The Triumph & Tragedy of Lyndon Johnson: The White House Years
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- Synopsis
- Joe Califano—Lyndon Johnson’s closest domestic adviser during the White House years—has created a remarkable presidential portrait, a frank, tough-minded memoir that reveals not only the singular personality of LBJ, but the rough grain of American politics. More than previous biographers, scholars, or reporters, Califano—who worked day and night in the trenches with LBJ—shows us who Johnson really was and recreates life in the White House at the height of the turbulent sixties. Lyndon Johnson was bigger than life—and no one who worked for him ever forgot it. Writing with perception and energy, Califano captures his mentor’s lively, irascible spirit as he puts us in the White House alongside LBJ during such momentous events as the assassination of Martin Luther King and the wrenching violence that followed, the assassination of Robert Kennedy, the 1968 Democratic Convention, and the national trauma surrounding the Vietnam War. We see Johnson manipulate the economy and the Supreme Court; confront race riots in Watts, Newark, and Detroit; and deal with the Arab-Israeli Six Day War. We witness his achievements in the areas of education, health care, consumer safety, civil rights, environmental protection, and the arts. And we watch him squander his credibility, as he doggedly wages both his wars—the one against poverty and the one in Vietnam—determined to prevent the blood-shed in Southeast Asia from spoiling his dream of a Great Society at home. The Triumph & Tragedy of Lyndon Johnson is an intimate portrait of a president who towering ambition for his country and himself ultimately led to his decision to surrender the arena in which he fought so hard. Joe Califano has added uniquely to our understanding of LBJ, whose achievements and mistakes mirror his own complex and contradictory nature.
- Copyright:
- 2000
Book Details
- Book Quality:
- Publisher Quality
- ISBN-13:
- 9781610390750
- Related ISBNs:
- 9780585378275
- Publisher:
- PublicAffairs
- Date of Addition:
- 11/06/12
- Copyrighted By:
- Joseph A. Califano, Jr.
- Adult content:
- No
- Language:
- English
- Has Image Descriptions:
- No
- Categories:
- History, Nonfiction, Biographies and Memoirs
- Submitted By:
- Bookshare Staff
- Usage Restrictions:
- This is a copyrighted book.