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Robert Dallek is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of several books, including Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Foreign Policy, for which he won a Babcroft Prize and was nominated for an American Book Award.
`A triumphant portrait...It should stand for years to come as the
most rounded portrait we have of this compelling, formidable,
flawed giant.' Doris Kearns Goodwin
'This volume takes us up to his selection as vice-president and is
awesomely detailed.' Sunday Times
Dallek sums up his subject, the 36th U.S. president, in this generous and touching sentence: ``If Lyndon Johnson demanded much and took much, he also gave much in return.'' In the initial book of this two-volume biography, Dallek ( Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Foreign Policy, 1932-1945 ) reconstructs Johnson's Texas childhood, his 1937 election to the House, his war experiences as a Navy officer, election to the Senate in '49, his years as ``the greatest Senate majority leader in history,'' and finally his selection as John Kennedy's running mate in 1960. LBJ as wheeler-dealer is already a familiar figure, but Dallek, tracing the origin of the War on Poverty and the Great Society to Johnson's experiences and observations as a young man, reveals that much of the wheeling and dealing was an expression of Johnson's genuine interest in helping the disadvantaged. One of our least-admired presidents, Johnson (1908-1973) has been portrayed in recent years by Robert Caro and others as a monster of ambition, greed and cruelty. Dallek's LBJ is a somewhat more complicated, contradictory and sympathetic character, ``struggling with inner demons that drove and tormented him.'' Photos. 50,000 first printing; $60,000 ad/promo. (Aug.)
`A triumphant portrait...It should stand for years to come as the
most rounded portrait we have of this compelling, formidable,
flawed giant.' Doris Kearns Goodwin
'This volume takes us up to his selection as vice-president and is
awesomely detailed.' Sunday Times
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