Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream: The Most Revealing Portrait of a President and Presidential Power Ever Written

Doris Kearns Goodwin is fast becoming one of my favorite historical authors. One of the things that I find appealing about her works is that she doesn’t go the strict biography route when writing about one of her subjects, yet rather focuses on key idiosyncrasies or nuances about an individual, and how such characteristics shaped their overall destiny. When she wrote about Abraham Lincoln, she focused on his diverse cabinet and how Lincoln was able to play to everyone’s strengths and weaknesses and uniting his team for a common cause. When she wrote about Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, her aim was to show how different, and sometimes incompatible they were, yet use their talents and gifts to unite and redefine a country.Her approach with this book is basically the same. It might seem a bit bizarre that she would choose Johnson as a subject matter, but we must remember that this was her first book, and she actually worked for Johnson for a few years after his presidency. It was this experience that probably got the author’s creative juices flowing and made her realize she was more than capable to tackle such an endeavor.Her focus isn’t so much on the history of the man, but rather the man’s personality and what he had hoped to achieve. We read about how his brash tactics and cunning nature allowed him to ascend in the world of politics was also responsible for his ultimate demise once he had finally made it to the very top. History has shown us that Vietnam was Johnson’s ultimate failure, but Goodwin shows us that it really isn’t quite as black and white as that. We are allowed to delve into the man’s psyche and see what his motivations were, and how things might have turned out a bit different had LBJ played his cards a bit differently.If you’re looking for a biography of the man, this really isn’t the book for you. Instead, I would recommend Robert Caro’s outstanding tetralogy (there’s at least one more book to be written). I had to force myself to stop making comparisons. After learning so much from Robert Caro, there were times that I felt Doris Kearns Goodwin was skipping too many things and zooming too fast through Johnson’s life. I haven’t done a page by page comparison, but by the time Goodwin was describing Lyndon Johnson’s first run for congress, Caro was still describing Johnson’s grandfather’s earlobes. Whereas Robert Caro spend almost an entire book devoted to the congressional races where Johnson infamously opposed Pappy O’Daniel and Coke Stevonson, Goodwin devotes merely half a page to each.Again, though, this isn’t to be classified as a biography in the strict sense of the word. No, once LBJ makes it as president is where this book kicks into high gear. This is where we see things start to slowly unravel. LBJ’s pet project, “The Great Society” is what gives the president the energy and excitement that drives him. Although he makes some great strides, putting legislation as enormous as this in a position to succeed isn’t as simple as signing a few bills and making a few speeches. There are too many other factors to be considered, and based on Johnson’s background, he really didn’t have the knowledge nor the patience to paint by the numbers.The main drawback, again, is Vietnam. But Vietnam really isn’t a main player in this book either. We learn an awful lot about Johnson’s cautious nature when the conflict begins, and hindsight shows us that perhaps many leaders (even John Kennedy) may have inadvertently got us involved in this muck just as deeply as Johnson did. We learn he’s smart enough to not want to make the same mistakes as Neville Chamberlain did a quarter of a century prior (being extremely pacifistic), nor does he want to “drop the big one” since that might bring in China and Russia and start World War III. In many ways, Johnson sees this conflict in Southeast Asia as a basic nuisance to his Great Society.Because of all this turmoil, he’s forced to deal, face to face, with the American press and the American people. Something, again, that he’s not used to, nor is he very good. This sort of interaction is a far cry from the smoke filled Senate cloakroom where backs are slapped, deals are made and favors are swapped. It truly is a tragic downfall. After his presidency, the author includes (published?) writings from LBJ where he fiercely tries to defend himself and explaining his actions during his presidency. He sadly comes across as misdirected, misinformed, and just out of touch. It really his sad.It most also be said that this is not a “warts and all” book either. Although the author does show pros and cons of the man, she doesn’t go too far in either direction. There were SO MANY things about this man to love and hate him for, yet we’re steered away from the majority of those instances. Instead Goodwin stays focused on her primary topic- “The American Dream”, specifically what this was for LBJ and how he ultimately failed in achieving it.

I don't go out of my way reading about politics,, but in short order I fond myself reading three books about the inner workings of politics. This one was to fill the 'about an American president' box on my Book Bingo card.I had vague memories of photos of Johnson picking up his beagle by the ears, showing the world his scar from his gallbladder surgery, and standing beside a stricken Jackie Kennedy in her blood-stained dress as he took the oath of office. Then we were embroiled in the Vietnam war, and that's about all I remember about him.This book fills in the details I didn't know and left me with the impression of a great man. He would have been a great president, too, if he had allowed himself to be entangled in the war. All his skill was in domestic policy, and he is responsible for Medicare, Medicaid, educational programs, and supporting his wife in her efforts to beautify America. He was a masterful leader in the senate, and if he hadn't been promoted beyond his competency, he would have had a wonderful end to his career.Instead, he allowed himself to be pulled out of the senate into the shadow of Jack Kennedy, a man he could never have sympathy for. All his skills of getting people to do what he wanted, were wasted in the office of vice-president. Trying to live up to the memory of Kennedy place an unbearable burden on him.Goodwin's book tells the whole story from his birth in a small town in Texas, to his death as a failed president. with sympathy and understanding.

This is an early contribution of a great writer and biographer. This book, while containing many compelling quotations and interviews, is just too analytical. How many hundreds of times do we have to read that what LBJ did in the congress was not possible as president? Or how some minor action in his childhood somehow explains what he did 40 years later? I wanted to know about the person. For example, what did he think about the Cuban missile crisis? Apparently he disagreed with JFK on various things. Like what? What did they say to each other? Instead of interesting realities the book dives endlessly into tedious and highly repetitious analysis and arm-chair psychology. I had to resort to skimming after awhile. The actual quotes were the saving grace in many chapters before the reader is hit with more tedious analyses. Fortunately, the writer got much better in later writings.

Good biography

Doris Kearns Goodwin in Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream presents what I argue is a more sympathetic portrait of LBJ then the crasser and cruder one painted by Robert Caro in his series of books on the man. Yet, I don’t know that they come to vastly different conclusions about the man himself. Maybe the answer is in presentation, Kearns Goodwin's statements are softer, while Caro’s books often come across more bombastic in nature.Yet both authors take equal note of his seemingly limitless ambition, questionable ethics at points, and his ability to draw men into his orbit and never let them leave. They also capture this divided man between his own legacy and desire for greatness vs. wanting to be a great president by doing things for the people. This became his fault as he refused to compromise or admit trouble in Vietnam and it cost him any further movement on his domestic agenda and the Presidency he so cherished.In conclusion, LBJ was a clearly complex figure, but I think Kearns Goodwin captured just a touch more of the private man than Caro did, so if you’re looking for something a little more intimate without being fed a love letter, I would recommend Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream.

La autora ha conocido personalmente a Lyndon Johnson durante muchos años, empezando en la Casa Blanca y hasta su muerte en 1973. El libro te ayuda a conocer más a LBJ como persona. Muy interesante.

wait till you read this and find out just how sick and what a bastard he really was. Convinced me he had a lot to do with Killing Jack Kennedy. After all, who had the most to gain when he was about to be fired from his VEEP job!

Doris K. Godwin draws an interesting and detailed picture of Lyndon B. Johnson, his quirks and hang-ups, his political skills, victories and failures. The author motivates the choices he makes by an analysis of his early reactions to his mother and father. These reactions presumably formed his character and were constant. His ambitions and political skills are brilliantly exposed, but the author leaves the reader hungry for more details of his private life. Did he have one or did politics devour all his energies? The relationship with his wife seemed to be an affectionate one, all the same.A more sympathetic image of LBJ is drawn as we better understand his negative attitudes towards the Kennedys and the whole Eastern Establishment. His vulgarities in speech and manner were often deliberately used to humiliate the more "refined" Ivy League graduates who had to work with him. In particular, he hated Bobby Kennedy who, he felt, was his main competitor.The American Dream of the title refers to the President's dream to create the Great Society, a society of a more just America with the eradication of poverty and inequalities. This American Dream turned into the American Nightmare with the war in Vietnam which destroyed both the dream and the President and forced him to withdraw his candidacy for a final term as President. This was the tragic end of a man with his ambitions and brilliant political skills.

A great biography of one of the greatest Presidents of the twentieth century. Lyndon Johnson, whether people like it or not, has left an indelible mark on American society with his programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, his tough and admirable stance on civil rights, and, in a very different way - his war in Vietnam.Doris Kearns Goodwin, who first met Johnson while a student at Harvard, and became close to him in his later life, has written a book that is much a memoir of her times with the man as it is a general overview of his life. Other reviewers have complained that her study of Johnson is too psychological, and places too much importance on linking his childhood experiences to his later life. I strongly disagree. Too many biographies of important people seem to gloss over their childhood, but understanding a person's childhood is paramount in understanding how it shaped their outlook on life. Another common complaint of this book is that Goodwin is not critical enough of Johnson, but again, anyone who has read this book properly will know this is simply not true. Goodwin time and time again highlights Johnson's flaws - his tendency to withdraw from competition if he felt there was the slightest chance of him losing, his childlike love of power, and his inability to admit where he went wrong. If anything, I believe the author does not praise Johnson high enough.Vietnam of course was a mistake, no one in their right mind would claim otherwise, but domestically, Johnson was an undeniably outstanding President. People have time and time again claimed that Vietnam was the main factor that undermined Johnson's Presidency, which I agree with, but I also think the other big mistake Johnson made was becoming President after Kennedy. Lacking his predecessor's good looks, charm and charisma, Johnson was never going to win over the American people in the way that Kennedy did. But his ingenious negotiating skills, his concern for the country's poor, and his stance on civil rights that saw him do more for African Americans than any other President in history barring Lincoln, means that Johnson was more than a worthy successor. His Great Society programs, while not as successful as he would have hoped, still helped in the fight against poverty. Even with Vietnam, many contemporary historians contend he had fewer options than was believed at the time, and the way Nixon initially handled the war before pulling out shows that Johnson should not be judged so harshly on the subject as he has been.A beautifully written tribute to a great President and an equally fascinating character.

Found it well written but there were parts that were too wordy. I have enjoyed other works by the author more than this one.