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LBJ: Architect of American Ambition
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.
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.
1024 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
March 3, 2021
Credit Randall B. Woods’s LBJ: Architect of American Ambition for fitting Lyndon Johnson’s life into a single volume; it’s nice to have such a tome when other LBJ biographers seem inclined to rambling graphomania (looking at you, Robert Caro). Not that this 1,000 page work is in any way concise; Woods includes as much detail about Johnson’s life as he can, from his poor background in the Texas Hill Country through his immensely consequential political career: apprentice congressman, “Master of the Senate,� impotent Vice President and immensely consequential presidency. Much of this book reads like the anti-Caro: whereas Caro portrays Johnson as a ruthless climber who occasionally achieved worthy things, Woods stresses LBJ’s strengths both as a politician and president. He shows that Johnson, from his earliest days, harbored a deeply-felt empathy for the downtrodden, be they poor Mexicans he taught in Texas or African-Americans stigmatized by segregation, and views it as the animating impulse of his career. The book also does a fine job placing Johnson within the tradition of southern liberalism, knowing full well the hurdles anyone had to navigate to affect change; Woods shows that it shaped Johnson’s ruthless personality and political acumen. In Woods� telling, his efforts to pass the Great Society were less a burst of megalomania than a pragmatic realization that, even with a congressional supermajority and sympathy from the Kennedy Assassination, Johnson only had a limited time to affect policy - and affect it he did. But even Woods can’t put a gloss on Johnson’s disastrous Vietnam policy, or his boorish personal behavior (one reads this book, as with any, wondering why a strong woman like Lady Bird put up with LBJ’s infidelity and coarseness); he blames many of Johnson’s shortcomings on his poor treatment of the press, ensuring that the media painted LBJ at his worst. It’s not a definitive life of its subject: Woods isn’t as lyrical a writer as Caro or as shrewd an analyst as Robert Dallek, though he’s better at taking Johnson on his own terms than either. The book’s analyses of figures other than Johnson are debatable: I’m sympathetic towards his treatment of Coke Stevenson, LBJ’s Senate opponent lionized by Caro, as a segregationist crook, less so towards his shallow and dismissive take on the antiwar movement. The result is still a readable book offering empathy and understanding towards a towering but deeply flawed statesman.
August 1, 2022
I rather suspect that I'm in a small minority over this given what he did during the Vietnam War, but I've always found LBJ an appealing president, because of his work on Civil Rights and the Great Society.
This book, at almost 900 pages, is probably as detailed a one book examination of LBJ's life as we're likely to get. Of those pages, about 50% of the book focuses on the Vice-Presidency and Presidency, 30% on his work as a Congressman, Senator and Government Representative, and about 20% focuses on his early life.
To be honest, I found the book somewhat depressing. It describes a man, who because of his poor upbringing and origins (in the American South), couldn't be the man he probably wanted to be (and stay elected).
I also found the book surprising. I was born only a little before Johnson died, but always imagined him as decisive, because he seemed so effective in the Senate. It seems, from reading this book however, that you'll be presented with a guy who feels he's lacking in something, especially when compared to the JFK brigade in the White House.
The other thing that surprised me is that he strated disliking some aspects of the Great Society, almost as soon the were passed. As an example, one was targeted at getting inner city parents to stay together. Almost immediately, it became clear it wasn't working, which resulted in LBJ grousing about the law regularly.
There has been some some criticism of the accuracy of statements in the book. As an example, it says RFK was assassinated at the Embassy Hotel (no he wasn't, it was the Ambassador Hotel), and that certain Senators and Governors have been designated as representing the wrong state. I would agree with some of those criticisms, but I don't necessarily think those errors reduced the book much, because they weren't major. A southern anti-integration Senator is a southern anti-integration Senator, irrespective of whether you have him down as being from Alabama, or Mississippi.
I will say, however, though that the errors reduced the credibility of the book some, as it makes you wonder about the accuracy of the research.
In short, I think most people will get something new out of the book, if you can ignore the errors. I enjoyed reading it, and not just because I have a soft sport for Texas, and the area Johnson grew up in.
This book, at almost 900 pages, is probably as detailed a one book examination of LBJ's life as we're likely to get. Of those pages, about 50% of the book focuses on the Vice-Presidency and Presidency, 30% on his work as a Congressman, Senator and Government Representative, and about 20% focuses on his early life.
To be honest, I found the book somewhat depressing. It describes a man, who because of his poor upbringing and origins (in the American South), couldn't be the man he probably wanted to be (and stay elected).
I also found the book surprising. I was born only a little before Johnson died, but always imagined him as decisive, because he seemed so effective in the Senate. It seems, from reading this book however, that you'll be presented with a guy who feels he's lacking in something, especially when compared to the JFK brigade in the White House.
The other thing that surprised me is that he strated disliking some aspects of the Great Society, almost as soon the were passed. As an example, one was targeted at getting inner city parents to stay together. Almost immediately, it became clear it wasn't working, which resulted in LBJ grousing about the law regularly.
There has been some some criticism of the accuracy of statements in the book. As an example, it says RFK was assassinated at the Embassy Hotel (no he wasn't, it was the Ambassador Hotel), and that certain Senators and Governors have been designated as representing the wrong state. I would agree with some of those criticisms, but I don't necessarily think those errors reduced the book much, because they weren't major. A southern anti-integration Senator is a southern anti-integration Senator, irrespective of whether you have him down as being from Alabama, or Mississippi.
I will say, however, though that the errors reduced the credibility of the book some, as it makes you wonder about the accuracy of the research.
In short, I think most people will get something new out of the book, if you can ignore the errors. I enjoyed reading it, and not just because I have a soft sport for Texas, and the area Johnson grew up in.
April 3, 2018
Few presidents generate as much debate today as Lyndon Baines Johnson. From relatively humble roots in Texas, he rose to the pinnacle of power in American politics. Brash and domineering to the point of obnoxiousness, he turned the position of Senate majority leader into the key office in that body through a mastery of wheeling and dealing that served him well as president and ensured the passage of a vast range of legislation that transformed the nation. Yet all of this is weighed against the controversial involvement in the Vietnam War, a topic that still triggers fervent discussion.
All of these elements are present in Randall Woods’s new biography of LBJ. He chronicles Johnson’s life from his Hill Country roots to his last ailment-plagued years on his iconic ranch. He begins with Johnson’s parents, Sam Early and Rebekah Baines, both of whom played a critical role in shaping young Lyndon as he inherited his father’s politics and his mother’s idealism. From his early years, Woods goes on to chart Lyndon’s rise in American politics, from his emergence as an ardent New Dealer in the 1930s through his famously narrow victory in the 1948 Democratic Senate primary to his role as Senate majority leader in the 1950s. Throughout it all he details Johnson’s relationships with other political “fathers�, most notably Sam Rayburn and Richard Russell � men from whom Johnson learned about the workings of Congress and who he courted and cultivated for their enormously influential support.
As impressive as Johnson’s achievements were, however, he would be satisfied with nothing less than the highest office in the land. Here the author introduces us to the clash between Johnson and Robert Kennedy, a clash that would define much of the politics of the 1960s with its bitterness and political maneuvering. While the younger Kennedy would argue that his older brother named Johnson as his running mate as a publicity move, Woods makes it clear that Jack Kennedy offered the vice presidency to LBJ because he didn’t think he could win the White House without the Texan on the ticket. Yet JFK’s recognition of Johnson’s political indispensability did not extend to a broader respect for the man, as Johnson found himself the subject of much contempt and derision from the Kennedys’s “Irish mafia�. Johnson was so miserable as vice-president, Woods argues, that he was preparing to tell Kennedy of his intention to not seek renomination as his running mate when an assassin’s bullets suddenly propelled him into the presidency.
Thrust by circumstance into the office he long sought, Johnson was determined to make the most of the opportunity. Woods is generous in his interpretation of the programs that constituted the Great Society, seeing it as a reflection of Johnson’s genuine concern for the disadvantaged and a product of a coherent political philosophy. This was especially true for civil rights, where Johnson knew his efforts would prove politically damaging in the traditionally Democratic South. But the president persisted because he knew it was the right thing to do, and his Congressional experience proved indispensable in getting the necessary legislation passed.
Yet in spite of his ambitious domestic agenda and his considerable success in transforming it into law, Johnson’s presidency would be defined by his disastrous policies in Vietnam. Here Woods displays his strengths as a historian of American foreign policy, examining LBJ’s reluctant commitment to intervention in the Vietnam War within the broader context of the Cold War. For all of his appreciation of the realities of the situation and despite his skepticism of the military’s optimistic assertions, though, he was unable to stop events from spinning out of his control. Increasingly embattled by the growing opposition from Congress and the public towards the war, Johnson withdrew from the 1968 presidential race and retired from politics at the end of his term, living out his final years shunned and aware that his considerable achievements never met his even greater ambitions.
Thoroughly researched and convincingly argued, Woods has produced the best single volume biography of Johnson, one that presents a convincing interpretation of the man and his accomplishments. Throughout it he takes a favorable tone towards his subject, judging Johnson sympathetically yet not uncritically. Its greatest strengths are in his depiction of Johnson’s relationships with the key people in his life (particularly his mother, Rayburn and Russell, and his wife Lady Bird) and his analysis of Johnson’s broader foreign policy, which is often overshadowed by Vietnam in other accounts. Yet for all of its many strengths, the book is plagued with persistent factual errors, mistakes that could have been corrected with even a modest editing effort. Though a minor problem, it detracts from what is otherwise an excellent study of the life and times of a fascinating man and controversial president.
All of these elements are present in Randall Woods’s new biography of LBJ. He chronicles Johnson’s life from his Hill Country roots to his last ailment-plagued years on his iconic ranch. He begins with Johnson’s parents, Sam Early and Rebekah Baines, both of whom played a critical role in shaping young Lyndon as he inherited his father’s politics and his mother’s idealism. From his early years, Woods goes on to chart Lyndon’s rise in American politics, from his emergence as an ardent New Dealer in the 1930s through his famously narrow victory in the 1948 Democratic Senate primary to his role as Senate majority leader in the 1950s. Throughout it all he details Johnson’s relationships with other political “fathers�, most notably Sam Rayburn and Richard Russell � men from whom Johnson learned about the workings of Congress and who he courted and cultivated for their enormously influential support.
As impressive as Johnson’s achievements were, however, he would be satisfied with nothing less than the highest office in the land. Here the author introduces us to the clash between Johnson and Robert Kennedy, a clash that would define much of the politics of the 1960s with its bitterness and political maneuvering. While the younger Kennedy would argue that his older brother named Johnson as his running mate as a publicity move, Woods makes it clear that Jack Kennedy offered the vice presidency to LBJ because he didn’t think he could win the White House without the Texan on the ticket. Yet JFK’s recognition of Johnson’s political indispensability did not extend to a broader respect for the man, as Johnson found himself the subject of much contempt and derision from the Kennedys’s “Irish mafia�. Johnson was so miserable as vice-president, Woods argues, that he was preparing to tell Kennedy of his intention to not seek renomination as his running mate when an assassin’s bullets suddenly propelled him into the presidency.
Thrust by circumstance into the office he long sought, Johnson was determined to make the most of the opportunity. Woods is generous in his interpretation of the programs that constituted the Great Society, seeing it as a reflection of Johnson’s genuine concern for the disadvantaged and a product of a coherent political philosophy. This was especially true for civil rights, where Johnson knew his efforts would prove politically damaging in the traditionally Democratic South. But the president persisted because he knew it was the right thing to do, and his Congressional experience proved indispensable in getting the necessary legislation passed.
Yet in spite of his ambitious domestic agenda and his considerable success in transforming it into law, Johnson’s presidency would be defined by his disastrous policies in Vietnam. Here Woods displays his strengths as a historian of American foreign policy, examining LBJ’s reluctant commitment to intervention in the Vietnam War within the broader context of the Cold War. For all of his appreciation of the realities of the situation and despite his skepticism of the military’s optimistic assertions, though, he was unable to stop events from spinning out of his control. Increasingly embattled by the growing opposition from Congress and the public towards the war, Johnson withdrew from the 1968 presidential race and retired from politics at the end of his term, living out his final years shunned and aware that his considerable achievements never met his even greater ambitions.
Thoroughly researched and convincingly argued, Woods has produced the best single volume biography of Johnson, one that presents a convincing interpretation of the man and his accomplishments. Throughout it he takes a favorable tone towards his subject, judging Johnson sympathetically yet not uncritically. Its greatest strengths are in his depiction of Johnson’s relationships with the key people in his life (particularly his mother, Rayburn and Russell, and his wife Lady Bird) and his analysis of Johnson’s broader foreign policy, which is often overshadowed by Vietnam in other accounts. Yet for all of its many strengths, the book is plagued with persistent factual errors, mistakes that could have been corrected with even a modest editing effort. Though a minor problem, it detracts from what is otherwise an excellent study of the life and times of a fascinating man and controversial president.
April 7, 2008
I admit it. I am and have been an admirer of LBJ's for decades, and this biography is one of the most even-handed books on this giant of a man that I have read. Of course, it reveals his flaws, which were notorious. More importantly it reveals his surpassing compassion for the old, the weak, the oppressed, the poor. Hillary's right - without LBJ there would have been no Civil Rights Act of 1964, to which the Kennedy's lent only half-hearted support - because they had no feeling, besides contempt, for anyone except perhaps for other Kennedys. They had no ambition that didn't arise from family pride. All else was merely manipulation of perceptions for political gain, which served no higher purpose than to satiate personal vanity. (See my review of "The Bystander.")
Woods' "LBJ" also delves into the quagmire of Vietnam, and the delusions of arrogance that captivated old, white men who easily sacrificed the lives of 50,000 GIs and the bodies of hundreds of thousands of others, not to mention the 4 million Vietnamese dead, whose sacrifices make American loses appear vanishingly trival. In this context, LBJ stood absolutely alone, entirely abandoned with his fear and delusions, a pitiable figure. My sense is that Robert Dalleck is better on Vietnam than Woods, but marginally so. In any case, a spot-on portrait of a man the likes of whom we're not likely to see again in this age of pitiably small politicans.
Woods' "LBJ" also delves into the quagmire of Vietnam, and the delusions of arrogance that captivated old, white men who easily sacrificed the lives of 50,000 GIs and the bodies of hundreds of thousands of others, not to mention the 4 million Vietnamese dead, whose sacrifices make American loses appear vanishingly trival. In this context, LBJ stood absolutely alone, entirely abandoned with his fear and delusions, a pitiable figure. My sense is that Robert Dalleck is better on Vietnam than Woods, but marginally so. In any case, a spot-on portrait of a man the likes of whom we're not likely to see again in this age of pitiably small politicans.
April 23, 2020
This biography of LBJ casts him in a very favorable light, maybe a little too favorable. LBJ is portrayed as an extremely compassionate man, and though he could be very compassionate, he usually worked in his own best interests. Woods doesn't always recognize the pragmatism. LBJ was a complicated individual, and he seems a bit flat toward the end of the book, when he is portrayed as whiny and upset much of the time.
It's a long book, and Woods seems to have gotten tired of writing well before the end. The section on the LBJ presidency was a bit too factual with a decided lack of analysis. Woods dutifully tells us about each of the Great Society programs... ticking off each one through a couple of late chapters. And Woods' account of the final part of LBJ's life, the five years after his presidency, is woefully lacking. Woods has completely run out of steam by the end of LBJ's life.
The earlier part of the book is much more lively. Woods does a good job with the young LBJ, his family and his start in politics. He's not bad as he follows LBJ through the House of Representatives and the Senate. The analysis is pretty good, but not always great, and Woods always gives LBJ's motives the benefit of the doubt (unlike many other LBJ biographers).
If you want to read a biography of LBJ that tells you about his whole life in just one volume, this isn't a bad way to go.
It's a long book, and Woods seems to have gotten tired of writing well before the end. The section on the LBJ presidency was a bit too factual with a decided lack of analysis. Woods dutifully tells us about each of the Great Society programs... ticking off each one through a couple of late chapters. And Woods' account of the final part of LBJ's life, the five years after his presidency, is woefully lacking. Woods has completely run out of steam by the end of LBJ's life.
The earlier part of the book is much more lively. Woods does a good job with the young LBJ, his family and his start in politics. He's not bad as he follows LBJ through the House of Representatives and the Senate. The analysis is pretty good, but not always great, and Woods always gives LBJ's motives the benefit of the doubt (unlike many other LBJ biographers).
If you want to read a biography of LBJ that tells you about his whole life in just one volume, this isn't a bad way to go.
June 30, 2009
The most balanced biography I've read on Johnson. Acknowledged his shortcomings but gave due credit to progressive things he accomplished. Interesting contrast to Caro's series especially the 1948 senate election where Caro painted LBJ to be villian and Coke Stevenson to be hero. While Caro mentioned/glossed over some of Stevenson's background, Woods made it clear how Stevenson fired some university officials for being "too liberal" Stevenson's attitudes towards unions and his record on race and his close ties with very conservative backers---Caro made it almost sound like all moneyed people supported LBJ. Anyway, great read about a complex man in a complex time
July 2, 2011
Very informative and detailed biography. As I was a college student during most of LBJ's presidency while looking down the barrel of the draft, I had assumed that I knew most of the details of the period. The biggest surprise was to find that in the fall of 1968 Richard Nixon secretly communicated with South Vietnam's Ky and Thieu to thwart any peace proposals pending with North Vietnam so as to assure his election. Since the damning information had come from illegal wiretaps, and because LBJ was sure that Nixon was going to win and our country was much too fragile to learn of this treason by their new Chief Executive, he choose to not disclose the truth to the American public. Many people believe that Reagan followed Nixon's treasonous path by arranging a delay with Iran in the release of the hostages until after the election in his contest with Carter.
August 10, 2024
This is good one volume biography of LBJ. We learn of his early life in rural Texas. We see the poverty of Nissan early years and the influence of his parents on his development. The author relates how his early life would his later life in politics and his legislative goals as president.
We learn of his entry into Texas politics and the rough and tumble of party in Texas. The influence of his parents on his political views and then the relationship he developed with Sam Rayburn.. we follow his career as he runs for the House of Representatives and then the Senate. We see his rise to Senate majority leader and how he dominated in that role. We see the circumstances and maneuvering that led to his selection for vice president in 1960. Then with the assassination of JFK, he becomes president. We then follow the Great Society and his war on poverty. The tangled events of Vietnam are detailed.
The strong point of the book is the description of his character and how it affected his life and legacy. His feelings of inferiority and insecurity were especially critical in his relationships with the press. The author also describes the torment he experienced in trying to cope with the Vietnam War.
I felt the book offered an interesting insight into the man he was and balanced his accomplishments with his failures.
We learn of his entry into Texas politics and the rough and tumble of party in Texas. The influence of his parents on his political views and then the relationship he developed with Sam Rayburn.. we follow his career as he runs for the House of Representatives and then the Senate. We see his rise to Senate majority leader and how he dominated in that role. We see the circumstances and maneuvering that led to his selection for vice president in 1960. Then with the assassination of JFK, he becomes president. We then follow the Great Society and his war on poverty. The tangled events of Vietnam are detailed.
The strong point of the book is the description of his character and how it affected his life and legacy. His feelings of inferiority and insecurity were especially critical in his relationships with the press. The author also describes the torment he experienced in trying to cope with the Vietnam War.
I felt the book offered an interesting insight into the man he was and balanced his accomplishments with his failures.
August 12, 2008
Almost no President has a legacy harder to encapsulate then Lyndon Johnson, and as long as baby boomers dominate political culture, fights over his legacy will remain central to our electoral discourse. As a political history nerd, I have read far more about his Presidency than is prudent or wise. Yet, even I have to wonder why this book was written. After Dallek and Caro (let alone Perlstien and the rest), it’s not really clear why this generation needs another standard popular biography of LBJ. To a large extent, this book presupposes a fairly large among of knowledge about Johnson. Its almost a shadow biography, content to follow and amend the popular volumes on Johnson; entertaining in its way, but oddly insubstantial for something the size of a small phonebook.
October 31, 2009
An interesting analysis, though it does not have the sheer amount of detail that Robert Caro's LBJ volumes do. the description of the presidency will have to tide us over until Caro finishes volume IV of his exhaustive LBJ series.
One major quibble--Woods gets a lot of facts wrong, for example, the sequence of gunshots when Kennedy is assasinated, the color of his wife's bloodstained dress and the home states of some very important senators. For that reason, I had to dock this book one star.
One major quibble--Woods gets a lot of facts wrong, for example, the sequence of gunshots when Kennedy is assasinated, the color of his wife's bloodstained dress and the home states of some very important senators. For that reason, I had to dock this book one star.
December 19, 2012
While this book was long and certainly not light reading, I did really enjoy learning about this segment of history. I have filled my to read list with much related material, which I always find as a mark of a good book. Highly recommended to history buffs, Texas Historians, or anyone who thinks they might be interested in learning about Lyndon B. Johnson. Fascinating.
Read
May 20, 2011Very thorough. It lost some credibility for me by having some factual errors --- the wrong person attributed to the wrong quote, or the wrong date. But, overall, very well done, and it made me reappreciate LBJ as a president who wanted to change things, to be a transformational leader.
March 16, 2009
this guy really loves LBJ
May 25, 2012
no new ground plowed for me
January 30, 2019
LBJ is one of the most complex American President of recent history, and this book captures the complexity of the 36th President. After covering Johnson's early life and education, the beginning of his career in Washington as a secretary for a Texas Representative commences his rise that would culminate in his 5-year occupancy of the White House.
Woods spends the majority of the book covering his time in the White House, and covers his administration in great detail. Throughout, the personality of LBJ shines through what could be dull recital of his policies and their implementation. Johnson is best remembered for the Vietnam War, and the author covers in detail his decisions and prosecution of that war. Woods details the underlying concerns to limit the scope of the conflict and the continual instability of South Vietnam's government, as well as his attempts to resolve the conflict, up to the final days of his Presidency. While hindsight has judged Johnson in particular harshly for the Vietnam War, Woods' fuller picture should soften the negative picture of his role in the conflict. The tragedy of Vietnam is that it has overshadowed his landmark contributions to the nation in pushing forward America through his Great Society. The Vietnam War has overshadowed his War on Poverty. While some of his domestic policies were linked to ideas campaigned on by JFK, he deserves the credit for moving them from promise to reality. Beyond seeing Medicare, urban renewal, environmental protection, aid to education into existence, more than his creation of the National Endowment of the Arts and the Public Broadcasting System, his greatest contribution to America was his defense of Civil Rights and Voting Rights for African Americans. This fight defined his life, from his first job teaching after college in Texas teaching a school made up primarily of Mexican Americans, spanning his career in Washington, from the Capital to the White House. The legislation he guided through Congress as leader of the Senate, and the laws he guided through as President have done more for minorities than any other President in American history. For this reason alone, he should be remembered far more favorably than he generally is.
While the author clearly has presented a compelling and sympathetic portrayal of Johnson, he is honest in also displaying his faults. His crudity and infidelity are well-documented. His relentless pursuit of power and manipulation of others to serve his own ends, his neglect of his wife and children balance the compelling positive qualities highlighted throughout the book. In the end, Randall Woods has written one of the finest biographies of one of the most fascinating and compelling men to occupy the White House.
Woods spends the majority of the book covering his time in the White House, and covers his administration in great detail. Throughout, the personality of LBJ shines through what could be dull recital of his policies and their implementation. Johnson is best remembered for the Vietnam War, and the author covers in detail his decisions and prosecution of that war. Woods details the underlying concerns to limit the scope of the conflict and the continual instability of South Vietnam's government, as well as his attempts to resolve the conflict, up to the final days of his Presidency. While hindsight has judged Johnson in particular harshly for the Vietnam War, Woods' fuller picture should soften the negative picture of his role in the conflict. The tragedy of Vietnam is that it has overshadowed his landmark contributions to the nation in pushing forward America through his Great Society. The Vietnam War has overshadowed his War on Poverty. While some of his domestic policies were linked to ideas campaigned on by JFK, he deserves the credit for moving them from promise to reality. Beyond seeing Medicare, urban renewal, environmental protection, aid to education into existence, more than his creation of the National Endowment of the Arts and the Public Broadcasting System, his greatest contribution to America was his defense of Civil Rights and Voting Rights for African Americans. This fight defined his life, from his first job teaching after college in Texas teaching a school made up primarily of Mexican Americans, spanning his career in Washington, from the Capital to the White House. The legislation he guided through Congress as leader of the Senate, and the laws he guided through as President have done more for minorities than any other President in American history. For this reason alone, he should be remembered far more favorably than he generally is.
While the author clearly has presented a compelling and sympathetic portrayal of Johnson, he is honest in also displaying his faults. His crudity and infidelity are well-documented. His relentless pursuit of power and manipulation of others to serve his own ends, his neglect of his wife and children balance the compelling positive qualities highlighted throughout the book. In the end, Randall Woods has written one of the finest biographies of one of the most fascinating and compelling men to occupy the White House.
October 13, 2020
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. --Ecclesiastes 1:9
While reading through this biography of Lyndon Baines Johnson, I felt very much like I've been living in a rerun. Or maybe "remake" might be e better metaphor. I mean, we still have a foreign boogey-man (-men?), but these days some Americans fear Muslim terrorists rather than Communist agitators. But rioting and protests over racism are, sadly, back in the news.
I think this initial thought about the book goes to illustrate that Professor Woods did a good job of conveying the zeitgeist of the eras in which Johnson lived and worked. In LBJ, Johnson is portrayed as a forceful, egotistical man, but one with a definite sense of duty to his country and a compassion for all of his citizens. It covers his life from his family history in Texas, through his childhood and initial career as a teacher, to his final calling as a politician. The reader travels along that career as a secretary for Congressman Richard Kleberg, a state Director for the National Youth Administration under the New Deal, through his influential role as a senator, and to his somewhat marginalized role as Vice President. The death of John Kennedy thrust Johnson into the presidency, and the book details how he faced the challenges of carrying on the legacies of Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt in the Great Society programs, as well as the challenges of the quagmire that was the Vietnam War. Professor Woods is a good storyteller and gave me a definite appreciation of Johnson. (I may have to put this book on my shelf.) It also brought my own life into focus as I read how the president of my early childhood and his contemporaries in government shaped the society which I grew up thinking was "normal".
While reading through this biography of Lyndon Baines Johnson, I felt very much like I've been living in a rerun. Or maybe "remake" might be e better metaphor. I mean, we still have a foreign boogey-man (-men?), but these days some Americans fear Muslim terrorists rather than Communist agitators. But rioting and protests over racism are, sadly, back in the news.
I think this initial thought about the book goes to illustrate that Professor Woods did a good job of conveying the zeitgeist of the eras in which Johnson lived and worked. In LBJ, Johnson is portrayed as a forceful, egotistical man, but one with a definite sense of duty to his country and a compassion for all of his citizens. It covers his life from his family history in Texas, through his childhood and initial career as a teacher, to his final calling as a politician. The reader travels along that career as a secretary for Congressman Richard Kleberg, a state Director for the National Youth Administration under the New Deal, through his influential role as a senator, and to his somewhat marginalized role as Vice President. The death of John Kennedy thrust Johnson into the presidency, and the book details how he faced the challenges of carrying on the legacies of Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt in the Great Society programs, as well as the challenges of the quagmire that was the Vietnam War. Professor Woods is a good storyteller and gave me a definite appreciation of Johnson. (I may have to put this book on my shelf.) It also brought my own life into focus as I read how the president of my early childhood and his contemporaries in government shaped the society which I grew up thinking was "normal".
August 28, 2018
A comprehensive and well-written biography. I think it was a fair and candid look at LBJ. It did not gloss over his flaws, which is important. It did portray the well-known tension between him and RFK as more on the brother of JFK, and the eastern political elite. It showed how LBJ inherited the Vietnam problem and was always walking a tight rope between the hawks and doves. It did portray LBJ as a victim of the circumstances, and made the reader think that no matter who had become president, we would have ended up in the same situation. The only downside was that the author got bogged down a bit with political wonkiness of some of the legislation he worked to pass. Unfortunately the racial tensions and the war placed a dark cloud on a presidency that saw ground breaking civil rights law passed.
April 15, 2022
Complete and unabridged as they say, definitive and an interesting read. Very well written and must have been a huge chunk out of the author's life. He's covered a big man with a big book at 1000 pages with index and now I need read no other.
I almost felt sorry for LBJ at the end, he accomplished much necessary legislation.. but also much unneeded deaths. If only he'd left foreign affairs alone.
I almost felt sorry for LBJ at the end, he accomplished much necessary legislation.. but also much unneeded deaths. If only he'd left foreign affairs alone.
January 5, 2018
The writer might be a fan, but the book is still very good and well researched.
August 17, 2019
Not an easy read. Gets a bit too much into the weeds.
Read
January 2, 2016Lyndon Johnson should be remembered today as the greatest president of the 20th century. He outdid his mentor - Franklin Roosevelt - with the plethora of legislation that collectively became known as 'The Great Society'. He used the martyrdom of his predecessor to push through the most sweeping civil rights legislation in American history. He wrote the book on federal aid to education, consumer protection laws, Medicaid...and that was just in his first two years.
That, however, is the problem. Had Johnson died at the end of 1965 he would indeed be remembered that way - as the bastion of liberalism that in many respects made the New Deal pale in comparison. Why is he not remembered that way? Vietnam. One of the great tragic figures of American political history, LBJ was keenly aware that the war he inherited from John Kennedy would forever tarnish his otherwise stellar achievements.
In Randall Woods enormous tome, the author does an admirable job of showing that it would be wrong it consider Vietnam and The Great Society as the antithesis of one another. Woods argues that it was LBJ's desire to feed the hungry, give shelter to the homeless, and education to masses that was part and parcel of his reasoning for intervention in Vietnam. A free society - that was what LBJ wanted in Saginaw and in Saigon. Woods' contribution to LBJ scholarship rests on this premise, and he makes a go of it.
The problem with a man of LBJ's magnitude, however, is that it is impossible to write a comprehensive single-volume biography of the man - even if you do cram nearly 900 pages into it. Robert Dallek and Robert Caro have demonstrated that multiple volumes are the only way to deliver Johnson's story. Indeed, toward the end of this book, you get the feeling that Woods is frantically trying to tie it up around page 800. It's almost as if he's saying, "Ye Gods! I'm on page 800 and it's not even 1968 yet!"
While there are the usual LBJ anecdotes and few surprises [for example, as late as the Democratic Convention in August 1968 LBJ was maneuvering to go back on his March 31st 'abdication' speech and was actively seeking to wrest the nomination back from his vice president, Hubert Humphrey; or the fact that the FBI, by 1969, had tracked no less than 6,000 threats against Johnson's life since November 1963]. But there is simply too much that is glossed over - by necessity - in a single volume. The death of Bobby Kennedy warrants a mere page and a half, despite the Shakespearean quality of the LBJ-RFK relationship and the great animus that existed between them versus the grieving LBJ mourning with the country in the aftermath of Bobby's assassination.
Woods also makes some quick - and somewhat weak - conclusions about LBJ's sexual appetite, seeming to have us believe that by the time he was president LBJ's health was such that physical relationships with the coterie of women in his life was impossible. This flies in the face of other works which document the numerous dalliances LBJ engaged in while president - leading the man himself to once quip, "Jack Kennedy thought he got pussy? I got more ass in one year than that boy got in his whole life."
Woods' work is a good read but it falls 'in between': it is too long for a casual reader with little or no knowledge of LBJ, yet it misses too many details to satisfy the LBJ scholar reading this work.
I'd be remiss in reviewing an LBJ book if I didn't pass along my favorite LBJ story, told to me third-hand from a White House reporter on one of LBJ's sojourns around the White House grounds, reporters in tow. In mid-conversation, LBJ walked over to a garden with some bushes and proceeded to relieve himself right on the White House lawn. One of the reporters quipped, "Mr. President: aren't you afraid of garden snakes?" To which LBJ smiles, turned and - waving his penis - said, "Son, this is a garden snake."
That, however, is the problem. Had Johnson died at the end of 1965 he would indeed be remembered that way - as the bastion of liberalism that in many respects made the New Deal pale in comparison. Why is he not remembered that way? Vietnam. One of the great tragic figures of American political history, LBJ was keenly aware that the war he inherited from John Kennedy would forever tarnish his otherwise stellar achievements.
In Randall Woods enormous tome, the author does an admirable job of showing that it would be wrong it consider Vietnam and The Great Society as the antithesis of one another. Woods argues that it was LBJ's desire to feed the hungry, give shelter to the homeless, and education to masses that was part and parcel of his reasoning for intervention in Vietnam. A free society - that was what LBJ wanted in Saginaw and in Saigon. Woods' contribution to LBJ scholarship rests on this premise, and he makes a go of it.
The problem with a man of LBJ's magnitude, however, is that it is impossible to write a comprehensive single-volume biography of the man - even if you do cram nearly 900 pages into it. Robert Dallek and Robert Caro have demonstrated that multiple volumes are the only way to deliver Johnson's story. Indeed, toward the end of this book, you get the feeling that Woods is frantically trying to tie it up around page 800. It's almost as if he's saying, "Ye Gods! I'm on page 800 and it's not even 1968 yet!"
While there are the usual LBJ anecdotes and few surprises [for example, as late as the Democratic Convention in August 1968 LBJ was maneuvering to go back on his March 31st 'abdication' speech and was actively seeking to wrest the nomination back from his vice president, Hubert Humphrey; or the fact that the FBI, by 1969, had tracked no less than 6,000 threats against Johnson's life since November 1963]. But there is simply too much that is glossed over - by necessity - in a single volume. The death of Bobby Kennedy warrants a mere page and a half, despite the Shakespearean quality of the LBJ-RFK relationship and the great animus that existed between them versus the grieving LBJ mourning with the country in the aftermath of Bobby's assassination.
Woods also makes some quick - and somewhat weak - conclusions about LBJ's sexual appetite, seeming to have us believe that by the time he was president LBJ's health was such that physical relationships with the coterie of women in his life was impossible. This flies in the face of other works which document the numerous dalliances LBJ engaged in while president - leading the man himself to once quip, "Jack Kennedy thought he got pussy? I got more ass in one year than that boy got in his whole life."
Woods' work is a good read but it falls 'in between': it is too long for a casual reader with little or no knowledge of LBJ, yet it misses too many details to satisfy the LBJ scholar reading this work.
I'd be remiss in reviewing an LBJ book if I didn't pass along my favorite LBJ story, told to me third-hand from a White House reporter on one of LBJ's sojourns around the White House grounds, reporters in tow. In mid-conversation, LBJ walked over to a garden with some bushes and proceeded to relieve himself right on the White House lawn. One of the reporters quipped, "Mr. President: aren't you afraid of garden snakes?" To which LBJ smiles, turned and - waving his penis - said, "Son, this is a garden snake."
January 22, 2012
I have been reading this biography over a period of eleven days. Nine hundred pages, a long hard climb up the American political landscape of the twentieth century, that culminates in the rarefied summit of power and a thirty sixth presidency. It is no easy task for me (a subject of her majesty the Queen) to adequately review this book, steeped as it is in the political machinations of Uncle Sam. GOP is an acronym I would link with Gallup Opinion Poll, not the Grand Ole Party. While on the subject of these acronyms, this mighty tome is peppered with truncated nouns and such like. Acronym, Ohio.
'LBJ-Architect of American Ambition' from Randall B. Woods (2006) is the latest in a flurry of biographies on the subject. Bornet's 'The Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson (1983), Bernstein's 'Guns or Butter' (1994), Andrew's 'Lyndon Johnson and the Great Society' (1999) and Dallek's 'Lyndon B. Johnson-Portrait of a President' (2004) are some of the previous studies. Woods has coloured his portrait with a vast palette of history, reaching back to Johnson's grand parents under the big Texan sky, all the way through to the end of the sixties and ending where it began in the Pedernales. (Actually, forty years ago exactly today.)
As a teenaged rebel without a pause through the 1960's I do recall the 'hey,hey LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?', and since then the film 'JFK' with "that polecat Lyndon in the White House." Polecat:-large relative of the weasel which emits a stink. One LBJ anecdote was a story of a young man who was interviewing for a teaching job in a rural Texas district. The climax of the interview came when the redneck chairman of the school board asked the extremely stressed candidate "Do you teach that the world is flat, or do you teach that the world is round?" The young man hesitated and then replied, "I can teach it either way."
Woods opens with his Prologue, a four page account of Dealey Plaza. 'Jackie, her green suit still splattered with her husband's blood', I didn't think the most auspicious start. However, the twentieth century political history is an in depth study, that is related along with LBJ's inexorable climb up the Democratic Party pole as a Congressman in 1937, Senator in 1948, becoming majority leader in 1954. The real meat of this book takes off with the JFK/LBJ ticket of 1960, and for me was an engrossing page turner all the way, with LBJ, through the decade. The political maneuvers on both the domestic and international stages are both fascinating and surprising. The most tumultuous of times are documented here. Johnson's Great Society programme of social reform legislation, along with civil rights, education acts, environmental control laws, Medicare and Medicaid were a remarkable set of reforms, that became blighted by Vietnam, race riots, monetary cuts and further assassinations.
The author has used a huge wealth of source material such as White House tapes and thousands of released documents to give a reappraisal of 'that polecat Lyndon.'
'LBJ-Architect of American Ambition' from Randall B. Woods (2006) is the latest in a flurry of biographies on the subject. Bornet's 'The Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson (1983), Bernstein's 'Guns or Butter' (1994), Andrew's 'Lyndon Johnson and the Great Society' (1999) and Dallek's 'Lyndon B. Johnson-Portrait of a President' (2004) are some of the previous studies. Woods has coloured his portrait with a vast palette of history, reaching back to Johnson's grand parents under the big Texan sky, all the way through to the end of the sixties and ending where it began in the Pedernales. (Actually, forty years ago exactly today.)
As a teenaged rebel without a pause through the 1960's I do recall the 'hey,hey LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?', and since then the film 'JFK' with "that polecat Lyndon in the White House." Polecat:-large relative of the weasel which emits a stink. One LBJ anecdote was a story of a young man who was interviewing for a teaching job in a rural Texas district. The climax of the interview came when the redneck chairman of the school board asked the extremely stressed candidate "Do you teach that the world is flat, or do you teach that the world is round?" The young man hesitated and then replied, "I can teach it either way."
Woods opens with his Prologue, a four page account of Dealey Plaza. 'Jackie, her green suit still splattered with her husband's blood', I didn't think the most auspicious start. However, the twentieth century political history is an in depth study, that is related along with LBJ's inexorable climb up the Democratic Party pole as a Congressman in 1937, Senator in 1948, becoming majority leader in 1954. The real meat of this book takes off with the JFK/LBJ ticket of 1960, and for me was an engrossing page turner all the way, with LBJ, through the decade. The political maneuvers on both the domestic and international stages are both fascinating and surprising. The most tumultuous of times are documented here. Johnson's Great Society programme of social reform legislation, along with civil rights, education acts, environmental control laws, Medicare and Medicaid were a remarkable set of reforms, that became blighted by Vietnam, race riots, monetary cuts and further assassinations.
The author has used a huge wealth of source material such as White House tapes and thousands of released documents to give a reappraisal of 'that polecat Lyndon.'
Read
February 24, 2009I enjoyed this book a great deal. LBJ was a rough sort of man...not someone I'd hold on a pedistal. But in reading this book I learned that he was extremely motivated to achieve success and became a remarkably adept politician. Having grown up, but being young at the time, when he became vice president, running with John F. Kennedy, I realized just how much I did not know or remember about the many events that were happening around me. I had an awareness of the tension between the US and the USSR over the Cuban missle crisis, but I was not aware of the poverty around me. Living in Atlanta, GA, I was aware of the tension between whites and blacks, but being in my teens, I really didn't care what was going on. My friends and I would sit in the back of the bus where the "colored folks" were suppose to sit...we thought we were being a bit rebellious, but what we were doing could have been deemed offensive by those who were oppressed by a white society. Reading this book about Johnson not only told me a great deal about him as a man and president, but also educated me about the history of the time. Reading this made me also realize just how and why we were in Vietnam and how this issue became so explosive in our country.
This as was a good read!
This as was a good read!
September 10, 2011
This is a stupendous biography of LBJ, a guy I thought I knew, but I knew nothing - and neither do you if you haven't read this book. This has got to be the definitive Lyndon Johnson bio; it's certainly big enough to be. If you thought FDR was the most radical of our presidents (plausible) or that Barack Obama is (ridiculous), you really need to read this book. I can't think of anyone outside of the Communist Party who was more courageously outspoken (and in a very inhospitable part of the country for this sort of thing) on behalf of African-Americans in the 1930s, and I bet you didn't know that. If you're an African-American, or anyone else who thinks the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and Medicare and Medicaid and a host of other signposts of social progress are pretty good ideas, and you want to know how they came about in terms of the hardball, dramatic, behind the scenes politicking that Barack Obama hasn't figured out yet - READ THIS BOOK.
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July 26, 2011Woods takes us from LBJ’s grandfather to his Lyndon’s deathbed. In between there was a lot of women (not his wife), drinking, socialism, bullying, pushing and clawing. Woods did not stint on his research (80 pages of footnotes) and creates a broad and deep portrait of a life.
I suspect, Woods, like many biographers, has fallen in love with his subject. This is understandable, after all, who want to spend so much time with someone he doesn’t like. The result is that Woods is largely uncritical of LBJ. This detracts, but is hardly a fatal flaw.
I am also a bit disappointed that is that there is no analysis of Johnson’s legacy. He worked hard for civil rights, all to the good. Perhaps the benefits of civil rights advances are self evident. Vietnam effected how we fight every subsequent war. The Great Society was a disaster and we continue to be affected by poverty, broken families, deficits and taxes which ensued.
I suspect, Woods, like many biographers, has fallen in love with his subject. This is understandable, after all, who want to spend so much time with someone he doesn’t like. The result is that Woods is largely uncritical of LBJ. This detracts, but is hardly a fatal flaw.
I am also a bit disappointed that is that there is no analysis of Johnson’s legacy. He worked hard for civil rights, all to the good. Perhaps the benefits of civil rights advances are self evident. Vietnam effected how we fight every subsequent war. The Great Society was a disaster and we continue to be affected by poverty, broken families, deficits and taxes which ensued.
June 15, 2009
This is a great biography of Lyndon Johnson. I'd say LBJ is both one of our best presidents and one of our worst. His record of passing legislation is second only perhaps to his hero FDR and I especially admire his ramming the Civil Rights and Voting Rights bills through congress in '64 and '65 which he could have opted to water down. He took the risk of losing the entire Democratic South in the election of 1964 for this stand.
On the other hand, LBJ is more responsible than JFK or Nixon for the travesty in Viet Nam. Like Nixon, LBJ seemed to be haunted by mental demons, extremely conflicted, preventing him from doing the right thing in Viet Nam war, escalating the war instead of ending it.
I give 5 stars to the book, 5 stars to LBJ as president on the domestic side and 1 star on the foreign policy side.
On the other hand, LBJ is more responsible than JFK or Nixon for the travesty in Viet Nam. Like Nixon, LBJ seemed to be haunted by mental demons, extremely conflicted, preventing him from doing the right thing in Viet Nam war, escalating the war instead of ending it.
I give 5 stars to the book, 5 stars to LBJ as president on the domestic side and 1 star on the foreign policy side.
March 26, 2016
Good but overly long. I appreciated learning that Johnson had a life long interest in education and that despite any racism associated with his time and place of birth, he still treated people of color with enough dignity as to work with Dr. King to pass legislation for the civil rights.
It is sad that relations between JFK and LBJ were not close enough to have prevented an escalation of our involvement in Vietnam. Had he not heeded the Hawks or perhaps if he'd not feared the consequences of fighting off the Hawks, he might have had a great second term of office.
It is sad that relations between JFK and LBJ were not close enough to have prevented an escalation of our involvement in Vietnam. Had he not heeded the Hawks or perhaps if he'd not feared the consequences of fighting off the Hawks, he might have had a great second term of office.
Want to read
August 29, 2007Paperback comes out in October, can't wait!
December 10, 2007
One hell of a man. I love LBJ.
Want to read
February 17, 2008I'm particularly interested in seeing what Woods has to say about the roles LBJ's hardball political tactics played in regard to civil rights and his Great Society programs.
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