European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 13, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Digging for newsman leave by Steve Proffitt special to los Angeles times Oris Kearns Goodwin tells a Story about How if she were a journalist she would have been kicked out of the business in August 1976, she travelled to Plains ga., to interview presidential candidate Jimmy Carter. Goodwin a political science teacher at Harvard had just published her first major biography Lyndon Johnson and the american dream. The ladies Home journal had hired her to write an article. She asked Carter about morality and Fidelity. He told her that his greatest feelings of guilt came from the lust he Felt in his heart for women other than his wife. Goodwin returned Home and talked about the lust comment with her husband the former Kennedy aide Richard Goodwin and friends. But when she wrote her Story she left it out. A few Days later car Ter made similar comments in what was the first Ever presidential contender s Playboy Magazine interview. I have lusted in my heart became a headline and a political flashpoint of the Carter Campaign. Today politicians appear on Oprah mtg and Howard Stern. California gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Brown reveals the Date rape of one of her daughters during a televised political debate. Prince Charles confesses he never loved his wife and that his father forced him to marry her. Yet Doris Kearns Goodwin reminds us it was not so Long ago that political figures could draw a line Between their private and Public lives. Her latest by Graphy no Ordinary time focuses on the private and separate lives of Franklin and Eleanor Roose velt and on his longtime affair with Lucy Mercer. These details while now the fascinating stuff of his tory were hot considered news at the time. These Days such details Are reported without delay. Hillary Rodham Clinton appears with her Hus band to answer infidelity charges on 60 minutes. Mainstream news organizations station reporters in Little Rock to Canvas bars for bad stuff about  every part of a Public person s life is open to scrutiny and Goodwin along with a number of other americans is not sure that s such a Good thing Goodwin 51, has written biographies of three democratic presidents Roosevelt John Kennedy and Johnson. She recently appeared As an Oft quoted Oice in Ken Burns baseball. In a Conversa Tion that Ningpo need across 60 years of political his tory she talked from her Home in Boston about the presidency the press and the distinction Between historical insight and momentary prurient interest. Question 7n the 1930s, when a candidate like Franklin Roosevelt ran for president did t he Natu rally assume that a certain part of his life was Pri vate answer absolutely. It was an Assumption As natural to them As the air they breathed. They understood they had Protection for that part of their life they wanted to Reserve for themselves and there was not a worry that someone would intrude upon it. Part of it for for was his Confidence and the lines that he Drew. He understood that Public life had cer Tain demands but i think he believed that there was a certain Core about his life which would never have to be revealed publicly. Q would t John Kennedy have had a similar expectation of privacy in 1960? a there May have been some perception which proved to be wrong that once he got into the White House there would have to be More discretion. But i think once he got in there he realized the White House was a very easy place to live his life privately. It allowed him to have the kind of private life which we later discovered but at the time peo ple were not aware of. Frt min 0.  Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt subjects of no Ordinary time kept their love lives and health private. Q so How did we get from a place where for could have essentially a surrogate wife in the White House and Tok could exercise an incredibly Active libido to a place where every alleged Pec Cadillo is now common knowledge a somehow the whole relationship Between the press and the politicians changed. During Roose velt s time the newspapers were mostly owned by republicans so it was t like he was Given an easy ride. The White House press corps was there to get information about the presidency. But they weren t exposing or investigating him. He opened up twice a1 week in press conferences and gave them the information they needed to write their stories. They did t feel compelled to follow him around to get More information. When he went on vacation what he did every moment was t news somewhere probably beginning around the mid 1960s, the disenchantment with Vietnam Johnson s credibility  and Nixon s watergate created a much different kind of adversarial press. Investigative reporters were the role models for Young peo ple and exposure became a part of the culture. I think now the politicians because they Are so afraid of fighting the press give in to it. They allow themselves to be followed around on their vacations they talk about their private lives As if they Are on Phil Donahue or Oprah Winfrey. My husband Richard travelled with John Kennedy during the 1960 Campaign and he says Kennedy knew not to put on a Cowboy hat or an Indian head dress. Because even if at that moment the person might be pleased that he did it later it could come Back to make him look foolish. I think politicians need to have a sense of guarding their dignity especially the president. I mean no one would have Ever thought of asking for about his underwear whether he wore boxers or briefs and he certainly would have never answered. Once you answer those questions you open the door to the press and allow them to dance on the other Side. Q what does it say about us As a society specifically As a democratic society when we Are so obsessed with these Little personal details of our leaders ".-. A if people were rational with themselves i Don t think they would feel Good about the Way it s All going. I think Back to for. He made the Assumption that the country would t accept his paralysis the fact that he was a paraplegic. So he conducted what someone else has called a splendid deception by never allowing the Public to see him with his braces or in his wheelchair or being carried from a car the press went along with that because they must have Felt it was important for the country to feel a sense of strength about their Leader. But what if Roosevelt had challenged the Assumption l that he would t be accepted As a paraplegic and had been Able to admit to his vulnerability q and yet today Don t presidents have to main Tain an almost impossible balance Between the dignified and Imperial and the approachable and person. Simon & schuste dons Kearns Goodwin author of Avo Ordinary time. A yes and what they define now As Persona allowing people to know things like what makes you sad what difficulties you be had in your life. Roose velt despite being from a very privileged Back ground was a Man the common person adored. But that did t mean he had to talk about How he Felt when his father died or How overbearing his Mother was or that he d fallen in love with another woman. Somehow he was Able to Appeal to the democratic instinct without that layer being stripped away. Today though it seems Freud has gone amok. When Freud first started it was probably a helpful thing to undo repression and talk about things that were hidden. But while it May seem that we want to know All these intimate details about our leaders and we May relish them if they were taken away from us and we ended up feeling More respect for them they might be Able to govern better and we might All feel better about everything in the Long run. / air a Fox new3 and a contributor to National things considered and morning edition. Page 22 sunday november 13,1994