Author Description

"Irwin and Debi Unger explore the enigmatic and complex figure of Lyndon B. Johnson as both a public and personal figure - examining his monumental achievements in the political arena, as well as his conflicted and turbulent relationships with his family, friends, and colleagues."--BOOK JACKET. "From his early days in politics, Lyndon B. Johnson had always wanted to be president. But the journey to this lofty position was a rocky one professionally and emotionally."--BOOK JACKET. "Yet his mind, once fixed on something, could not rest until it was achieved. When he met Claudia "Lady Bird" Taylor, he proposed within a day of their first date, and courted her relentlessly until they married two months later. As a young schoolteacher at a segregated Mexican-American school, the future president caught his first glimpse of true poverty. While struggling to motivate teachers and establish a hot breakfast program, he laid the stones for his social agenda in the decades to come. But the world of politics was where he belonged, and when a position as secretary for Congressman Richard Kleberg gave him his first opportunity in Washington, he used it for all it was worth. Using his connections and the name he made for himself among the members of Congress, he was able to gain a congressional seat. After a distinguished career in the Senate, he was elected vice president to John F. Kennedy."--BOOK JACKET. "Then his dream was fulfilled - in the most shocking and tragic way imaginable, when President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. Suddenly Johnson was in power, with the legendary shadow of the young and vibrant former president hovering over him. As the first shock of the tragedy faded, the new president was able to work on his domestic agenda of Civil Rights, War on Poverty, and other initiatives that made up his Great Society program. But the war in Vietnam that had started when he was vice president escalated - and so did the controversy surrounding it. As dissension grew in Congress, in the press, and in a discontented and highly vocal public, Johnson began to see his presidency crumbling around him. Finally, he declared that his one full term would be his last."--BOOK JACKET. "In the years following his presidency, Johnson struggled with the insecurity and depression that had plagued him throughout his life. Yet he managed to remain a fixture in the Democratic Party, and made efforts to further the progress of some of his beloved social programs."--BOOK JACKET.