Nearly fifty years after being sworn in as president of the United States in the wake of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Lyndon Baines Johnson remains a largely misunderstood figure. His force of personality, mastery of power and the political process, and boundless appetite for social reform made him one of the towering figures of his time. But he was one of the most protean and paradoxical of presidents as well. Because of his flawed nature and inherent contradictions, some claimed there were as many LBJs as there were people who knew him.
Intent on fulfilling the promise of America, Johnson launched a revolution in civil rights, federal aid to education, and health care for the elderly and indigent, and expanded immigration and environmental protection. A flurry of landmark laws—he would sign an unparalleled 207 during his five years in office, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965, Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Head Start, and Medicare—are testaments to the triumph of his will. His War on Poverty alone brought the U.S. poverty rate down from 20 percent to 12 percent, the biggest one-time drop in American history. As president, he was known for getting things done.
At the same time, Johnson’s presidency—and the fulfillment of its own promise—was blighted by his escalation of an ill-fated war in Vietnam that tore at the fabric of America and saw the loss of 36,000 U.S. troops by the end of his term.
Presidential historian Mark K. Updegrove offers an intimate portrait of the endlessly fascinating LBJ, his extraordinarily eventful presidency, and the turbulent times in which he served. We see Johnson in his many guises and dimensions: the virtuoso deal-maker using every inch of his six-foot-three-inch frame to intimidate his subjects, the relentless reformer willing to lose southern Democrats from his party for a generation in his pursuit of civil rights for all Americans, and the embattled commander in chief agonizing over the fate of his “boys” in Vietnam—including his two sons-in-law—yet steadfast in his determination to thwart Communist aggression through war, or an honorable peace.
Through original interviews and personal accounts from White House aides and Cabinet members, political allies and foes, and friends and family—from Robert McNamara to Barry Goldwater, Lady Bird Johnson to Jacqueline Kennedy—as well as through Johnson’s own candid reflections and historic White House telephone conversations, Indomitable Will reveals LBJ as never before. “ For it is through firsthand narrative more than anything,” writes Updegrove, “that Lyndon Johnson—who teemed with vitality in his sixty-four years and remains enigmatic nearly four decades after his passing—comes to life.”
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Tags:Indomitable,Presidency
An in-depth portrait created by dozens of people I did not realize initially that this was not a biography in the traditional sense, but a collection of passages from the many oral histories & interviews from the LBJ library. It is not a format I normally care for, and I was sure I would dislike this book. I have seen this tried before, and oftentimes the result is a worthless book, but this time it really works.It probably helps that LBJ was complex beyond belief, and that the story of his presidency is an amazing combination of the inspiring & the tragic. His personality was so outsized and filled with contradiction that perhaps the best way to explain him is through his own words, and the words of those who knew him well.Despite each page containing passages from sometimes as many as four different interviews, the book’s narrative really moves at a brisk pace. It will take very little time at all to read it, and I found it almost impossible to put down at times.I can tell, from the remarks about William Manchester & Bob Caro, that Updegrove feels that LBJ has been the victim of unfair bias on the part of some biographers & historians (I hesitate to use the word “historian” to describe Manchester — but whatever), and is doing his part to help rehabilitate LBJ’s historical reputation, or at least provide a sense of balance. Recommended!
An interesting view of LBJ In a typical biography the author filters the historical record to paint a picture of the subject. The biographer sifts through speeches, newspaper accounts, other histories and biographies, interviews and other material, but in the end it is an account filtered through the author’s particular view of the subject and of history in general. This book is a bit different and was therefore not quite what I was expecting. The book consists largely of interviews, personal accounts and recorded phone conversations. I liked the book and in general feel that it did give an interesting picture of LBJ, allowing him to be pictured in the words of many who interacted with him, but since the author chose what to include there was some filtering of the presentation. It is also important to note that the author is the director of the LBJ Presidential Library, so he is far from being completely unbiased as far as LBJ is concerned. The book presents many views of LBJ, providing fodder for many different opinions of him. Readers that dislike him will find statements of his and comments by those who knew him that will support this view. Likewise, those who appreciate some of what he did will find support for that view. On balance I think, as one would expect from the Director of the LBJ Library, the book presents LBJ in a generally favorable light. The overriding view is, as the title states, of a man with an indomitable will.The book is divided into 12 sections covering such topics as LBJ the man and his behavior as president, which includes separate sections covering how he got people to conform to his will, his response to criticism and most importantly events concerning the Vietnam War and the Great Society legislation. Each chapter begins with a brief contribution of the author (from one paragraph to a page or two) that puts what is to follow into the context of the period being discussed. Many chapters also contain additional brief contributions of the author. Following these contributions by the author, there is usually then a quotation from LBJ, followed by interviews, personal accounts and recorded phone conversations from a wide variety or people. The commentators ranged from presidential aides such as McGeorge Bundy (national security advisor 1961-66) and Jack Valenti (special assistant to the president 1963-69), TV and newspaper correspondents such as Walter Cronkite and Helen Thomas, politicians such as Barry Goldwater and Ted Kennedy, and many others. All in all there is a list of a little over 100 people whose “voices” appear in the book. While the individual “voices” are listed in the beginning of the book, this advance reader’s copy does not have an index from which one can find where all of the contributions of a particular person are to be found.I found the approach used by the author to be interesting and I found that it definitely added to my understanding of what many feel was one of the most complex men to ever hold the presidency of the US. This is a very useful book, but it is not a substitute for a more complete history of the man and his presidency. It is, however, a very welcome addition to such a history.