Reaching for Glory: Lyndon Johnson's Secret White House Tapes, 1964-1965

ISBN-13: 9780743227148 / Angielski / Miękka / 2002 / 480 str.

Michael R. Beschloss

Opis

Transcribing, editing, and explaining the most powerful moments from hundreds of hours of newly released LBJ tapes, Michael Beschloss has added another lasting treasure to the American historical record. Reaching for Glory exposes the inner workings of the Johnson presidency from the summer of 1964 through the summer of 1965.
From behind the scenes, you will hear Johnson pulling the strings of his presidential campaign against Barry Goldwater and pursuing his feud with the new senator Robert Kennedy. He agonizes over Martin Luther King, Jr., and the bloody march on Selma, Alabama, and twists arms on Capitol Hill to pass voting rights, Medicare, and more basic laws than any American president before or since. Above all, you will hear him sending young Americans off to Vietnam while privately insisting that the war can never be won.
Winding Johnson's voice and exclusive excerpts from Lady Bird Johnson's private diaries into a gripping narrative, Michael Beschloss provides context and historical insights, showing how profoundly LBJ changed the presidency and the country. Reaching for Glory allows us to live at Lyndon Johnson's side, day by day, through the dramatic, triumphant, and catastrophic year of a turbulent presidency that continues to affect us all.

Beschloss has transcribed and selected the most stunning moments from hundreds of hours of newly-released LBJ tapes to give us - with commentary and historical context - treasures of permanent interest to historians and readers.The book exposes the inner workings of LBJs Presidency during its most critical stage, from the fall of 1964 through most of 1965. During these months, LBJ changed America in a way that affects all of our lives today. He took personal command of the revolution for civil rights, escalated the Vietnam War beyond the point of no return and, in the high summer solstice of the Great Society, passed more monumental laws than any President in history, starting with Medicare.The book provides story after story that shows us Lyndon Johnson unplugged. From beyond the scenes, he micromanages his Presidential campaign and defends himself against charges of scandal. On Election Night, he acts to ensure that Americans will not see his victory, the greatest in history, as merely a landslide against Barry Goldwater. His vendetta against the new Senator Robert Kennedy gathers steam.