Customer Reviews

Lone Star Rising: Lyndon Johnson and His Times, 1908-1960

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Dallek's biography has the virtue of being written by someone who clearly admires Johnson. As such, it is somewhat of a counterweight to Robert Caro and I suggest both be read for balance.

Nevertheless, in presenting the "good Lyndon", Dallek downplays the worst of Johnson. There is nothing particularly wrong with this (Dallek certainly doesn't ignore the flaws, just tends to gloss over them a little), but it does lead to a fairly tepid book, one that is nowhere near as much fun to read as Caro's. Thus, if I could only read one (which of course many readers will do considering the length of both Caro's and Dallek's presentations), I would read Caro's. Caro's second and third volumes (covering the 40's and 50's, roughly the second half of the Dallek volume being discussed here) are possibly the best political biography ever written. It is against that "competition" that Dallek's book must be weighed and I found, in the balance, that Dallek's work is merely ordinary.

Dallek's two-volume examination of LBJ is a dramatic and nuanced examination of one the most complex figures in 20th century American history. Even almost three decades after his death, there are no shortage of people who see LBJ as the ultimate villan of American politics. Many people of this camp dislike Dallek's work, because he puts his subject in his context.

While Dallek does not excuse the sort of election fraud in which LBJ engaged, he does explain that it was wide spread. Some find this an unacceptable defense, but one should note that the sorts of tricks he describes have been wide spread in the US for most of the 19th and early 20th century. To dismiss LBJ for engaging in such activities who require similar condemnation of every US president from Adams to FDR.

Dallek in fact, is unflinching in discussing LBJ's negative side. His pension for strong arming opponents, his abuse of his staff, his womanizing and drinking, and his dirty tricks are all layed bare. At the same time, Dallek reviews how crucial LBJ was as part of the New Deal and his brave role as a champion of civil rights.

The other major LBJ biography by Caro is far less balanced in its approach to this complex and ultimately tragic figure. For a truly great and complete biography of LBJ, I suggest that you read this one.

John Connally, former Secretary of the Treasury and Governor of Texas, who was very close to LBJ for many years once said that Johnson was a "strange and complex man who could be whatever he wanted to be", cruel or compassionate, crude or charming, selfish or generous. These traits are illustrated well in Robert Dallek's two volume biography of Lyndon Johnson. Fortunately, recent years have shown a more realistic view of Johnson as this complex man and not just the warmongering fiend the anti-Vietnam War people perceived more than 30 years ago. One of the most important points that Dallek brings out is that LBJ learned lessons from Franklin Roosevelt's deceptive policies of trying to bring the US into war with Nazi Germany, against American public opinion (which the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor ultimately proved unnecessary) and applied them to his almost surrepitious effort to engage American troops in South Vietnam. I highly recommend these 2 books for anyone interested in American History or the study of political leadership.

Dallek's two volume work is probably a bit more even handed in dealing with LBJ than some of the biographies of recent years. While it is certainly not a collection of "way to go LBJ" chapters, it does go out of it's way to point out much of the good Johnson accomplished. The book appeared to be well researched and read easily. While I feel that it could have pointed out and examined Johnson's many, many flaws and their underlying source, there are indeed many other works which do so, so another good LBJ bash book was and is not probably needed at this time. I did enjoy this one and am glad I added it to my collection.

A history of Lyndon Johnson from birth to the time he is offered the vice-presidential spot on Kennedy's ticket, the book is detailed without being tedious. It gives a balanced, objective account of Johnson's life as well as his motivations and influences. It casts him in neither a positive nor negative light, but as something of a paradox... a man with good intentions but dirty means... a bigoted man who genuinely cared for minorities. A fair account of a complex man that keeps the reader coming back for the next page. Well-documented and researched. Very good book.

For the foreseeable future, I think it's safe to say Dallek's two volumes will be the definitive LBJ biography for the simple reason(s) that it's unclear if Caro will finish his works and it is doubtful that anyone will soon take on the onerous task of researching Johnson's extremely complicated life ... and find anything new. This volume tracks LBJ's life up to the 1960 election and everything is here ... and I mean everything, from Johnson's lineage, his childhood and education, his work as a New Deal caretaker and Texas politician, his dubious "military service", his meteoric climb through both the House and US Senate, including his "election" to the latter and finally his acceptance as JFK's vice-presidential running mate. The reader meets the big (and small) personalities in LBJ's life including FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, Sam Rayburn, Richard Russell and Hubert Humphrey as well as the truly dedicated people who worked ungodly hours for him. Dallek also does an admirable job in tracking the development of LBJ's character and motives, (and ego) while parsing through, at times, the frenetic activity of his life. Where this biography differs from others, (especially Caro's), is in Dallek's self-restraint in judging LBJ's actions and behaviors, (and there is a lot to judge). Others have made this out to be an omission on the author's part, I would beg to differ and label it as evenhanded. Dallek presents the facts and lets the reader make the call while other authors, (again Caro), have stepped into the breech and passed judgement. (This doesn't mean I disagree with those judgements, in fact in most cases I do agree. It's hard not to.) I just appreciated Dallek allowing me to come to my own conclusions. If there is a fault with this book, (and the second volume), and this is a nit, it's that too much detail is provided and at times can become mind-numbing. In Dallek's subsequent bio of JFK, at least in my opinion, he does a better job of not overwhelming the reader with at times, repetitive details.

Over the last several years, I've read more than 30 presidential biographies, usually letting Amazon reader's guide me to the best choice. I assure you Robert Dallek's first volume of his LBJ biography is one of the top five or six biographies I've read thus far. This volume provides the details of LBJ's life until he became vice president. Lone Star Rising is well written. Most of all it is balanced presenting numerous sides of a very complex man. Also included are the anecdotes of LBJ's life that led me to laugh out loud or shake my head with disbelief.

Lilly Tomlin once said, "I try to be as cynical as I can be, but sometimes I just can't keep up. " She could have been talking about Southern politics in general or LBJ in particular. Dallek shows LBJ's warts, but he also describes Johnson's genuine desire to help the poor and the South.

LBJ rose from poverty through a combination of incredible drive, unbelievable moxie, a willingness to do anything to win, a refusal to admit defeat, and a sense that the world was his stage with all of the characters being actors for him to manipulate, bamboozle, and control. These traits helped LBJ reach the presidency, but they also led to a stubborn refusal to get out of Viet Nam (see volume 2).

I truly wish every president could have a biographer as skilled as Dallek. Finally, I'd like to stress the 1200 or so pages of the two vlumes are worth the effort. While the second volume gets bogged down covering our bogged down war in Viet Nam, I would not have wanted to skip over a page of volume 1

Although Presidents and national politicians are very different from you and me, LBJ stands out among presidential personalities due to his indomitable will to succede.

Dallek writes a fascinating portrait of Johnson and his route to national preeminence. A poor boy from the hill country of Texas, LBJ should not have risen much above the station of his relatives or neighbors. He had none of the advantages that most other notables of his era enjoyed. But he did have an incredible hunger to achieve and he developed uncanny political and personal skills that made him perhaps the moste effective Senate Majority Leader in our history (this volume only takes LBJ's life up through his ascention to the Vice Presidency).

This book is fascinating as the author delves into each challenge faced by Johnson. We quickly see him learn what is necessary to master his immediate situation (college, congressional staffer, congressman, senator), understand perhaps better than those around him what buttons his colleagues and supporting cast needed pushed to aid Johnson in achieving his goals and use his incredible persuasive powers to bend others to his will.

Dallek uses innumerable personal recollections as well as published sources to minutely document Johnson's rise. He is a skillful enough author that the wealth of information does not bore, but illuminates a fascinating personality and a well written study.

As a reader, I could not help but be fascinated by LBJ's life story and this disseciton of his methods. Whether or not you agreed with LBJ's political goals and philosophies, one can appreciate his mastery of the process necessary to implement them.

This is a first rate presidential biography

This is a good biography of Lyndon Johnson's early years up to the 1960 Presidential election when he became Vice President. It is particularly good it its detailed treatment of how Johnson used political power to both further the interests of the United States and his own career. Dallek has done a masterful job in showing Johnson tenacious and authentic philanthropy as well as his self-interested overbearingness. This is a great read for persons seeking a fair and reasonably objective biography about Johnson.

This is an adequate biography of the first 52 years of Lyndon Johnson's life. The book is comprehensive, readable, and interesting. But the book does not convey the richness of the many JOhnson stories that can be so much fun.

The oral biography of Johnson by Merle Miller is more fun to read, and Mutual Contempt, the recently published story of Lyndon and Bobby Kennedy's relationship, is a hell of a lot more interesting.