Lyndon Baines Johnson was one of America's most controversial presidents. He was a man obsessed with his place in history, he was consumed by a voracious appetite for life and was cast between emotional extremes that found him either jovial or moody. He was catapulted into the presidency by an assassin's bullet. This horrific event in history placed a man into the oval office who was widely considered to be one of the most expert and brilliant politicians of his time, a man who had risen from poverty to become the acknowledged .
leader of the United States Senate. As a politician he was a natural and was always larger .
than life in every sense of the word. His physical demeanor along with his charismatic.
behavior enabled him a fast climb in the house: wooing leaders, angling for spots on .
important committees and out working everyone. Just two years into his senate term, Johnson was nick named the "whip- or assistant to the party's leader in charge of rounding up votes. LBJ always did his homework and knew just how to approach each Senator to win his support soon after being appointed the Senate majority leader when the democrats regained control of the senate during Eisenhower's administration in 1954. He became known for the "Johnson Treatment- in which he leaned close in on a senator, towering over his prey, speaking softly and cajoling, flattering, even bribing, until he won the senator's vote.
Unfortunately, his drive and ambition almost killed him. In mid-1955 he suffered a massive heart attack. Not yet fifty, he reassessed his life. He quit smoking, lost weight and tried to delegate more of his work. He was instrumental in winning passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957, working closely with Eisenhower while soothing southern colleagues who were suspicious of social change. When the Soviets launched Sputnik, the world's first satellite that year, he led the way to get America into the race for space.
The next bill LBJ attained was the Voting Rights Act of 1965. ... As LBJ took over the presidency that Kennedy had left behind, one of LBJ's first actions was to fully commit himself to the civil rights bill. ... LBJ and his officials had predicted 69 votes. ... LBJ halted the bombing with a well-publicized diplomatic offensive. ... LBJ's decision not to run for reelection had stunned the nation. ...
The first was his father, Sam Johnson, and young LBJ absorbed his passion for politics. ... The second factor was the year LBJ spent teaching at Cotulla, Texas. ... The third influence on LBJ's life was President Franklin D. ... As a young politician LBJ looked up to and savored FDR for his leadership and ideology, and in turn FDR helped LBJ during rough times. But, it was FDR's New Deal Liberalism that LBJ savored the most. ...
I found it fascinating to watch LBJ throughout his career as a congressmen, senator, and ultimately president. And although the book is titled LBJ and American Liberalism I felt a more appropriate title would have been American Liberalism and LBJ. ... I believe historical figures such as LBJ and other past presidents are sometimes given little credit for their rise to power. LBJ throughout his career played the political game marvelously and demonstrated great leadership qualities. ... And though the book does follow LBJ's life it solely focuses upon his positive attributes and often ...
McCarthy had supported LBJ when he had entered the war but had had second thoughts about the decision afterwards and he believed that they would just negotiate a settlement for the war. ... Hubert Humphrey was the vice president during LBJ's presidency, and when LBJ announced that he would not run, Hubert Humphrey jumped right into the running and continued the same ideas from LBJ's presidency. ... He would use media to put out his ideas and such about change from LBJ's way of running the country. ... He heard about LBJ wanting to halt the bombing so that South Vietnam could j...
In the beginning of LBJ's tenure as president he continued Kennedy's work in developing programs to help society in many aspects. ... To watch over and implement The Economic Act, LBJ created a new position to report directly to him on the progress of the programs. ...
Politically LBJ was beginning to lose support for his war; scores of Americans were coming home never to see their families again. ... LBJ announced to the public that he was going to shift the main weight of Vietnam to the South Vietnamese; but this could not save his political career. ...
"Charley Owns The Night!" The "Quiet American" is set in mid-1950s colonial Vietnam. The author, a Brit, does an excellent job in setting the scene and characters. Virtually everything is appropriate to what must have been the time and place. Therein lies the diffficulty with the novel. While very...
