concord restaurant. We sense a pattern. . . .

No word yet on whether Doris Kearns Goodwin's liberal friends are going to write letters to the judge pleading for leniency