'Reaching for Glory': The Workings of Lyndon Johnson's Mind

The New York Times (Book Review) ^ | December 29, 2001 | GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS

[leadpenny]

I am wondering if this new material are those hundreds of hours of conversations that LBJ secretly taped?

C-SPAN Radio has been playing those tapes on weekends for months and I listen to them when I get a chance. Beschloss (sp?) has already done one book on them and is still listening to them as the National Archives releases more batches.

Much of what I have listened to in the 64 timeframe gives me the distinct feeling that LBJ used the taping system, knowing full well that they would be discovered and analyzed. IMO, in the tapes, he barely conceals his complicity in the assassination just a few months before. I hope that someday the extent of his involvement will truly be revealed.

[M.K. Borders]

On the plus side Johnson achieved a great many domestic gains. (Unmatched by any subsequent President) These include Medicare, Medicaid,...

Excuss me if I don't fully appreciate socializm becoming part of the American political landscape. This is particularly true when I consider the damage Social Security has done to the country.

Live Free or Die

[TEXICAN II]

Ditto your reaction to Caro's first book. That was more than enough.

My greatest fear today, is that those who worship Mr. Bush ( he has restored common decency to the office ) will allow him to do virtually ANYTHING unchallenged. The White House has been very good at making us 'see' Renaldus Magnus, when we look at the staged & costumed affairs de la Crawford. I caused extreme offense on FR by violating the Church of the Good & Pure Politician ( the picture threads praising his every wrinkle in his newly found ranch costumes ). They simply ignore ANY question of his dealings with Fox & China, or anyone else!

"Sure are lookin' handsome today, Mr President!"

This REALLY SCARES me-& I hope a few others. A democRAT will not be necessary to finish off the Constitution-the RepublocRATS can do it with impunity. George Corely Wallace said it, decades ago ( a backward soul indeed, but he got this right )-"There's not a dimes worth of difference between the Republicans & the Democrats!".

[PJ-Comix]

And I bet your favorite dwarf is GRUMPY.

[MissAmericanPie]

They all bear watching, your right.

[TEXICAN II]

Actually, kind sir, I dislike fairy-tales & most non-fiction. You see, my point is that a vast majority of our wonderful 'voters' see a land of make-believe when they swallow the propaganda from our leaders-yes Mr. Bush does look great, would seem to have the keenest moral conciensce, and the corrupt "Goron" would have been instant death for this nation. I am grateful every waking moment for the wonderful crew of people who have left comfortable, quiet, personal lives to actually put some of themselves at risk & all of themselves on a vicious tread-mill. I ponder what moral fiber there is in the likes of Mr. Cheney, Mr. Rumsfield, et al by the hundreds, by the thousands! Especially those unknown & un-acknowledged.

HOWEVER, the worshipful praise of a politician is what the pave-stones for the road to you-know-where are made from. We have that problem! Our government consumes, perhaps ten times what it did in the mid-20th century, and it does so by virtue of our agreement via our REPRESENTATIVES.

The 'PATRIOT ACT' was already written, long before 9/11-& by some doubtful odd-balls, too ( Gary Hart, Andrew Young, etc were the authors of this monstrous document ). Some folks wondered at the ready tool that was already to use!!

When the good & decent ( Mr. Ashcroft for example ) go away, our very own evil ones may very well return to use the tools we so willingly employ against the seditious, the traitors, the criminal alien. These things are as dangerous as the objects of the tool. Our conservative voters instantly resemble the infamous 42% who would still vote for Bubba, & did vote for the Goron. The Administration has said that 4 million of the 'base' sat out the election. Perhaps they were at least thinking!

I am 'Grumpy' personified-my wife must work so we may make up what the government TAKES by FORCE, for it's ill intended & UN-Constitutional actions!! We are TAX SLAVES for the likes of Citizen Fox, Tyson chicken, et al.

[TEXICAN II]

They are ALL BEARS, and we are their dinner!

[TEXICAN II]

Folks say, Brown & Root was the primary source of money for the Johnson family, from that enterprise we refer to as 'Vietnam'. Maybe the Tonkin Gulf resolution should be re-named; perhaps the Brown&Root Construction resolution? The blood of our very finest souls was the mortor of their brick.

[Nightstalker]

Please that election was in 1964 and Barry Goldwater would have lost against any Democrat. Goldwater's political skills made McGovern look like a genius. Goldwater's defeat spawned Ronald Reagan. Following the defeat of Goldwater the rightwing decided they needed a more television-friendly candidate. It was at that point that a number of wealthy business approached Reagan to be the spokesman for emerging conservative movement. The rest is history.

[Nightstalker]

If you thought Johnson was a hawk you should have seen Goldwater. There simply were very few doves in that period. There were two who voted against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (not unlike Barbara Lee) and they were not very popular. The Vietnam War was the work of a flawed foreign policy that predated Johnson. It was maily Henry Lodge's pushing for the coup against Diem that forced American's hand in Vietnam. Don't tell me you considered Lodge a Democrat.

[PJ-Comix]

Actually, kind sir, I dislike fairy-tales & most non-fiction.

Too bad. You can learn a lot by reading fiction. In particular historical novels. Read "From Here To Eternity" and you will have a better feel for the pre-war Army and the general pre-war mood of Hawaii than you will from most non-fiction books. Limiting your reading sources is, well, limiting.

[TEXICAN II]

Well, thanks. Maybe that's why I spent all that time in Western Lit classes & Shakespeare too. As for hist perspectives, I find the longer, more scholarly bio's of important people more informative, along with outright historical analysis. You might try P.A. Sarokin, Crisis of Our Age, 1949, for some grasp on the real world, and why some people are displeased with the mob-rule... Also, Ortega Gassett's classic work, Revolt of the Masses might help you there. I'm actually in the middle of a Christmas gift from my wife, Patton, A Genius for War & therein I'm learning a great deal about the Army, as the late General experienced it ( including a period during which he was rather involved in the chain of command in Hawaii, late 20'-early 30's ). I shall also check a guide on etiquette ( more non-fiction ) to learn how to properly & inoffensively address people with limited manners-'I think he doth protest too much'.

[PJ-Comix]

Maybe that's why I spent all that time in Western Lit classes & Shakespeare too.

I highly recommend Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare. Yeah, yeah, I know. Asimov was a liberal but his Guide To Shakespeare was incredible. Maybe Asimov was better at analying the past and future than the present.

[jackbill]

Don't tell me you considered Lodge a Democrat.

No. Henry Cabot Lodge was an Eastern Establishment Moderate Republican. But then, he wasn't President. Kennedy and Johnson were running the country during that period - not Lodge.

Are you trying to say that the Ambassador to a country has more power than the President? BS.

Face it. Johnson was a SCUMBAG and he will forever go down in history as a SCUMBAG.

[Doctor Stochastic]

The 'PATRIOT ACT' was already written, long before 9/11-& by some doubtful odd-balls, too ( Gary Hart, Andrew Young, etc were the authors of this monstrous document ).

And it's amusing to see the Conservatives support the Young-Hart spawn and attack Paul, Keyes, and others who don't convert to Tories.

[TEXICAN II]

I would say it is more than amusing-frightening was my first thought when I found & read the nasty thing via a rather doubtful radio host ( Jeff Rense ). Just because they are after me, does it mean I'm paranoid?

[billhilly]

Our government consumes, perhaps ten times what it did in the mid-20th century,.................................................You are on the right track, but slightly low on your estimate. It is hard to imagine, but true, that the first $100 billion annual federal budget came during the presidency of LBJ. That makes the mid-century figure about twenty times smaller than our current spending. 2000% over half a century.