Lyndon B. Johnson: The American Presidents Series: The 36th President, 1963-1969 (American Presidents (Times))
Part of the admirable American President Series, edited by Peters, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., and Sean Wilentz, this concise biography continues the rehabilitation of the man who served as the 36th President of the United States. Peters, a former member of Johnson's administration, asserts that Johnson, raised in the nasty world of Texas politics, remained ruthlessly dedicated to his own advancement and became a great, if flawed, statesman. Congressman Johnson's work ethic and fawning charm appealed to FDR in 1930s Washington, but in 1948, power took priority, leading Johnson toward conservatism upon entering the Southern-dominated Senate. Despite his brilliance as majority leader during the '50s, few took his presidential ambitions seriously and the 1960 offer to be Kennedy's running mate was viewed as his only hope. But after Kennedy's assassination, Johnson transformed himself again, this time into a compassionate reformer. His Medicare and anti-poverty legislation closed out the Roosevelt era, and his civil rights bills (considered hopeless under Kennedy) made him the greatest benefactor of African-Americans since Lincoln. Although Peters details Johnson's Vietnam debacle with new insight, readers will still take away a vividly positive understanding of this president's accomplishments.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.