With a new foreword: The New York Times–bestselling biography of President Lyndon Johnson from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Team of Rivals. Featuring a 2018 foreword by the Pulitzer Prize–winning political historian that celebrates a reappraisal of Lyndon Johnson’s legacy five decades after his presidency, from the vantage point of our current, profoundly altered political culture and … altered political culture and climate, Doris Kearns Goodwin’s extraordinary and insightful biography draws from meticulous research in addition to the author’s time spent working at the White House from 1967 to 1969. After Johnson’s term ended, Goodwin remained his confidante and assisted in the preparation of his memoir. In Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream, she traces the 36th president’s life from childhood to his early days in politics, and from his leadership of the Senate to his presidency, analyzing his dramatic years in the White House, including both his historic domestic triumphs and his failures in Vietnam.
Drawing on personal anecdotes and candid conversation with Johnson, Goodwin paints a rich and complicated portrait of one of our nation’s most compelling politicians in “the most penetrating, fascinating political biography I have ever read” (The New York Times).
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Doris Kearns Goodwin does her homework and then keeps this reader totally involved
This inspired work of Doris Kearns Goodwin–now revered as one of the few outstanding historical biographers of our time–was penned as an apprentice. She introduced us to LBJ, up close and personal, and created a following in an engaging way that whet our appetites for more of the same. She has over the years given us great incite into the lives of so many of the great leaders of our country, with such precise detail and documentation.
An outstanding biography of an outstanding president – due to excellent research and writing.
Expected more/better.
A masterpiece of political writing
Very well written about a very complicated man.
I was looking forward to this biography just because it was researched and written by Doris Kearns Johnson, but I was disappointed. She focused too much on speculative psychology i trying to explain LBJ’s life and actions. As much as I have enjoyed her other works, I ended up putting this one down about half way through. I thought I would go back to it, but I haven’t yet…
Hugely informative, with so many parallels to today’s news and politics.
I think Goodwin had a love/hate relationship with LBJ!
It doesn’t matter whether you loved LBJ or hated him, this is a great story about a complicated man. The author delves into why he may have acted as he did. One thing is certain – he accomplished more good than any president since FDR – the civil rights act, voting rights act, Medicare and Medicaid to name a few. Viet Nam was his downfall. A fascinating read!
An intimate look at the machinations and manipulations that Johnson used to get things done in governing. Written by a noted historian who worked closely with him on his memoirs for a number of years. Slow and pedantic, but filled with insights into the psyche of the man.
Anything DGK writes is wonderful. She makes history fun
Not finished a FIVE star rating if it stays this well-done
Great biographer ….. love all her books
This is one of Goodwin’s earlier books. While her trademark careful research informs everything, she needed a heavy-handed editor to cut down on the constant repetition. That said, her psychological insight regarding Pres. Johnson’s childhood and later life opens a door of understanding about this complicated man. This is a long tome but a very valuable one.
I would have liked more about Johnson’s life.
Solid for history buffs
I was a young adult during Johnson’s presidency. I was already an interested
observer of politics and thought I knew most of what needed to be known about LBJ.
I had a lot left to learn and this book has helped me learn some of it.
Johnson was a towering tragic figure, but the book has given me a more sympathetic view of him. Driven by his enormous ego and desire to reach his mother’s expectations, he climbed upward through the political world, only to fall and crash from the pinnacle. He was very close to being the greatest president of all time, only to lose that prize to the Viet Nam war.
The writer was a very close friend (I think) but shows Johnson honestly, warts and all.
If you want a close look at the real LBJ, please read this book.
Like all of Kearns Goodwin’s books, great history for the non-historian. Informative, but reads like a novel.
Love the author’s writing as well as her passion for history.
A long way from Team of Rivals and her gushing over LBJ was awkward at best and probably fawning. Robert Caro’s books were wonderful and her view of this terribly flawed person missed themsrk by a lot.