Reaching for Glory: Lyndon Johnson's Secret White House Tapes, 1964-1965

Rating:
Summary: Listening to the tapes is truly compelling and interesting!
Review: After having thoroughly enjoyed the previous tapes and book in Reaching for Glory, Michael Beschloss again delivers an amzaing account of President Lyndon Johnson's years during the continuing entanglement of Vietnam and the Civil Rights years. Also featured are the interesting relationships he had with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Jackie Kennedy, and a horde of other notables that characterized the 60s. The tapes leave little out- to LBJ's private worries about Vietnam, the behind-the-scenes arm twisting and politicking, and the issues of elections and affairs. Michael Beschloss' book itself is good reading, but for the true feeling of the subject material, listening to these tapes of his many secretly recorded conversations is much more revealing a look.

Rating:
Summary: Finally! the story is told!
Review: I don't mean LBJ's real thoughts about the Vietnam war, although obviously that is a great revelation. I mean that I know why it took Michael Beschloss so long to finish this follow-up to "Taking Charge"....these tapes are tough to listen to. They are not the entertaining excerpts of the previous volume. The '64-'65 excerpts show more of LBJ's warts, and cover painful ground, primarily concerning the war in Vietnam. Also, there is so much material that, unlike with the first volume, I found myself getting bored at times. Surely Beschloss himself must have found putting this volume together more difficult.

Of course, the fact that negative and humdrum things characterized part of the Johnson's presidency during the two years covered was not Beschluss's fault. But I felt some material, most notably some of the well-wishing calls made by the President and Lady Bird to friends, could have been left out or shortened.

Speaking of Lady Bird, however, she becomes a larger and refreshing presence in these tapes. Johnson apparently looked to her as his best critic (in the best sense of the word); she is heard giving him feedback about many speeches. In an era where we tend to think of Hilary Clinton as the first "co-president", it is interesting to learn how much Johnson relied on his wife.

Although it might not be a CD set to take to the beach, I still recommend the audio version of this work (not the written version; Johnson's delivery is an indivisible component of his personality). These annotated tape excerpts are nothing less than a piece of history.

Rating:
Summary: a must for LBJ enthusiasts!
Review: I listened to the cassette versions of "Taking Charge" and "Reaching for Glory" when they first appeared. I listened to "Reaching for Glory" again after two LBJ bios and LBJ does indeed come alive. LBJ was, in the words of Robert Dalleck, a flawed giant. So many contradictions, so much hypocrisy - but yet - not... he was just LBJ.

The tape system which proved to be Nixon's downfall was also used by LBJ and JFK. Luckily for us 40 years later, we have wonderful insight into LBJ and the operation of his administration. The cassette versions are abridged, but getting to hear the actual recordings is fantastic. I anxiously await the third volume of the trilogy.

Rating:
Summary: Completely riviting history
Review: I read this book in one weekend, completely unable to put it down. Of all the books recently published about former presidents, this is the best. Lyndon Johnson's unvarnished tapes coupled with Michael Beschloss's superb comentary give a direct window into one of America's most turbulent eras. Having lived as a young adult through the time covered in this book--1964-1965, I feel that I have lived it again--this time with more complete knowledge of what was really going on. The Lyndon Johnson that I met in this book is truly unforgetable. His angst over the war in Viet Nam takes on the patina of Greek tragedy, especially in his inability to do anything about what he knows is going to happen. I was so taken with this book that I ordered the previous volume 'Taking Charge', and can't wait for the third one to be published.

Rating:
Summary: LBJ dwarfs those that followed him.
Review: I was stunned at the power of this six CD, six hour version read by the author. LBJ's immediate instincts on the Gulf of Tonkin incident and his mistrust -- "admirals hung with braid walk into a room and think they have been attacked." FBI Director Hoover of all people telling LBJ how to spot male "homosexual tendencies." How LBJ fought to forge his Great Society programs during the course of a war that he thought was unwinnable. His torture at sending "his boys" to death made him feel as though he was piloting an aircraft on fire and had no parachute. The effectiveness of his crude and colorful language. His powers of persuation. All this and more brought out in the voices of the key players of the day carry a power that no printed page could begin to bring to bear.

Without a doubt the greatest bargain I've ever encountered.

Rating:
Summary: LBJ's Secrets Revealed
Review: Michael Beschloss's "Reaching for Glory" is a follow- up book to "Taking Charge". Both of these books contain secretly taped White House conversations from the Johnson presidency. This book covers from early Fall, 1964 through late summer, 1965.

LBJ shows, through his own words, how frustrating and stressful life can be in Washington, especially when engaged in an unpopular war. Read as LBJ expresses his disgust with those who oppose the war while at the same time admitting in private that the Vietnam War cannot be won. He felt that the commitment had been made and there was no way to turn back, even though the chances for victory were slim to none.

Besides the Vietnam War, LBJ has a full plate of other problems to deal with. Racial tensions at home, civil rights, voting rights, the Great Society, possible Communism in the Dominican Republic, and a sex scandal involving one of his closest aides has the president up in arms and stressed to the max. LBJ seems exhausted throughout most of this book, and consistently in a bad mood. He battles depression and anxiety throughout this year of his presidency, knowing that things are not the way they should be and feeling helpless to make them any better.

LBJ was worried about his legacy and always wanted to be remembered as the next Lincoln or FDR and not as "another Harding" as he would often say. But he didn't really get a chance to fulfill his desires as president, thanks to the Vietnam War and other obstacles. He was paranoid and distrustful of most everyone, including many of his friends. Aside from his immediate family, his relationships were not very strong at all during this time in his presidency.

"Reaching for Glory" is, overall, a fun and informative book to read. You feel like you're eavesdropping on the former president and his associates as they converse on the phone. It's all here, with only a small amount of editing and it shows what life was like in the LBJ White House as he tackled the difficult issues during his second year in office.

Rating:
Summary: A New Way to Do History
Review: Reaching for Glory is a terrific book, Lyndon Johnson and his times in his own words. The book has two things going for it. First, it gives the reader the ultimate behind the scenes look at the Presidency - and don't forget the critical time portrayed, the aftermath of the assasination of a President, the struggle for civil rights, and the descent into Vietnam. Second, it has been expertly edited by crack Presidential historian Michael Beschloss. Beschloss has done a masterful job of giving helpful information and context is footnotes that never distract the reader. The big revelation in this book is the inner conflict that Johnson felt about escalating U.S. involvement in Vietnam. He knew the U.S. couldn't win; but he couldn't find a way to leave Vietnam while our troop levels still were low, without leaving himself exposed on the domestic political right. Think what you like about LBJ, and even discount what's on the tapes in case you think he was preening for posterity, the fact of the matter is that he was the victim of a cruel and ironic tragedy. I can't recommend this book enough to anyone who is interested in history.

Rating:
Summary: The Voice of LBJ
Review: These tapes are quite a listen. It is fascinating to hear the voices of Lyndon Johnson, RFK, and other 60s notables. The commentary by editor Beschloss is also helpful. Lyndon Johnson, occasionally forgeting that he is being recorded, really lets his personality show, particularly regarding Jackie and Bobby Kennedy. However, the main focus of the tapes is to show the toll Vietnam takes on the Johnson administration, which they do quite well.

Rating:
Summary: As GRIPPING as a movie...reveavling LBJ's true SECRET
Review: This is truly an astounding book. Now, years later, we finally know the truth: Lyndon B. Johnson was not merely a tragic president who stuck to his guns and fought a war he mistakenly believed he could win (with various political restrictions on the military).
He was, this book proves beyond a shadow of a doubt in its lively transcripts of his secretly taped phone conversations, a tragic president who stuck to his guns and fought a war he firmly believed would be LOST no matter WHAT.
He didn't want to lose, but he didn't want to be the one to pull out, so he got in deeper and deeper, losing sleep and agonizing all the way -- and the consequences to his administration and the country were catastrophic.
There are a slew of reasons why you should read (or gift) this amazing book.
The main one: true, it does give you perhaps more than you wanted to know about LBJ (but I don't care WHAT some reviewers have said: I LOVE the sections where he is flirting with Jackie Kennedy)...but if you read it you get a clear idea of how a president operated -- and many parts of this book are so dramatic and gripping, they read like a movie script. In fact, I can see the Oliver Stone movie now..
Historian Michael Beschloss makes it seem easy when you read it, but transcribing and annotating (so you know through footnotes what LBJ is referring to when he talks and get some historical context..and know when LBJ is spinning) these conversations taped between 1974 and 1965 could not have been easy. Yet, he gives you the meat and you get to "know" how LBJ thinks and, politically, works.
It shows Johnson, warts and all, as a man who could have been one of the very best presidents because of his skills, will and sincere desire to serve. But it shows a highly conflicted, contradictory, at times paranoid and highly depressed man. On the night of his monster landslide 1964 election he is angry and "down," steaming over Bobby Kennedy's influence and possible future machinations. As he presses and manipulates to get his Great Society legislation passed, he's leaking info on election opponent Barry Goldwater, keeping the lid on information regarding his number one aide's role in a sex scandal. He talks of victory in Vietnam, but repeatedly tells politicos and his wife that there is absolutely no way the U.S. can ever win, and he is tormented by his terrible choice and unwanted role. He wants to help the poor and the blacks, but will talk a little more "southern" if he has to while talking to someone who doesn't quite agree with him to make them think he's on their wavelength.
The famous Gulf of Tonkin resolution? Even Johnson believed it may not have happened. But he took the resolution in Congress and ran with it -- using it to justify the war he knew he the U.S. could not win.
In Feb. 1965 he told a Senator "a man can fight if he can see daylight down the road somewhere. But there ain't no daylight in Vietnam. Not a bit."
If you went back and contrasted his public pronouncements with what he was saying privately, it would be shocking indeed: pep talks to the country (and troops) to the contrary, he never felt we could win. Meanwhile, he kissed J. Edgar Hoover's you-know-what to keep hoover on his side (actually, they had been neighbors in Washington and Johnson had carefully kept Hoover on his side for years) in his battle against Goldwater, Kennedy and others.
Not all of the book is about the sad, deceitful slide into Vietnam. Many of the transcripts deal with his election campaign, domestic legislation...but by the end of the volume Vietnam is devouring LBJ alive as it did the country and the innocence and joy of the early 60s.
I read this book rather quickly. It was an INCREDIBLE experience. Read it and you're a fly on the wall in the White House.

Rating:
Summary: NEW APPRECIATION OF JOHNSON
Review: What a sparkling book showing the world that PBS Authors can write books based on facts. Michael Beschloss has written a fair, unbiased and detailed legacy of a man perfect for the senate but flawed as president.

After reading this book, America can trace many of today's troubles to Johnson's ill-advised self-image for recognition that ended up unsuccessful on many fronts. I give him credit for passing what he thought would be great benefits to America but only burden us in the end.

The author makes known how Johnson could not win the war in Vietnam and misled our boys who died for his miscalculations. He lacked the smarts of Nixon on Foreign policy and brains of Reagan on a Domestic economic course of action. He had to step down in 1968 because his personality could no longer step up to the Presidency.

The book give you an idea about how the Democrats & Johnson saddle America with a load of debt due to his need to overcome President Roosevelt's New Deal when America no longer needed it. He forced socialists programs on America and worse lied about the projection of the cost leaving our entitlement deficits too large to overcome without 6 months of taxes in every working year today.

Johnson questions Goldwater's morality while practicing the politics of demagogues, sexual betrayal to his wife, and falsehoods to the party and public. Johnson empowered political minions like Bill Moyer and Richard Goodwin who created the first political attack ad that has bereft American politics from discussing real issues. Remember the myth that Eisenhower put us in Vietnam? The book will enlighten you to that fable. Goldwater lived a far superior life with the truth than Johnson with power and a puny mind.

Moreover, Johnson's lack of self-esteem tried to overcome the Kennedy mystique and this alone let our nation down. The book reveals how America missed many opportunities under his presidency. Under Johnson's term, the Democratic Party control the Congress, Senate and Presidency and all it did was plunge the country in the chaos of death, debt and taxes. It has taken seven Presidents to overcome his mistakes that we are still paying for in taxes.

As a final point, the book is showing why the Democratic Party Leadership needs to revise some of its beliefs and policies that end up burdening us all. The author did a great job in telling the truth! Johnson never needed to be another Roosevelt or Kennedy. He lost the day he decided not to be himself and he took part of America down with him.