Some of It Was Fun: Working with RFK and LBJ [Hardcover]

Nicholas deB Katzenbach (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 17, 2008

A lively, intimate memoir that vividly recalls the idealism of the Kennedy administration.

As deputy attorney general under Bobby Kennedy and then attorney general and under secretary of state for Lyndon Johnson, Nicholas deB. Katzenbach offers a unique perspective on the civil rights movement, Vietnam, and other issues of the day. In this engaging memoir, by turns intensely dramatic and charmingly matter-of-fact, we are treated to a ringside seat for Katzenbach's confrontation with segregationist governor George C. Wallace over the integration of the University of Alabama, his efforts to steer the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through Congress, and then his transition to the State Department, where he served at the center of the storm over Vietnam. In the political climate of this election season, Some of It Was Fun provides a refreshing reminder of the hopes and struggles of an earlier era, speaking both to readers who came of age in the 1960s and to a generation of young people looking to that period for political inspiration. 16 pages of photographs

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Katzenbach is perhaps most famous for his role in 1962–1963, as deputy attorney general under Robert F. Kennedy, confronting Mississippi governor Ross Barnett and Alabama governor George Wallace when each was forced to racially integrate their state universities. In this fascinating memoir, Katzenbach gives an invaluable insider's view of life in both the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, in the latter of which he was attorney general and undersecretary of state. Katzenbach is uniquely positioned to throw light on the personal and political animosities between Bobby Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson: an uncomfortable Katzenbach was often forced to become an emissary between the two. At one private White House meeting, Katzenbach has Johnson accusing the antiwar Senator Kennedy of prolonging the war, causing more American deaths: You have blood on your hands, Johnson shouted. I had never seen [Johnson] like this, Katzenbach writes, almost totally out of control.... 'I don't have to listen to this, I'm leaving,' Kennedy retorted. Such tales as this, never before told, are more than worth the price of admission. Illus. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Katzenbach, IBM's senior vice president, served from 1961 to 1968 as deputy attorney general in Robert F. Kennedy's Justice Department and then as Lyndon B. Johnson's attorney general and undersecretary of state. Here, he shares his memories about JFK, RFK, LBJ, and Dean Rusk, Johnson's secretary of state and the only one of these officials that the author did not highly regard. The most fascinating chapters describe Katzenbach's important roles in such landmark civil rights victories as the desegregation of the universities of Mississippi and Alabama, the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. His narratives about Vietnam are less illuminating because he was not in the diplomatic loop. Katzenbach's writing becomes dull when he digresses in detail about the operations of government and preachy when he assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the administrations he served and the current one. Yet, this is a balanced, often insightful insider's account that is recommended for large public and academic libraries.—Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, PA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (October 17, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393067254
• ISBN-13: 978-0393067255
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,021,790 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #61 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( J ) > Johnson, Lyndon
  • #73 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( K ) > Kennedy, Robert

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Memoir that is also an important historical document, November 4, 2008

By 

Ronald H. Clark (WASHINGTON, DC USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Some of It Was Fun: Working with RFK and LBJ (Hardcover)

Now in his mid 80's, Nicholas Katzenbach has authored a fascinating memoir of his years in government service, in the Departments of Justice and State during the JFK and LBJ administrations. In addition to being a fine memoir, his unique perspective on these two presidents, as well as Robert F. Kennedy, combined with the important historical events in which he was involved, render this insider-account an important historical document in its own right. Katzenbach's period of service in DOJ (1961-65), as head of the Office of Legal Counsel, Deputy AG, and finally AG, occurred during some of the most critical periods of American history. Katzenbach recounts his involvement in school desegregation in the South involving George Wallace (even having lived through this period, I found it incredibly bizarre given the election of Barack Obama). But the most valuable perspective the author affords is a really intimate portrait of Robert Kennedy as Attorney General, and later as Senator. RFK is sometimes seen as a distant and cold figure--those holding this view should read this book. The author also was one of those who advocated the creation of the "Warren Commission."

After DOJ, thanks to LBJ, Katzenbach became Under Secretary of State (1966-1969). Much as is true with the Kennedys, Katzenbach intimate portrait of LBJ is invaluable, admiring but tempered with some stringent judgments on Johnson. Given his State Dept. position, he was involved in much higher level policy making than at Justice. He recounts important developments in the Vietnam War policy, African diplomacy, and affords us an unique insight into how these important decisions were made (including the role of the so-called "Wise Men" such as Dean Acheson who served as advisors to LBJ). While this material is interesting, clearly I believe Katzenbach saw his center of gravity in government service as occurring during his DOJ years--at least I hope he does.

This is not meant to be a "scholarly" treatment--there are no footnotes, or bibliography, though the author is not shy about reminding us that he was a Rhodes Scholar, is a Princeton graduate, attended Yale Law School, and taught and wrote at Chicago Law. Rather, it is a relaxed and extremenly thoughtful recollection of the author's government service during the 1960's--tempered with the passage of 40 years. Katzenback is full of judicious opinions and perceptive insights, and focuses upon the events and personalities rather than himself, which is refreshing in a Washingtion memoir. I am very glad that he chose to record his recollections, and so should anyone else who has an interest in this country during the 1960's.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Counselor, November 15, 2008

By 

Christian Schlect (Yakima, Washington/USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Some of It Was Fun: Working with RFK and LBJ (Hardcover)

This book would be a great purchase for anyone with a speck of interest in the politics and policies of the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations.

Mr. Katzenbach, who is very bright, liberal, and calm, reflects back, in a style easy to read, on his own career a the center of some of the central issues of a turbulent time--such as passage of the Voting Rights Act, Vietnam, and the discord between Robert Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. The author is especially good at explaining the widely divergent leadership styles of RFK and LBJ.

This book does not pretend to be a complete history, but is instead the focused memoirs of a now older man who once was entrusted with top positions at Justice and State during a transformational time in our nation's history.

I think Mr. Katsenbach deserves the renewed gratitude of the nation for his quiet leadership and bravery during his entire career in government, but especially for the dangerous spent days upholding the rule of law when helping to ensure voting rights in the South and the racial integration of such higher educational institutions as the University of Alabama.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Picture of Important Events and People, April 28, 2009

By 

Mary A. Axford "Mary of Many Colors" (Atlanta, GA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Some of It Was Fun: Working with RFK and LBJ (Hardcover)

Title: Some of It Was Fun: Working with RFK and LBJ
Author: Nicholas Katzenbach
Rating: ****1/2
Tags: politics, government, rfk, lbj, civil rights, vietnam

Well, actually, all of it was fun... reading the book, that is. Katzenbach served in the administrations of both John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. He participated in some of the most exciting events of those administrations, including efforts to increase civil rights for African Americans and in debates about Vietnam. He knew well Bobby Kennedy and Johnson, JFK less well, and his observations of these leaders and others of lesser rank are fascinating.

Katzenback began in the Office of Legal Counsel and then became deputy Attorney General under Bobby, then Attorney General when Bobby left the Johnson administration, then undersecretary of State.

He was often involved in civil rights issues while in the Department of Justice, including being on the ground for the integrations of the University of Mississippi and the University of Alabama. He was also involved in passing the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act which changed the face of America. His perspective on the Kennedy and Johnson administrations' efforts in civil rights is invaluable. Civil rights leaders were doubtful at times of the federal government's commitment in this area, but Katzenbach points out that the South was a caste system, that local law enforcement was almost completely opposed to black civil rights, and that the government's powers were limited. It simply wasn't practical to mobilize the National Guard or to send in military troops to desegregate schools and public accommodations district by district. What they did do was enforce desegregation in selected instances so that they could threaten to do so somewhere else with credibility. Still, it took the Voting Rights Act to get blacks into office, which really broke the back of segregation. The passing of both the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act are both thrilling stories, and depended on an amazing amount of prep work and floor management. JFK was assassinated before the passage of the Civil Rights Act, which slowed things down to some degree as it took time for Bobby to regain his zest for action.

Katzenback became Attorney General after Bobby left for the Senate He grew kind of bored, frankly, as the excitement of earlier days waned. When the undersecretary of State position opened, he asked for it and got it, despite the fact it was in title and pay grade a demotion. As undersecretary of State he was involved in many interdepartmental meetings about Vietnam with high-powered players from Defense, State, and other government agencies. Consistently the only person with any optimism about Vietnam was Walt Rostow, the national security advisor. The others for various reasons were doubtful that the war could win, in the sense of a survivable South Vietnamese state. But the North Vietnamese knew that time was on their side and were not interested in substantive negotiations, and LBJ did not feel he could unilaterally pull out. Katzenbach believes that in part Johnson' passion was for domestic politics, and he was not as interested in or as knowledgeable about foreign policy. Johnson could see that the war was destroying the Great Society that he had worked so hard for, but couldn't see a way out.

Katzenbach speaks well of almost everyone, but he is fairly realistic in his assessments. His picture of Bobby Kennedy increases one's sense of the tragedy of his loss, and confirms why people thought of the Kennedy administration as Camelot. It was full of the young, the energetic, the innovative, the bright, the open to hearing ideas from a broad range of people, and led by a President who was all of these things. He took great pleasure in working with Bobby, but learned to get along with Johnson. He doubted Johnson's motives at first, but came to recognize LBJ's passion for the Great Society programs and his unfailing political instincts, which he has never seen surpassed.

Sprinkled throughout the books are wise assessments of the ability of governments to affect issues, real lessons in politics as the art of the possible.

Fascinating and amazingly readable book.

Publication W.W. Norton & Co. (2008), Hardcover, 320 pages
Publication date 2008
ISBN 0393067254 / 9780393067255