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

Beschloss, Michael R.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 074322714X ISBN 13: 9780743227148

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2002

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author:

Michael Beschloss has been called "the nation's leading Presidential historian" by Newsweek. He has written eight books on American Presidents and is NBC News Presidential Historian, as well as contributor to PBS's The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and two sons.

From AudioFile:

Traditionalists argue that some books must be read, not listened to. This book must be heard. Lyndon Johnson's words on the page are common; his voice is a revelation. The man could bully and wheedle, but he could also feel and bleed. This true-life audio drama shattered my image of the terrible oaf who backed us into Vietnam. What was most terrible about this man was his vulnerability. When he calls Jacqueline Kennedy "darling," it's right after the assassination, and you can hear the ache in his voice. Beschloss reads the background superbly. Judith Ivey performs Lady Bird's journals with brio. Robert McNamara, Martin Luther King, Jr., and J. Edgar Hoover all play themselves. Especially diverting are Hoover's tips for spotting homosexuals. B.H.C. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 074322714X
• ISBN 13: 9780743227148
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 480