Book Description
Doris Kearns Goodwin's classic life of Lyndon Johnson, who presided over the Great Society, the Vietnam War, and other defining moments the tumultuous 1960s, is a monument in political biography. From the moment the author, then a young woman from Harvard, first encountered President Johnson at a White House dance in the spring of 1967, she became fascinated by the man—his character, his enormous energy and drive, and his manner of wielding these gifts in an endless pursuit of power. As a member of his White House staff, she soon became his personal confidante, and in the years before his death he revealed himself to her as he did to no other.
Widely praised and enormously popular, Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream is a work of biography like few others. With uncanny insight and a richly engrossing style, the author renders LBJ in all his vibrant, conflicted humanity.
Customer Reviews:
Very good, though a little too much analysis.......2007-06-19
When I bought this book, I was warned by a cousin of mine, who teaches history at GW, that the book would contain a lot of phsycology, and he was right.
Now, this is still a very good book, second only to Master of the Senate in terms of biographies about LBJ, but I found the phsycology a little bit boring. That is the only thing that prevents me from giving the book 5 stars.
There is a lot of interesting insight, helped along by the fatc that Goodwin knew LBJ, and interviewed him repeatedly. I would advise everyone interested in LBJ, the Presidency, Civil Rights, or Vietnam to read this book. It is great.
One of the best presidential biographies i've read.......2006-05-17
An amazing biography of a man who might have been one of the best presidents in our history had he not been seduced into the disaster of Vietnam.
Goodwin had unprecedented access to Johnson and weaves her personal insights into a well told story about a fascinating man.
Good, but given unfettered access, should have been great.......2006-01-21
Dr. Goodwin was given what few biographers, certainly presidential ones, rarely are: access. Both working in the Johnson Administration and working with LBJ in his later years on his memoirs she had numerous conversations with this highly controversial politician. She gives a balanced reveiw, especially given that her closeness early on in her career.
I found the book to be quite good and educational but very short of the other, more recent biographies that have done so well on Washington, Lincoln, Adams, and Jefferson. While Dr. Goodwin's credentials are beyond reproach, perhaps her writing in terms of narrative style, has imporved quite a bit from this book, written some thirty years ago. Do not misunderstand, it is well worth reading but it is not in the same league with "No Ordinary Time" or "Team of Rivals" - two great works of hers.
Two Chapters that are must reads are "The Great Society" and "Vietnam". Both give terrific insight into LBJ's mind when one looks back on the certain failures of the latter and many of the former and asks "what was the administration thinking?". Many questions to these can be found in those two tightly written chapters.
A book worth reading but certainly not "The" book on LBJ the way David Herbert Donald's was with "Lincoln".
One Odd Dream .......2005-06-07
Whatever your political views might be about this political party or another, there is no arguing that Lyndon Johnson had a long and productive political career. There is also no arguing that his personality was almost as large as the events that he took part in. All of this is covered by this very engaging and interesting one volume look into this presidents life. The author gives the reader a nice overview of LBJ's up bringing, takes you through his political life right to the presidential years. There is a constant battle within the book as to what was more interesting, the odd, ego driven and larger then life personality of LBJ or the significant issues that he covered especially during the presidential years.
What I found most interesting about this book was the view into LBJ's personality. It is surprising to me about just much of an egomaniac LBJ was. You have to wonder if it was the massive "me first" view of the world that gave him the ability to pass through the legislation he did or was his political skill such that it exaggerated his ego. Overall I found the book very enjoyable. There was a lot of great bits of info tossed in and the book did not get bogged down into legislative details. I did think that the authors admiration for LBJ seeped into the reporting, but overall it did seem fair. What I was left with was not a better view of his accomplishments, but just how unique a man he was. If you are interesting in LBJ, American Presidents or just the twentieth century, then I would recommend this book.
Well written tribute of a great President.......2004-12-10
A great biography of one of the greatest Presidents of the twentieth century. Lyndon Johnson, whether people like it or not, has left an indelible mark on American society with his programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, his tough and admirable stance on civil rights, and, in a very different way - his war in Vietnam.
Doris Kearns Goodwin, who first met Johnson while a student at Harvard, and became close to him in his later life, has written a book that is much a memoir of her times with the man as it is a general overview of his life. Other reviewers have complained that her study of Johnson is too psychological, and places too much importance on linking his childhood experiences to his later life. I strongly disagree. Too many biographies of important people seem to gloss over their childhood, but understanding a person's childhood is paramount in understanding how it shaped their outlook on life. Another common complaint of this book is that Goodwin is not critical enough of Johnson, but again, anyone who has read this book properly will know this is simply not true. Goodwin time and time again highlights Johnson's flaws - his tendency to withdraw from competition if he felt there was the slightest chance of him losing, his childlike love of power, and his inability to admit where he went wrong. If anything, I believe the author does not praise Johnson high enough.
Vietnam of course was a mistake, no one in their right mind would claim otherwise, but domestically, Johnson was an undeniably outstanding President. People have time and time again claimed that Vietnam was the main factor that undermined Johnson's Presidency, which I agree with, but I also think the other big mistake Johnson made was becoming President after Kennedy. Lacking his predecessor's good looks, charm and charisma, Johnson was never going to win over the American people in the way that Kennedy did. But his ingenious negotiating skills, his concern for the country's poor, and his stance on civil rights that saw him do more for African Americans than any other President in history barring Lincoln, means that Johnson was more than a worthy successor. His Great Society programs, while not as successful as he would have hoped, still helped in the fight against poverty. Even with Vietnam, many contemporary historians contend he had fewer options than was believed at the time, and the way Nixon initially handled the war before pulling out shows that Johnson should not be judged so harshly on the subject as he has been.
A beautifully written tribute to a great President and an equally fascinating character.
Customer Reviews:
Good non-fiction book, okay biography.......2003-08-20
LBJ and The American Dream is really not to be compared with other LBJ bios. While Dalleck and Caro described LBJ's early years through his Congressional service in one and two volumes respectively, Kearns summarized his entire pre-presidential career in a little over one hundred pages. While her one volume tried to span his entire life like Unger's, it left out some very important milestones.
Kearns was too close to LBJ, both in terms of her personal contact and in terms of her historical perspective, for a true bio (note I had the 70s edition and there is a second 1991 edition). Although she dutifully recorded his thoughts and reminiscing of his career, and while in many cases, she corroborated his words with evidence, she seemed to introduce little other third party data from any research she might have done. And despite the coverage of the presidential years, she uncovers little about his relationship with Humphrey, Hoover, Jackie Kennedy, McNamera, and his aids like Jenkins and Connely.
Kearns writes from the perspective of a 1960s Harvard liberal arts grad and that biases her writing. She gives an inordinate amount of copy to Oedipal theories and interpreting LBJ?s dreams, the latter of which one gets the sense that LBJ made up to entertain his subject. This book would have been better titled "Analyzing Lyndon Johnson".
All that said, this bio has actual experience with its subject that other authors do not have. Mrs. Kearns had unfettered personal access to LBJ for the last few years of his life. Accordingly, she uncovered some interesting facts about his childhood, college life, and professional career. This work is about as close to LBJ's memoirs as we will ever get, as he had apparently intended Kearns to ghost-write them. And she includes some analysis of presidential history which provides a context to LBJ's policies. She provided a good analysis of why LBJ continued with his Vietnam policy, dissecting the influence of his personality, ego and paranoia.
It's a worthwhile read for an LBJ enthusiast, but I recommend a more modern bio for a reader wanting a quick history. Also, for even more insight into LBJ without the third party bias, I strongly recommend Beschloss' production of the LBJ tapes.
LBJ was, or tried to be, a good compassionate man. But not.......2002-07-18
always. Doris Kearns does a find job exploring the psyche of this most complex, conflicted man. She had a unique opportunity, spending unlimited time with LBJ at his ranch after he had retired from public life. She is in fact his very personal
biographer, this being a task he didn't want to do himself.
There is great reliance on his dreams & the interpertation of what they mean. The answers are simple & so pat that it is doubtful they were dreams at all but merely a vehicle for LBJ to explain his actions .
To her credit Ms. Kearns does not dwell on Vietnam. Important to be sure but this was a whole life biography & she did cover the war adequately.
Cultivation of mentors was a method used by LBJ throughout his life to better himself & led to his sucesses. However, by the time he became vice president he was own his own, isolated for maybe the first time in his life.
Like presidents before him & since LBJ labored in the shadow of FDR. Few presidents, Jefferson & T. Roosevelt excepted, have attained greatness without winning a major war. This sad fact was apparent to LBJ even as we got caught in the quagmire of Vietnam with no honorable way out. Vietnam is how LBJ will be defined in the future.[...]
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Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream
Doris Kearns
Manufacturer: Easton Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: B000Q93AHK |
Book Description
The earliest battle in history which can be reconstructed in detail, Qadesh pitted the two great warriors of the age against each other, Muwatallish of Hatti and the great warrior-Pharaoh Rameses II. With the Hittites gaining the initial advantage, all seemed lost until Rameses himself led his personal followers into the fray. However, in spite of the appearance of Egyptian reinforcements, the bravery of the pharaoh and the tactically superior showing of the Egyptian chariotry, the dislocation of his army frustrated the Pharaoh's wider strategic aspirations. Mark Healy recounts the course of this key battle, which could so easily have gone either way.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent overview of this epic battle of antiquity........2000-03-21
I thoroughly enjoyed this installment of the Osprey Military Campaign Series. As usual, the information is concise, to the point, interesting, and a fascinating read. Also, the maps and other illustrations and photos, are fantastic. If you like ancient history, this is an excellent introduction to a particular epic battle of antiquity.
Full of insights and very well Written.......2000-01-29
Another excellent book from the Osprey Campaign Series. This earliest recorded Battle in the human history is recounted and critiqued by the author in an exciting manner. As opposed to a mundane account of the battle and the events leading to it, the author constantly provides objective strategic insights to the battle based on the analysis of the battlefield as well as the compositions of the armies. This introductory book is well illustrated and provides photographs of key areas of the battlefields. Highly recommend.
Book Description
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION is one of the most widely adopted books for both undergraduate and graduate levels. The basis of the appeal is the three part framework of management, politics, and the law. Its theme is that all three perspectives are central to public administration, and that ignoring one or another leads to failures in both the practice of and in academic treatments of the field. This edition continues to refer to these three perspectives, but it divides management into two subsets: traditional and "the new public management".
Customer Reviews:
Difficult reading, very "wordy".......2006-12-15
This book was a required text for my PA course. It was very wordy and at times difficult to understand due to the repetitious content. I feel that there is probably a more straight forward style of writing than this one. Not for the student who is just beginning a public administration course, some back ground would be helpful if this text is to be used. However, it contains "Introduction" in its title. Well! I 'don't know about that? Great info, however, difficult reading.
mosgt boring book ever........2006-11-06
This is the most repetative book I have ever read. Just reading the intro to any chapter is all you really need, within the chaper, the author will state the exact same thing 3-5 times. I give it three starts because there is a lot of good information, it is just not well presented.
Good Graduate Level Text.......2005-10-27
This was a required text book for one of the classes in my master of public administration program (MPA). I found it to be extremely useful for understanding both the historical evolution of public administration and the current practice. The emphasis on the (sometimes conflicting) managerial, legal, and political perspectives of each aspect of public administration works nicely if you are also learning the Hamiltonian, Madisonian, and Jeffersonian perspectives on the founding of the government. I always find it useful to understand and remember how things work if I get a good explanation of why it is so--this book does a good job of balancing the how/why.
It's not a text for the casual reader, but if you are a graduate student, plan to be (or already are) a public manager, or just want a thorough grounding in the theory and practice of public administration, this book will serve you well.
Since I know some students don't buy books on their syllabi for financial reasons or for stubbornness, my recommendation is to get the book. It also makes a great reference for the papers you'll have to write.
Public Administration.......2000-05-21
Public Administration: Understanding Management, Politics, and Law in the Public Sector is a textbook that explicitly examines and explains the three major issues of public administration: management, politics, and law. It is an excellent text for advanced undergraduate or graduate students. In addition, this book identifies the differences in roles involved in public administration. For example, it describes the difference between the managerial and leadership roles in delivering public services. It discusses the traditional management style versus the New Public Management style in dealing with accountability on the part of administration, as well as the public.
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Public Administration: Understanding Management, Politics, and Law in Public Sector
David H. Rosenbloom , and
Deborah D. Goldman
Manufacturer: Mcgraw-Hill College
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0070539375 |
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Fragmented Energy Release in Sun and Stars: The Interface between MHD and Plasma Physics
Manufacturer: Springer
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 079232918X |
Book Description
Magnetic energy release plays an important role in a wide variety of cosmic objects such as the Sun, stellar coronae, stellar and galactic accretion disks and pulsars. The observed radio, X-ray and gamma-ray emission often directly results from magnetic `flares', implying that these processes are spatially fragmented and of an impulsive nature. A true understanding of these processes requires a combined magnetohydrodynamical and plasma physical approach.
Fragmented Energy
Release in Sun and Stars: the Interface between MHD and Plasma Physics provides a comprehensive, interdisciplinary summary of magnetic energy release in the Sun and stars, in accretion disks, in pulsar magnetospheres and in laboratory plasmas. These proceedings include papers on both theoretical and observational aspects.
Fragmented Energy Release in Sun and Stars: the Interface between MHD
and Plasma Physics is for researchers in the fields of solar physics, stellar astrophysics and (laboratory) plasma physics and is a useful resource book for graduate level astrophysics courses.
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