LBJ'S AMERICA edited by Mark Atwood Lawrence (Director of the Johnson Presidential Library) and Mark K. Updegrove is a collection of essays about "The Life and Legacies of Lyndon Baines Johnson" from Cambridge University Press. The text is divided into four broad sections: background on LBJ and his times, his domestic policies, foreign affairs, and reflections on his impact. That last section is written by Melody C. Barnes, Obama's director of the White House Domestic Policy Council. This text is filled with facts and details; approximately twenty percent is devoted to notes, extensive bibliographic citations, and a helpful index. And the essays provide valuable insights on a man who is remembered for dramatic advances in civil rights and immigration law as well as the quagmire, societal divisions, and deaths due to the escalation of the Vietnam War. UT Austin published an interview with Lawrence which explores some of these contrasts (link below). It is worth noting that historians like Doris Kearns Goodwin have praised this new text which will likely have greatest appeal for scholars and academicians due to its language, tone, and high quality of selections (e.g., Joshua Zeitz provides an essay on the War on Poverty). Austin's Book People is promoting LBJ'S AMERICA along with the upcoming Texas Book Festival on Nov. 11 and 12. I also think it would be very interesting to watch Turn Every Page, the new documentary about the collaboration between Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb as they spent roughly fifty years documenting the LBJ story. 4.5 stars

Relevant links:
https://notevenpast.org/remembering-lbj-an-interview-with-mark-atwood-lawrence/
https://www.texasbookfestival.org/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv3CRojrbeE

In "LBJ's America," Mark Atwood Lawrence and Mark K. Updegrove, they edit a collection of essays about our 36h president, Lyndon Baines Johnson. I was struck by the compassion shown to Johnson by the writers in the collection. Too often, Johnson is overlooked or snubbed for the president before (JFK) and the president (Nixon) after him. Through these essays, we see a complicated man who spent most time and political power trying to pass social programs.

The book makes clear that LBJ was not a saint (his initial campaign were fraught with accusations of malfeasance) but the essays also show that LBJ's action still resonate today. At a time when the current Supreme Court has become aggressively right-wing and discriminatory, I was particularly struck with the mentions of how LBJ had wanted to increase the size of the court. This is an idea bandied about today as many of us are tired of being held hostage by the right-wing justices.

This book has become so relevant today because LBJ was fighting for programs and policies that are no longer viable in today's ultra-conservative society. LBJ is such a complicated political figure, but he's a refreshing personality and politician in 2023's America.

I enjoyed this book a lot! Although I study a lot about the Vietnam War, LBJ's motives and policies were not something that I followed that closely. This book helped me learn a lot about our 36th President of the United States. What his motives were and what struggles he faced domistically and with the Vietnam War.
I like that this book was broken into sections the way it was. It allowed me to read in 'bite-size' sections the various aspects of LBJ's presidency. Breaking the book into sections the way it was has the potential to become disjointed, but I thought the chapters flowed together very well.

Overall, I will definitely be recommending this book to others as I believe it offers a very complete picture of Johnson's presidency, the good and the bad.

This is a great volume that spans almost all aspects of LBJ's presidency. I often thought that Dallek had the last word on LBJ's presidency but this is a great addition to the historiography. There are essays on liberalism during the Johnson administration, Vietnam, of course, and other policy areas. The strength of this collection of essays is first found in the contributing authors. Each is a preeminent historian in his/her field: Madeline Hsu on immigration, Joshua Zeitz on the Great Society, and Fredrik Logevall on Vietnam. Each have written terrific histories outside of this book, which expand on the arguments they make here. If you're looking for a one stop shop on LBJ, though, go here first.

There isn't much that is left out here. I found lots of tidbits of information really useful and informative, giving me a better picture of LBJ as a leader. The CAP program always fascinated me, and to read a bit more about it really put the debate over politicting into context for me. Most of the essays in the volume tend to lean towards the newer historiographical picture of Johnson, in that Vietnam, tragically, took the spotlight off of his other successes, particularly his domestic social policy. Each essay makes the claim, in a different way, that is first described in the intro: we are still living in an America which was shaped by LBJ's presidency. The social programs, the conundrum of crime in America, the way we address foreign conflicts, all can be traced back to #36 as the one who shaped the politics of today.

Who says that political history, and academic history at that, cannot be readable? This was an enjoyable and knowledgeable read