LBJ: Architect of American Ambition Author: Randall Woods | Language: English | ISBN:
B001F8G86Q | Format: EPUB
LBJ: Architect of American Ambition 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.
- File Size: 3604 KB
- Print Length: 1024 pages
- Publisher: Free Press (August 1, 2006)
- Sold by: Simon and Schuster Digital Sales Inc
- Language: English
- ASIN: B001F8G86Q
- Text-to-Speech: Not enabled
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- Lending: Not Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #494,123 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #71
in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( J ) > Johnson, Lyndon - #80
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- #71
in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( J ) > Johnson, Lyndon - #80
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > United States
As one who believes Lyndon Baines Johnson was an effective, significant president. I looked forward to reading this book. Many of the books that have been written about President Johnson tend to focus on his shortcomings. I believe that while Vietnam is the "elephant in the room" that will forever be a part of his legacy (in a negative sense), it is important to remember that Johnson was a remarkable political leader. He led the United States Senate like no one did before him or anyone has since. Robert Caro's Master of the Senate covers Johnson's 12 years in the Senate and ranks along T. Harry Williams Huey Long as one of the finest books ever written about modern American politics. As president, Johnson provided the leadership that resulted in Medicare, Medicaid, Head Start, federal funding of education and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. I could go on, but you get the idea.
Randall Woods provides a sympathetic and highly readable biography of LBJ. However, his work is marred by a litany of sloppy factual errors that are to say the least, distracting. Early on, Woods refers to Jackie Kennedy's green blood stained dress. The dress was pink. He refers to Alabama Senator John Stennis. John Stennis represented Mississippi. Woods states that Frank Lausche reprented Indiana in the United States Senate. Lausche represented Ohio. The book locates the 1968 assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy at the Embassy Hotel. In reality, the assassination took place at the Ambassador Hotel. Albert Jenner is listed as being a senator from Indiana, when in fact, the senator in question was named William. It is not uncommon to find one or two errors in a book from time to time. However...
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