JFK and LBJ
The Last Two Great Presidents
by Godfrey Hodgson
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Pub Date May 26 2015 | Archive Date Jun 04 2015
Description
A firsthand observer weighs the achievements—and failures—of two fabled American presidents
As a young White House correspondent during the Kennedy and Johnson years in Washington, D.C., Godfrey Hodgson had a ringside seat covering the last two great presidents of the United States, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, two men who could not have been more different. Kennedy's wit and dashing style, his renown as a national war hero, and his Ivy League Boston Brahmin background stood in sharp contrast to Lyndon Johnson's rural, humble origins in Texas, his blunt, forceful (but effective) political style, his lackluster career in the navy, and his grassroots populist instincts. Hodgson, a sharp-eyed witness throughout the tenure of these two great men, now offers us a new perspective enriched by his reflections since that time a half-century ago. He offers us a fresh, dispassionate contrast of these two great men by stripping away the myths to assess their achievements, ultimately asking whether Johnson has been misjudged. He suggests that LBJ be given his due by history, arguing that he was as great a president as, perhaps even greater than, JFK.
The seed that grew into this book was the author's early perception that JFK's performance in office was largely overrated while LBJ's was consistently underrated. Hodgson asks key questions: If Kennedy had lived, would he have matched Johnson's ambitious Great Society achievements? Would he have avoided Johnson's disastrous commitment in Vietnam? Would Nixon have been elected his successor, and if not, how would American politics and parties look today? Hodgson combines lively anecdotes with sober analyses to arrive at new conclusions about the U.S. presidency and two of the most charismatic figures ever to govern from the Oval Office.
As a young White House correspondent during the Kennedy and Johnson years in Washington, D.C., Godfrey Hodgson had a ringside seat covering the last two great presidents of the United States, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, two men who could not have been more different. Kennedy's wit and dashing style, his renown as a national war hero, and his Ivy League Boston Brahmin background stood in sharp contrast to Lyndon Johnson's rural, humble origins in Texas, his blunt, forceful (but effective) political style, his lackluster career in the navy, and his grassroots populist instincts. Hodgson, a sharp-eyed witness throughout the tenure of these two great men, now offers us a new perspective enriched by his reflections since that time a half-century ago. He offers us a fresh, dispassionate contrast of these two great men by stripping away the myths to assess their achievements, ultimately asking whether Johnson has been misjudged. He suggests that LBJ be given his due by history, arguing that he was as great a president as, perhaps even greater than, JFK.
The seed that grew into this book was the author's early perception that JFK's performance in office was largely overrated while LBJ's was consistently underrated. Hodgson asks key questions: If Kennedy had lived, would he have matched Johnson's ambitious Great Society achievements? Would he have avoided Johnson's disastrous commitment in Vietnam? Would Nixon have been elected his successor, and if not, how would American politics and parties look today? Hodgson combines lively anecdotes with sober analyses to arrive at new conclusions about the U.S. presidency and two of the most charismatic figures ever to govern from the Oval Office.
A Note From the Publisher
Godfrey Hodgson was a White House correspondent for a London newspaper with a desk in the Washington Post newsroom during the Kennedy and Johnson years. He has worked as a reporter for print and television throughout the United States and has written sixteen books, most dealing with people and issues in American politics. He taught at Oxford University and lives in Oxfordshire, U.K.
Advance Praise
“A deeply detailed, fascinating characterization of two men, a country, and an era.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Hodgson has long had a deserved reputation as a shrewd and knowing observer. JFK and LBJ has an authenticity and freshness that should command attention and trigger lively and often partisan conversations. The mixture of the autobiographical and the historical makes it all the richer.”—Mark Lytle, Bard College
“Hodgson has long had a deserved reputation as a shrewd and knowing observer. JFK and LBJ has an authenticity and freshness that should command attention and trigger lively and often partisan conversations. The mixture of the autobiographical and the historical makes it all the richer.”—Mark Lytle, Bard College
Marketing Plan
A conversation with Godfrey Hodgson:
Q: What prompted you to write this book?
A: Over the years, as I studied different fields of twentieth-century American political history, I came to feel more and more strongly that LBJ deserved a more positive reassessment, that he had not been given his just due.
Q: How would you characterize the main differences between the two presidents?
A: As men, in background and temperament they could hardly be more different. JFK was highly educated, though not academically especially brilliant. LBJ’s formal education was undistinguished, though those who dealt with him all commented on his exceptional intelligence. JFK was the child of great wealth; LBJ, if his family’s poverty has been exaggerated, came from a family of local notables that had fallen on hard times. If JFK was all charm, LBJ was forceful and relentless. As politicians, LBJ was a populist, JFK a Whig in the British sense, an aristocrat with a passion for liberty and a devotion to public service.
Q: How did JFK and LBJ differ on civil rights and Vietnam?
A: LBJ was profoundly, viscerally committed to the idea that the time had come to give African Americans equality. JFK came late to understand that the civil rights movement was the most urgent item on the national political agenda. On Vietnam, they were essentially agreed: that American “credibility” demanded defeat of communism in Vietnam.
My argument boils down to two counterfactuals: Would Kennedy, had he lived, have carried out LBJ’s remarkable domestic agenda? Would he, in 1965, have avoided LBJ’s commitment of American forces to the Vietnam War? Recognizing that the answers are ultimately unknowable, I offer carefully argued answers that illuminate the qualities and achievements of both presidents.
Q: What prompted you to write this book?
A: Over the years, as I studied different fields of twentieth-century American political history, I came to feel more and more strongly that LBJ deserved a more positive reassessment, that he had not been given his just due.
Q: How would you characterize the main differences between the two presidents?
A: As men, in background and temperament they could hardly be more different. JFK was highly educated, though not academically especially brilliant. LBJ’s formal education was undistinguished, though those who dealt with him all commented on his exceptional intelligence. JFK was the child of great wealth; LBJ, if his family’s poverty has been exaggerated, came from a family of local notables that had fallen on hard times. If JFK was all charm, LBJ was forceful and relentless. As politicians, LBJ was a populist, JFK a Whig in the British sense, an aristocrat with a passion for liberty and a devotion to public service.
Q: How did JFK and LBJ differ on civil rights and Vietnam?
A: LBJ was profoundly, viscerally committed to the idea that the time had come to give African Americans equality. JFK came late to understand that the civil rights movement was the most urgent item on the national political agenda. On Vietnam, they were essentially agreed: that American “credibility” demanded defeat of communism in Vietnam.
My argument boils down to two counterfactuals: Would Kennedy, had he lived, have carried out LBJ’s remarkable domestic agenda? Would he, in 1965, have avoided LBJ’s commitment of American forces to the Vietnam War? Recognizing that the answers are ultimately unknowable, I offer carefully argued answers that illuminate the qualities and achievements of both presidents.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9780300180503 |
| PRICE | $28.00 (USD) |
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