Author: Mitchell B. Lerner
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 320
Book Description
Lyndon Baines Johnson ascended to the presidency in the wake of tragedy to lead the United States through one of its most violent and divisive decades. His troubled presidency was marked by endless controversies over civil rights, the Vietnam War, foreign policy, and law-and-order issues, among others. Nearly four decades later, it's now possible to reexamine those controversies to illuminate as never before the achievements and failures of one of the nation's most misunderstood presidents. Drawing upon a wealth of new sources, including recently released phone conversations, these authors shine a bright and probing light on LBJ's beleaguered White House tenure. Collectively, they reinforce the image of Johnson as a highly complex president whose very real achievements have been overshadowed by character flaws and events well beyond his control. Four chapters focus on LBJ's foreign policies, including a positive appraisal of his handling of the 1964 Panama Crisis, but less favorable assessments regarding the downhill slide into Vietnam, the Six Day War, and policies toward the communist bloc. Yet the authors generally depict a president who, contrary to conventional views, did not allow his domestic agenda to overshadow his efforts as chief architect of foreign policy. Five other chapters focus on aspects of LBJ's domestic policies that have been largely neglected: women's rights, Native Americans, agriculture, civil disorder, and fiscal policy. Whether responding to urban riots or balancing different versions of the 1964 Farm Bill, Johnson emerges as a president who never lost sight of the political ramifications of his actions and whose legacy is often more complicated than is usually recognized. All of these writings attest to the complexities of Lyndon Johnson, a larger-than-life leader whose guiding principles can't always be reduced to the catch-phrases he himself and others have employed. The new perspectives and revelations they provide point students, scholars, and presidential buffs alike toward a much more enlightened view of this fascinating figure.
Looking Back at LBJ
Author: Mitchell B. Lerner
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 320
Book Description
Lyndon Baines Johnson ascended to the presidency in the wake of tragedy to lead the United States through one of its most violent and divisive decades. His troubled presidency was marked by endless controversies over civil rights, the Vietnam War, foreign policy, and law-and-order issues, among others. Nearly four decades later, it's now possible to reexamine those controversies to illuminate as never before the achievements and failures of one of the nation's most misunderstood presidents. Drawing upon a wealth of new sources, including recently released phone conversations, these authors shine a bright and probing light on LBJ's beleaguered White House tenure. Collectively, they reinforce the image of Johnson as a highly complex president whose very real achievements have been overshadowed by character flaws and events well beyond his control. Four chapters focus on LBJ's foreign policies, including a positive appraisal of his handling of the 1964 Panama Crisis, but less favorable assessments regarding the downhill slide into Vietnam, the Six Day War, and policies toward the communist bloc. Yet the authors generally depict a president who, contrary to conventional views, did not allow his domestic agenda to overshadow his efforts as chief architect of foreign policy. Five other chapters focus on aspects of LBJ's domestic policies that have been largely neglected: women's rights, Native Americans, agriculture, civil disorder, and fiscal policy. Whether responding to urban riots or balancing different versions of the 1964 Farm Bill, Johnson emerges as a president who never lost sight of the political ramifications of his actions and whose legacy is often more complicated than is usually recognized. All of these writings attest to the complexities of Lyndon Johnson, a larger-than-life leader whose guiding principles can't always be reduced to the catch-phrases he himself and others have employed. The new perspectives and revelations they provide point students, scholars, and presidential buffs alike toward a much more enlightened view of this fascinating figure.
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 320
Book Description
Lyndon Baines Johnson ascended to the presidency in the wake of tragedy to lead the United States through one of its most violent and divisive decades. His troubled presidency was marked by endless controversies over civil rights, the Vietnam War, foreign policy, and law-and-order issues, among others. Nearly four decades later, it's now possible to reexamine those controversies to illuminate as never before the achievements and failures of one of the nation's most misunderstood presidents. Drawing upon a wealth of new sources, including recently released phone conversations, these authors shine a bright and probing light on LBJ's beleaguered White House tenure. Collectively, they reinforce the image of Johnson as a highly complex president whose very real achievements have been overshadowed by character flaws and events well beyond his control. Four chapters focus on LBJ's foreign policies, including a positive appraisal of his handling of the 1964 Panama Crisis, but less favorable assessments regarding the downhill slide into Vietnam, the Six Day War, and policies toward the communist bloc. Yet the authors generally depict a president who, contrary to conventional views, did not allow his domestic agenda to overshadow his efforts as chief architect of foreign policy. Five other chapters focus on aspects of LBJ's domestic policies that have been largely neglected: women's rights, Native Americans, agriculture, civil disorder, and fiscal policy. Whether responding to urban riots or balancing different versions of the 1964 Farm Bill, Johnson emerges as a president who never lost sight of the political ramifications of his actions and whose legacy is often more complicated than is usually recognized. All of these writings attest to the complexities of Lyndon Johnson, a larger-than-life leader whose guiding principles can't always be reduced to the catch-phrases he himself and others have employed. The new perspectives and revelations they provide point students, scholars, and presidential buffs alike toward a much more enlightened view of this fascinating figure.
Lady Bird Johnson: Hiding in Plain Sight
Author: Julia Sweig
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0812995910
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 577
Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A revelation . . . a book in the Caro mold, using Lady Bird, along with tapes and transcripts of her entire White House diary, to tell the history of America during the Johnson years.”—The New York Times The inspiration for the documentary film The Lady Bird Diaries, premiering November 13 on Hulu Perhaps the most underestimated First Lady of the twentieth century, Lady Bird Johnson was also one of the most powerful. In Lady Bird Johnson: Hiding in Plain Sight, Julia Sweig reveals how indispensable the First Lady was to Lyndon Johnson’s administration—which Lady Bird called “our” presidency. In addition to advising him through critical moments, she took on her own policy initiatives, including the most ambitious national environmental effort since Theodore Roosevelt and a virtually unknown initiative to desegregate access to public recreation and national parks in Washington, D.C. Where no presidential biographer has understood Lady Bird’s full impact, Julia Sweig is the first to draw substantially on her White House diaries and to place her center stage. In doing so, Sweig reveals a woman ahead of her time—and an accomplished strategist and politician in her own right. Winner of the Texas Book Award • Longlisted for the PEN/Jacqueline Bogard Weld Award
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0812995910
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 577
Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A revelation . . . a book in the Caro mold, using Lady Bird, along with tapes and transcripts of her entire White House diary, to tell the history of America during the Johnson years.”—The New York Times The inspiration for the documentary film The Lady Bird Diaries, premiering November 13 on Hulu Perhaps the most underestimated First Lady of the twentieth century, Lady Bird Johnson was also one of the most powerful. In Lady Bird Johnson: Hiding in Plain Sight, Julia Sweig reveals how indispensable the First Lady was to Lyndon Johnson’s administration—which Lady Bird called “our” presidency. In addition to advising him through critical moments, she took on her own policy initiatives, including the most ambitious national environmental effort since Theodore Roosevelt and a virtually unknown initiative to desegregate access to public recreation and national parks in Washington, D.C. Where no presidential biographer has understood Lady Bird’s full impact, Julia Sweig is the first to draw substantially on her White House diaries and to place her center stage. In doing so, Sweig reveals a woman ahead of her time—and an accomplished strategist and politician in her own right. Winner of the Texas Book Award • Longlisted for the PEN/Jacqueline Bogard Weld Award
Lady Bird and Lyndon
Author: Betty Boyd Caroli
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439191220
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 480
Book Description
"Marriage is the most underreported story in political life and yet is often the key to its success. This is the idea driving a revealing new portrait of Lady Bird as the essential strategist, fundraiser, barnstormer, peacemaker, and ballast for Lyndon...[A] biography of a political partnership that helps explain how the wildly talented but deeply flawed Lyndon Baines Johnson ended up making history..."--P. [2] of jacket.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439191220
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 480
Book Description
"Marriage is the most underreported story in political life and yet is often the key to its success. This is the idea driving a revealing new portrait of Lady Bird as the essential strategist, fundraiser, barnstormer, peacemaker, and ballast for Lyndon...[A] biography of a political partnership that helps explain how the wildly talented but deeply flawed Lyndon Baines Johnson ended up making history..."--P. [2] of jacket.
Freedom Rising
Author: Ernest B. Furgurson
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307425959
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 498
Book Description
In this luminous portrait of wartime Washington, Ernest B. Furgurson–author of the widely acclaimed Chancellorsville 1863, Ashes of Glory, and Not War but Murder--brings to vivid life the personalities and events that animated the Capital during its most tumultuous time. Here among the sharpsters and prostitutes, slaves and statesmen are detective Allan Pinkerton, tracking down Southern sympathizers; poet Walt Whitman, nursing the wounded; and accused Confederate spy Antonia Ford, romancing her captor, Union Major Joseph Willard. Here are generals George McClellan and Ulysses S. Grant, railroad crew boss Andrew Carnegie, and architect Thomas Walter, striving to finish the Capitol dome. And here is Abraham Lincoln, wrangling with officers, pardoning deserters, and inspiring the nation. Freedom Rising is a gripping account of the era that transformed Washington into the world’s most influential city.
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307425959
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 498
Book Description
In this luminous portrait of wartime Washington, Ernest B. Furgurson–author of the widely acclaimed Chancellorsville 1863, Ashes of Glory, and Not War but Murder--brings to vivid life the personalities and events that animated the Capital during its most tumultuous time. Here among the sharpsters and prostitutes, slaves and statesmen are detective Allan Pinkerton, tracking down Southern sympathizers; poet Walt Whitman, nursing the wounded; and accused Confederate spy Antonia Ford, romancing her captor, Union Major Joseph Willard. Here are generals George McClellan and Ulysses S. Grant, railroad crew boss Andrew Carnegie, and architect Thomas Walter, striving to finish the Capitol dome. And here is Abraham Lincoln, wrangling with officers, pardoning deserters, and inspiring the nation. Freedom Rising is a gripping account of the era that transformed Washington into the world’s most influential city.
A Companion to Lyndon B. Johnson
Author: Mitchell B. Lerner
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1444333895
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 617
Book Description
This companion offers an overview of Lyndon B. Johnson's life, presidency, and legacy, as well as a detailed look at the central arguments and scholarly debates from his term in office. Explores the legacy of Johnson and the historical significance of his years as president Covers the full range of topics, from the social and civil rights reforms of the Great Society to the increased American involvement in Vietnam Incorporates the dramatic new evidence that has come to light through the release of around 8,000 phone conversations and meetings that Johnson secretly recorded as President
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1444333895
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 617
Book Description
This companion offers an overview of Lyndon B. Johnson's life, presidency, and legacy, as well as a detailed look at the central arguments and scholarly debates from his term in office. Explores the legacy of Johnson and the historical significance of his years as president Covers the full range of topics, from the social and civil rights reforms of the Great Society to the increased American involvement in Vietnam Incorporates the dramatic new evidence that has come to light through the release of around 8,000 phone conversations and meetings that Johnson secretly recorded as President
LBJ's 1968
Author: Kyle Longley
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108140572
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 379
Book Description
1968 was an unprecedented year in terms of upheaval on numerous scales: political, military, economic, social, cultural. In the United States, perhaps no one was more undone by the events of 1968 than President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Kyle Longley leads his readers on a behind-the-scenes tour of what Johnson characterized as the 'year of a continuous nightmare'. Longley explores how LBJ perceived the most significant events of 1968, including the Vietnam War, the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr and Robert Kennedy, and the violent Democratic National Convention in Chicago. His responses to the crises were sometimes effective but often tragic, and LBJ's refusal to seek re-election underscores his recognition of the challenges facing the country in 1968. As much a biography of a single year as it is of LBJ, LBJ's 1968 vividly captures the tumult that dominated the headlines on a local and global level.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108140572
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 379
Book Description
1968 was an unprecedented year in terms of upheaval on numerous scales: political, military, economic, social, cultural. In the United States, perhaps no one was more undone by the events of 1968 than President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Kyle Longley leads his readers on a behind-the-scenes tour of what Johnson characterized as the 'year of a continuous nightmare'. Longley explores how LBJ perceived the most significant events of 1968, including the Vietnam War, the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr and Robert Kennedy, and the violent Democratic National Convention in Chicago. His responses to the crises were sometimes effective but often tragic, and LBJ's refusal to seek re-election underscores his recognition of the challenges facing the country in 1968. As much a biography of a single year as it is of LBJ, LBJ's 1968 vividly captures the tumult that dominated the headlines on a local and global level.
Indomitable Will
Author: Mark K. Updegrove
Publisher: Crown Pub
ISBN: 0307887715
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 418
Book Description
A comprehensive oral history of Johnson's presidency is presented in the words of the 36th President and some of his closest associates, offering insight into his perspectives on the sweeping changes affecting his time, from Medicare and civil rights to his anti-poverty legislation and the Vietnam War. By the author of Second Acts. 50,000 first printing.
Publisher: Crown Pub
ISBN: 0307887715
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 418
Book Description
A comprehensive oral history of Johnson's presidency is presented in the words of the 36th President and some of his closest associates, offering insight into his perspectives on the sweeping changes affecting his time, from Medicare and civil rights to his anti-poverty legislation and the Vietnam War. By the author of Second Acts. 50,000 first printing.
The Passage of Power
Author: Robert A. Caro
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307960463
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 785
Book Description
WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE, THE MARK LYNTON HISTORY PRIZE, THE AMERICAN HISTORY BOOK PRIZE Book Four of Robert A. Caro’s monumental The Years of Lyndon Johnson displays all the narrative energy and illuminating insight that led the Times of London to acclaim it as “one of the truly great political biographies of the modern age. A masterpiece.” The Passage of Power follows Lyndon Johnson through both the most frustrating and the most triumphant periods of his career—1958 to1964. It is a time that would see him trade the extraordinary power he had created for himself as Senate Majority Leader for what became the wretched powerlessness of a Vice President in an administration that disdained and distrusted him. Yet it was, as well, the time in which the presidency, the goal he had always pursued, would be thrust upon him in the moment it took an assassin’s bullet to reach its mark. By 1958, as Johnson began to maneuver for the presidency, he was known as one of the most brilliant politicians of his time, the greatest Senate Leader in our history. But the 1960 nomination would go to the young senator from Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy. Caro gives us an unparalleled account of the machinations behind both the nomination and Kennedy’s decision to offer Johnson the vice presidency, revealing the extent of Robert Kennedy’s efforts to force Johnson off the ticket. With the consummate skill of a master storyteller, he exposes the savage animosity between Johnson and Kennedy’s younger brother, portraying one of America’s great political feuds. Yet Robert Kennedy’s overt contempt for Johnson was only part of the burden of humiliation and isolation he bore as Vice President. With a singular understanding of Johnson’s heart and mind, Caro describes what it was like for this mighty politician to find himself altogether powerless in a world in which power is the crucial commodity. For the first time, in Caro’s breathtakingly vivid narrative, we see the Kennedy assassination through Lyndon Johnson’s eyes. We watch Johnson step into the presidency, inheriting a staff fiercely loyal to his slain predecessor; a Congress determined to retain its power over the executive branch; and a nation in shock and mourning. We see how within weeks—grasping the reins of the presidency with supreme mastery—he propels through Congress essential legislation that at the time of Kennedy’s death seemed hopelessly logjammed and seizes on a dormant Kennedy program to create the revolutionary War on Poverty. Caro makes clear how the political genius with which Johnson had ruled the Senate now enabled him to make the presidency wholly his own. This was without doubt Johnson’s finest hour, before his aspirations and accomplishments were overshadowed and eroded by the trap of Vietnam. In its exploration of this pivotal period in Johnson’s life—and in the life of the nation—The Passage of Power is not only the story of how he surmounted unprecedented obstacles in order to fulfill the highest purpose of the presidency but is, as well, a revelation of both the pragmatic potential in the presidency and what can be accomplished when the chief executive has the vision and determination to move beyond the pragmatic and initiate programs designed to transform a nation. It is an epic story told with a depth of detail possible only through the peerless research that forms the foundation of Robert Caro’s work, confirming Nicholas von Hoffman’s verdict that “Caro has changed the art of political biography.”
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307960463
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 785
Book Description
WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE, THE MARK LYNTON HISTORY PRIZE, THE AMERICAN HISTORY BOOK PRIZE Book Four of Robert A. Caro’s monumental The Years of Lyndon Johnson displays all the narrative energy and illuminating insight that led the Times of London to acclaim it as “one of the truly great political biographies of the modern age. A masterpiece.” The Passage of Power follows Lyndon Johnson through both the most frustrating and the most triumphant periods of his career—1958 to1964. It is a time that would see him trade the extraordinary power he had created for himself as Senate Majority Leader for what became the wretched powerlessness of a Vice President in an administration that disdained and distrusted him. Yet it was, as well, the time in which the presidency, the goal he had always pursued, would be thrust upon him in the moment it took an assassin’s bullet to reach its mark. By 1958, as Johnson began to maneuver for the presidency, he was known as one of the most brilliant politicians of his time, the greatest Senate Leader in our history. But the 1960 nomination would go to the young senator from Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy. Caro gives us an unparalleled account of the machinations behind both the nomination and Kennedy’s decision to offer Johnson the vice presidency, revealing the extent of Robert Kennedy’s efforts to force Johnson off the ticket. With the consummate skill of a master storyteller, he exposes the savage animosity between Johnson and Kennedy’s younger brother, portraying one of America’s great political feuds. Yet Robert Kennedy’s overt contempt for Johnson was only part of the burden of humiliation and isolation he bore as Vice President. With a singular understanding of Johnson’s heart and mind, Caro describes what it was like for this mighty politician to find himself altogether powerless in a world in which power is the crucial commodity. For the first time, in Caro’s breathtakingly vivid narrative, we see the Kennedy assassination through Lyndon Johnson’s eyes. We watch Johnson step into the presidency, inheriting a staff fiercely loyal to his slain predecessor; a Congress determined to retain its power over the executive branch; and a nation in shock and mourning. We see how within weeks—grasping the reins of the presidency with supreme mastery—he propels through Congress essential legislation that at the time of Kennedy’s death seemed hopelessly logjammed and seizes on a dormant Kennedy program to create the revolutionary War on Poverty. Caro makes clear how the political genius with which Johnson had ruled the Senate now enabled him to make the presidency wholly his own. This was without doubt Johnson’s finest hour, before his aspirations and accomplishments were overshadowed and eroded by the trap of Vietnam. In its exploration of this pivotal period in Johnson’s life—and in the life of the nation—The Passage of Power is not only the story of how he surmounted unprecedented obstacles in order to fulfill the highest purpose of the presidency but is, as well, a revelation of both the pragmatic potential in the presidency and what can be accomplished when the chief executive has the vision and determination to move beyond the pragmatic and initiate programs designed to transform a nation. It is an epic story told with a depth of detail possible only through the peerless research that forms the foundation of Robert Caro’s work, confirming Nicholas von Hoffman’s verdict that “Caro has changed the art of political biography.”
America in the World
Author: Frank Costigliola
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107001463
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 391
Book Description
This volume includes historiographical surveys of American foreign relations since 1941 by some of the country's leading historians. Some of the essays offer sweeping overviews of the major trends in the field of foreign/international relations history. Others survey the literature on US relations with particular regions of the world or on the foreign policies of presidential administrations. The result is a comprehensive assessment of the historical literature on US foreign policy that highlights recent developments in the field.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107001463
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 391
Book Description
This volume includes historiographical surveys of American foreign relations since 1941 by some of the country's leading historians. Some of the essays offer sweeping overviews of the major trends in the field of foreign/international relations history. Others survey the literature on US relations with particular regions of the world or on the foreign policies of presidential administrations. The result is a comprehensive assessment of the historical literature on US foreign policy that highlights recent developments in the field.
LBJ
Author: Randall Woods
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1416593314
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 1043
Book Description
For almost forty years, the verdict on Lyndon Johnson's presidency has been reduced to a handful of harsh words: tragedy, betrayal, lost opportunity. Initially, historians focused on the Vietnam War and how that conflict derailed liberalism, tarnished the nation's reputation, wasted lives, and eventually even led to Watergate. More recently, Johnson has been excoriated in more personal terms: as a player of political hardball, as the product of machine-style corruption, as an opportunist, as a cruel husband and boss. In LBJ, Randall B. Woods, a distinguished historian of twentieth-century America and a son of Texas, offers a wholesale reappraisal and sweeping, authoritative account of the LBJ who has been lost under this baleful gaze. Woods understands the political landscape of the American South and the differences between personal failings and political principles. Thanks to the release of thousands of hours of LBJ's White House tapes, along with the declassification of tens of thousands of documents and interviews with key aides, Woods's LBJ brings crucial new evidence to bear on many key aspects of the man and the politician. As private conversations reveal, Johnson intentionally exaggerated his stereotype in many interviews, for reasons of both tactics and contempt. It is time to set the record straight. Woods's Johnson is a flawed but deeply sympathetic character. He was born into a family with a liberal Texas tradition of public service and a strong belief in the public good. He worked tirelessly, but not just for the sake of ambition. His approach to reform at home, and to fighting fascism and communism abroad, was motivated by the same ideals and based on a liberal Christian tradition that is often forgotten today. Vietnam turned into a tragedy, but it was part and parcel of Johnson's commitment to civil rights and antipoverty reforms. LBJ offers a fascinating new history of the political upheavals of the 1960s and a new way to understand the last great burst of liberalism in America. Johnson was a magnetic character, and his life was filled with fascinating stories and scenes. Through insights gained from interviews with his longtime secretary, his Secret Service detail, and his closest aides and confidants, Woods brings Johnson before us in vivid and unforgettable color.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1416593314
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 1043
Book Description
For almost forty years, the verdict on Lyndon Johnson's presidency has been reduced to a handful of harsh words: tragedy, betrayal, lost opportunity. Initially, historians focused on the Vietnam War and how that conflict derailed liberalism, tarnished the nation's reputation, wasted lives, and eventually even led to Watergate. More recently, Johnson has been excoriated in more personal terms: as a player of political hardball, as the product of machine-style corruption, as an opportunist, as a cruel husband and boss. In LBJ, Randall B. Woods, a distinguished historian of twentieth-century America and a son of Texas, offers a wholesale reappraisal and sweeping, authoritative account of the LBJ who has been lost under this baleful gaze. Woods understands the political landscape of the American South and the differences between personal failings and political principles. Thanks to the release of thousands of hours of LBJ's White House tapes, along with the declassification of tens of thousands of documents and interviews with key aides, Woods's LBJ brings crucial new evidence to bear on many key aspects of the man and the politician. As private conversations reveal, Johnson intentionally exaggerated his stereotype in many interviews, for reasons of both tactics and contempt. It is time to set the record straight. Woods's Johnson is a flawed but deeply sympathetic character. He was born into a family with a liberal Texas tradition of public service and a strong belief in the public good. He worked tirelessly, but not just for the sake of ambition. His approach to reform at home, and to fighting fascism and communism abroad, was motivated by the same ideals and based on a liberal Christian tradition that is often forgotten today. Vietnam turned into a tragedy, but it was part and parcel of Johnson's commitment to civil rights and antipoverty reforms. LBJ offers a fascinating new history of the political upheavals of the 1960s and a new way to understand the last great burst of liberalism in America. Johnson was a magnetic character, and his life was filled with fascinating stories and scenes. Through insights gained from interviews with his longtime secretary, his Secret Service detail, and his closest aides and confidants, Woods brings Johnson before us in vivid and unforgettable color.