The Triumph and Tragedy of Lyndon Johnson: The White House Years by Joseph A. Califano Jr.
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"[...] I shall not seek - and will not accept - the nomination of my party for another term as your President [...]"

The above is the famous sentence from President Lyndon Johnson's speech on March 31, 1968 when he announced he would not be seeking the second term in office. I vaguely remember the surprised reactions of Polish press and TV (I lived in Poland then and was a high-school senior) and I mainly recall being aware that I was witnessing a historical moment.

Joseph Califano's book The Triumph & Tragedy of Lyndon Johnson. The White House years (1991) is an extremely detailed account of the author's three-and-a-half-year work for the President. Being one of the closest advisors Mr. Califano had the opportunity to talk to the President virtually every day, which explains the tremendous amount of factual material in the book.

The narration begins in July 1965 when Mr. Califano gets a call from the White House and learns that the President wants him to take on the job preparing legislative programs, manage domestic crises, "and act as a general utility infielder on the domestic scene." Two days later Mr. Califano joins the President at the pool in Lyndon Johnson's Texas ranch and gets driven around the ranch.

These are turbulent times for the country. The President issues a statement about escalation of American involvement in Vietnam - 50,000 young men are sent to the war, many of whom will return in caskets draped with American flag. Amidst this tragedy Lyndon Johnson continues implementing his Great Society policies and his push for civil rights: the Congress passes the Voting Rights Act. The list of Lyndon Johnson's legislative successes in 1965-1966, "taking the federal government on the side of the little person," is extremely impressive:

"the war on poverty, health care for the elderly and the poor; aid to education for poor children; voting rights; immigration reform; and regional heart, cancer, and stroke research facilities in every section of the nation [...]"

But then comes 1967, when the anti-Vietnam-war protests explode all over the country and the President appears powerless and losing his mandate to lead the bitterly divided country. 1968 is the "Nightmare Year," and Lyndon Johnson decides to do a honorable thing and not seek re-election.

On the lighter side, we read about the President's tendency to micromanage, for instance about his involvement with egg prices, and - on a larger scale - his successful fight against price increases attempted by aluminum, copper, and steel companies. We also read about President Johnson's views of other politicians. Mr. Califano uses three "d's": the President despises Nixon, detests Senator McCarthy, and distrusts Robert F. Kennedy. I will add the fourth "d" - the text makes it clear that he also continually demeans his own Vice-President Hubert Humphrey.

I do not buy the theory that a President should be a paragon of morality and ethics to lead the country. For instance, the ability to convincingly lie on demand is, to me, one of the basic requirements of being a successful politician. If one were to read Mr. Califano's memoir selectively and with a bias, one could form an impression of Lyndon Johnson as an arrogant, cheating, macho scumbag. While I do not share such an opinion, I certainly do not admire Lyndon Johnson as a person. Yet I certainly admire him as a president, in my view one of the better the country has had. And I admire him for his courage and wisdom to step aside.

And as to Mr. Califano's book, despite tremendous amount of information about the highest levels of US politics it provides I am unable to rate it higher than three stars. The reason is that it just overwhelms the reader with zillions and zillions of facts that are not filtered in any consistent way. It is like a huge database of tidbits with just a scant synthesis.

Three stars.

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