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The Thirty-first of March: An Intimate Portrait of Lyndon Johnson's Final Days in Office

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Horace Busby was one of the more interesting witnesses in Robert Caro's biography of LBJ, and I was sorry to hear he had passed on a few years back, here in California. Busby knew where all the bodies were buried in his capacity as top speechwriter for Johnson, extremely close to the man for twenty years or more, and inventor of the catchphrase, "The Great Society."

The book, while never less than elegantly written, is scattershot in its approach, and jumps back and forth in chronology like a human pinball machine, skimming the surfaces here and there, then coming down to dwell lovingly and cinematically on some unlikely venues, such as a trip with Johnson in November of 1963, to Brussels for a conference. LBJ in Brussels, of all places, it's unreal! Here Busby really goes to town, exploring the insecurities that fueled Johnson's drive to the top and which made him the most feared man in politics.

And yet he had his charming side too, and Buzz was there for large chunks of it. There's a long, fleshed out memoir of arriving with Johnson at Hyannisport in 1960, not knowing whether or not Kennedy would want him as his candidate for Vice President. There's no denying that Johnson was the odd man out among the Kennedys; in one hilarious moment he can't understand JFK's accent, despite trying to read his lips. You won't get this kind of intimate, novelistic detail anywhere else.

But often "Buzz" seems overdiscreet, drawing a veil over the very things that the reader wants to know more about. Buzz's son Scott, who introduces this posthumously published memoir, suggests that Buzz came to feel he had given all his "good Lyndon stories" to Caro in their many interviews, and that the book we now have represents perhaps the not-so-good stories which Caro didn't find interesting enough to include in any of the three volumes published so far. And sometimes Buzz's speechwriting strength betray him as a memoirist; his highly praised alliteration for example, grows inane when it is employed to open a paragraph with "The prolonged procrastination was highly provocative . . . "

What else is memorable about this all too brief book? Well, I liked finding out more about Johnson's religious background as a "Digressive." I never even heard to term before, and now it seems utterly key to understanding the man. Buzz' dad, a strict preacher type, hesitated before giving his boy his blessing to work for LBJ, fearing that the latter's "Digressive" qualities would corrupt Buzz. Johnson's own father emerges as a salty old son of a gun, telling his son not to forget that "If a fella starts trying to climb a pole, he usually ends up showing his ass." It was a lesson Johnson was never to forget.

In one touching chapter Busby, together with Interior Secretary Stewart Udall, travel to Gettysburg to represent the administration at the Eisenhower farm, as Ike and Mamie prepare to leave their home forever (they have deeded it to the National Park Service). Both Eisenhowers come to life vividly, and their lives together for forty-five years touchingly adumbrated, in Busby's careful rendering of a moment in time.

Busby provides lovely word portraits both of fragile, thoughtful Jackie Kennedy and the amazing Lady Bird. Either of these would make the book worth reading all by themselves, but yet there is a whole lot more in THE THIRTY-FIRST OF MARCH. Don't let this one slip under your radar.

Querying "Lyndon Johnson" on Amazon generates over 18,000 references. The man was a dominant figure in US politics for over 20 years, which goes some way to explaining why he has been written about so prolifically.

Few books though can surely be as intimate and interesting as Horace Busby's memoir of the man he worked with for most of Johnson's career on the national stage.

The twenty-four year-old Busby joined then Congressman Johnson's team in 1948, a few months prior to Johnson winning a Senate seat. His initial brief was to "put a little Churchill" and motivation into the Texas politician's speeches. He remained with Johnson, in some capacity as adviser, speechwriter, confidante and sometimes almost as therapist until March 31 1968 when Johnson made his famous utterance to the US people that "I shall not seek and I will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your President," - lines written by Horace Busby.

This is a wonderfully warm, penetrating look at the psychology, temperament and mindset of LBJ particularly in the days prior to his famous announcement. The manuscript was discovered by Busby's son after the author's death in 2000, hence the publication date of 2005. Unfortunately, much of the manuscript seems to have been lost as it does not deal at all with the President's period in the Senate, which by all accounts he bestrode like a colossus.

The reader can appreciate why Busby was so highly rated by his political patron. Much of the book contains wonderful writing and descriptive passages including a very humorous account of how the infamously impatient Congressman Johnson treated Busby when he first reported for work in 1948 - three days later than expected.

Busby crafts some wonderful images, not least when he recounts the terrible events of November 22nd, 1963. The author was in Washington when President Kennedy was assassinated in Johnson's home state of Texas. Co-incidentally, Busby's wife was in Johnson's Washington home doing some research for Lady Bird Johnson at the time of the shooting. She stayed in the house until Mrs. Johnson returned from Dallas - "she saw as no one else did that day, the cold passing of power," as the secret service took control of the house and presidential communications infrastructure was put in place, even before the residents returned from Dallas.

Busby appears to have been a true confidant of the towering Texan. Few (if any) who worked under Johnson would claim he was an easy person to deal with. He could be mean, nasty, uncouth, self-centered, insecure and tyrannical, yet he had very strong motivational skills, sometimes conveyed with great good humor. Johnson was blessed to have a number of very loyal and competent aides - Jack Valenti, Joe Califano and of course Busby who writes of Johnson almost as a son might of a father.

Because of his close relationship with LBJ, Busby writes compellingly on a number of little known episodes about the President including a dirty tricks campaign initiated by White House insiders to prevent Vice-President Johnson from gaining the nomination to run with Jack Kennedy for the presumptive 1964 campaign. LBJ believed he had but one friend "in that place - President John Fitzgerald Kennedy himself."

The account of the 31st March, when Busby was called to the White House to draft Johnson's final words is both riveting and compelling. Many of Johnson's family and aides did not wish the President to remove himself from the race and blamed Busby for influencing his decision.

The initiative to withdraw though was Johnson's, but when Busby handed him four pages of script - much more than expected, the President `threw up his hands. "Damn" he exclaimed. "You must really want to get me out of town." `

Johnson on a one-to-one level was surprisingly humorous with strong motivational skills, something that rarely came across in his public appearances. Unlike his predecessor, JFK, Johnson never mastered the new media of television.

For those interested in one of the most intriguing characters to attain the presidency, this book is a little jewel. The one regret is that it covers such a short period of the political life of a man whom the author writes was "extroverted, gregarious, and roughshod," but who "sheltered a sensitive, introspective, and unaccountably fragile self inside."

Horace Busby provides and intimate and interesting view of President Lyndon Johnson in THE 31ST OF MARCH. Although Busby provides selected views of other incidents that were key moments in the Johnson presidency and of course the story of how he became involved with Johnson the focus is on LBJ's decision not to seek re-election and the process of announcing that decision to the world.

Busby's view of LBJ is that of a much more fragile man than generally preceived of. It's a quick read. Busby's walks the reader through the family quarters of the White House and the inner workings of the presidency with facinating detail. One particulary interesting aspect of the story is how Johnson was treated at JFK's funeral. Most accounts are totally sympathetic to the Kennedy's but in reading Busby, you see that LBJ had a side too. The reader comes away with a very unique view LBJ.

Though brief, the work is very powerful. It is the story of friendship, loyality and devotion. I wish that the son, who edited the work would have provided a brief description of the relationship between Busby and LBJ after the White House years. It would rounded out the story.

"The Thirty-first of March", by Horace Busby takes a heart-warming yet candid look at Lyndon B. Johnson, as few had known him. The book makes for fast, interesting, and enjoyable reading.

Horace Busby was an assistant to Lyndon B. Johnson from 1948 to 1968; those twenty years gave Busby the opportunity to know Lyndon B. Johnson as both a politician and a human being. Busby writes of a thoughtful, engaging, and at times ill-tempered congressional representative, senator, majority leader, vice president, and president of the United States. Readers will find that "The Thirty-first of March" offers a rare look at the human side of Lyndon B. Johnson. Lyndon Johnson was the congressional representative for the Tenth District of Texas, described by Busby as the politician who swam against the political tides; who despised the Texas "sacred cow" (oil utilities), along with big business. Busby writes of Johnson's ability to balance his social insecurities with boundless energy and passion for the causes he so firmly believed in.

According to Busby, Johnson's passions may have been a result of Johnson's close association with President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Johnson is described as a politician who wished to continue the work that was left incomplete by Roosevelt's "New Dealers". Many know the Lyndon B. Johnson who was arrogant, quick-tempered, reclusive, and a veteran of the political arena - he may have even been a conniver at times. However, many are unaware of Johnson's compassion for ordinary people - the downtrodden. Horace Busby brings this to center stage by giving readers a clear view of what most mattered to Lyndon B. Johnson, who believed that

"[p]eople are good . . . what the average folks want is very simple: peace, a roof over their heads, food on their tables, milk for their babies, a good job at good wages, a doctor when they need him, an education for their kids, a little something to live on when they're old, and a nice funeral when they die."

Busby writes of his own good fortune in making the acquaintance of such influential and powerful people as Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and their families. The book is sprinkled with short stories of these enduring encounters, which make for interesting reading. It is, however, the relationship between Busby and Johnson that the memoir brings to the forefront, which will most interest readers. Busby recollects how passionate Johnson was on domestic issues such as housing, education, healthcare, and conservation. Busby also describes Johnson's anguish and distress after receiving the news of Martin Luther King's assassination; not just for the country, but for the King family and all American people - African Americans as well as whites....

"The Thirty-first of March" was not meant to encompass Johnson's political career, but readers will gain a new understanding and respect for the ideas, accomplishments, and sacrifices of the political phenomena that was Lyndon B. Johnson. The book will also give readers and future biographers new insights into the persona that was LBJ.