Having spent most of his youth in orphanages and having received little formal education Goedhart became a journalist for several local and regional newspapers in the 1930s.

During this period Goedhart became a fierce anti-communist and anti-fascist and became wishful of political reform based on socialism.

Goedhart was active in the Dutch resistance to the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II.

Under the war pseudonym Pieter 't Hoen he founded a newsletter which later became the illegal newspaper Het Parool.

[3] Shortly after the Netherlands was occupied by Nazi Germany in May 1940 Goedhart became active in the Dutch Resistance.

[3] The first newsletter was stenciled and reproduced 500 times, Goedhart had it distributed to several well-known Dutch people as well as barber shops in the hope they would put it in their reading material.

[4][5] With the namechange the newsletter also stopped being a one-person production and developed a board of editors of which Wiardi Beckman [nl] and Koos Vorrink became members.

In 1934 he was expelled from the party after he refused to break contact with people protecting Marinus van der Lubbe from communist slander.

After the total Liberation of the Netherlands in 1945 Goedhart became member of the Nationale Adviescommissie, which was in place between 20 July and 20 November 1945.

[2] Goedhart however managed to return to the House of Representatives in October the same year as Wim Schermerhorn gave up his seat to head the Commissie-Generaal voor Nederlandsch-Indië.

[2] Goedhart felt passionate about two things after the war: his role as journalist at Het Parool, for which he continued to write articles, and on the other hand he had his membership of the House of Representatives.

In his role as Chair of the Het Parool foundation he had frequent arguments over the political course of the newspaper with chief editors Gerrit Jan van Heuven Goedhart and later with P.J.

[2] As member of the House Goedhart had three focus points: the introduction of a planned economy with social security, letting go of the neutrality principle of the Netherlands, and thirdly ending colonial relations.

His open support for Indonesia's call for independence had driven a rift in the First Beel cabinet of which his Labour Party was part.

After the second Politionele actie, Operation Kraai, had started Goedhart became the first to question the government over excessive use of force by the Dutch military.

[2] In 1952 he became a fierce critic of the new Indonesian government of Sukarno, which he saw as struggling under corruption and chaos and thereby could be a possible victim to communism.

[2] After Indonesia gained independence in 1949 Goedhart could focus on other affairs, such as the communist takeover of Eastern-Europe, which concerned him greatly.

In 1966 he was an opponent of a law which would grant a marriage between Crown Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands and German national Claus von Amsberg.

In 1985 Goedhart ended contact with De Keizer after being discontented with a public talk by her on the connection between Het Parool and the founding of the Labour Party.