His family moved around during his childhood so that he lived in Kansas and Toronto, Ontario, Canada before finally settling in Portland, Maine.

He served under the direct command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower in the United States Army during World War II, reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel.

As secretary, Goddard set out to improve the forest department by eliminating political appointees and increasing the number of college-educated employees.

With his new group of employees, Goddard and the Department of Forests and Waters set a goal of establishing a state park within 25 miles (40 km) of every resident of Pennsylvania.

He fell short of this goal, but under his leadership the number of state parks in Pennsylvania grew by 45, and there was an increase in size of over 130,000 acres (526 km²).