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78 of 93 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
seduced, April 18, 2001
This review is from: Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream (Paperback)
Doris Kearns prefers to write about people she likes. This is fine, even if it is something of a limitation. WHile she prefers to avoid the "pathography" genre, unfortunately I feel that she gives people of power a bit too much of a break. She clearly lives in a different world than Robert A. Caro, who tries to balance the good with the undeniable evil and abuse. Kearns' world is populated by people of good will, inspiration, and talent; their backroom deals, egotism, and other less appealing aspects are mentioned, but do not seem to infect the more positive sides of their character. It is one view, and quite valid as far as it goes. ALso, Kearns' personal presence is in this book. SHe was an aide for Johnson, whom he cultivated and then used to ghost-write his self-serving memoir, The Vantage Point. So she is well versed in Johnsonia and 60s history and has great stories to tell about Presidential electric toothbrushes and the like. But you can also tell that she loved the guy - he would even creep into her bed at his ranch, where she describes herself as listening to him instead of you know what. I think that that great pol seduced her, if not physically then spiritually. Kearns' voice is an important one, as her presence on TV attests. SHe is a fluent writer with a distinctive voice of unwavering optimism. However, you just have to wonder if she glides on the surface and avoids the tough questions, preferring instead to buy into self-promoting myth.
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32 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An extremely interesting and inspiring biography, January 6, 2000
This review is from: Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream (Paperback)
Goodwin's writing style is fluid and lyrical. She tells a story of a great president with a great deal of compassion and interesting criticism. Her personal experiences as an aid on Johnson's staff make this a unique account about him. Johnson allowed Goodwin close contact with his personality, political style, and drive to improve this country. The book has a great assortment of personal and public history with plenty of anecdotes thrown into the mix. This biography brings Johnson's inner character to life as well as details some of many policy decisions of his illustrious political career.
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18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
LBJ at his best and worst., July 9, 2002
This review is from: Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream (Paperback)
Doris Kearns Goodwin has done a great service to history with this book. All too often members of any important person's staff take a far different approach to this type of project. Those who know their subject in ways the rest of us can never know that person often hide all of the warts and paint their former boss as a near saint. Not Goodwin. In this book the reader will get a look at the whole LBJ, good and bad. Goodwin starts with Johnson's childhood and may get a little carried away with psychoanalytical insights including a reference to Freud. Her conclusions may be right on target but as she herself admits most of her conclusions were based on Johnson's tales of his childhood and he tended to remember his past as he wanted it to be instead of as it was. That same fault would haunt him as President as he convinced himself everything was fine when things were far from fine. We get the first real look at the LBJ who would dominate the Senate while he is in college. There he works long and hard to overthrow the old guard and make himself the most powerful student on campus. The same tactics he used in college would make him the most powerful man in the Senate and the most powerful Democrat in the country while Ike was President. It seems that Johnson assumed he could use those same tactics yet again to make him as V.P. the real power behind JFK. Instead he found that Bobby Kennedy held that position and wasn't about to move over for Johnson. Somehow it didn't sink in to Johnson that if what had worked so well in the Senate didn't work for the Vice President it wasn't likely to work for the President. In fact, as Goodwin points out, the very qualities that made him a great leader in the Senate often had the oppisite effect in the White House. For example, his secret way of doing business in the Senate had served him well. Once he was in the White House he decided if he could keep the American people from finding out what was really going on in Vietnam he could keep the Great Society going strong. With or without the public's knowledge the simple economics of the situation buried the Great Society. There are many other examples like this in Goodwin's book which makes Johnson's failure much more understandable. Needless to say, if you are interested in the Vietnam era, the Presidency, or the civil rights movement this book is a must. Or if you are a baby boomer like myself this book will help you understand what was going on around you during your childhood. Many works by scholars of Goodwin's stature are dry and hard to read but I think anyone will find this is a very readable book.
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