Lyndon Johnson Remembered: An Intimate Portrait of a Presidency

Historian Cowger and former LBJ assistant Markman gather 15 firsthand views of the complex man who was our 36th president from administration insiders, including Joseph Califano, LBJ's special assistant for domestic affairs; James Cross, a military aide to the president; and speechwriters Harry Middleton (currently director of the Johnson Library) and Benjamin Wattenberg. Many of these contributors are speaking out on Johnson for the first time in these original essays, and the collection should contribute significantly to the historical record, primarily on domestic policy. Cross describes the ups and downs of being Johnson's pilot. Jack Valenti, a Johnson aide and later CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, compares Johnson's strengths and weaknesses to those of Achilles, describing him as""terrorizing, tender, inexhaustibly energetic, and ruthless...."" Erwin Duggan, deputy to Johnson's chief advisor on education, reflects on LBJ's""monumental"" educational legacy. This book is appealing in its tone of intimacy, and will be of interest primarily to Johnson students and scholars.