Difference between revisions of "Lyndon B. Johnson"

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'''Lyndon Baines Johnson''' became the 36th [[President of the United States of America]] after the assassination of [[John F. Kennedy]]. He held that position from 1963 until 1969.  Though he won election handily in 1964, he decided not to seek re-election in 1968 due to the unpopularity of the [[Vietnam War]].
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'''Lyndon Baines Johnson''' (1908–1973), often referred to as '''LBJ''', was the 36th [[President of the United States of America]] (1963–1969). After serving in the House and Senate since 1937, Johnson was elected Vice President in 1960, and in November, 1963, he succeeded to the presidency following President [[John F. Kennedy]]'s assassination. Although he had a reputation as a moderate in the 1950s, he seized the leadership of liberalism as president, moved the [[Democratic Party]] to the left, and pushed through Congress the [[Great Society]], comprising liberal legislation including civil rights laws, Medicare (free health care for the elderly), Medicaid (free health care for the poor), aid to education, and a major "War on Poverty". Simultaneously, he escalated the American involvement in the [[Vietnam War]], from 16,000 American soldiers in 1963 to 550,000 in early 1968.
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Johnson won reelection in a landslide in 1964 over conservative leader [[Barry Goldwater]], and in 1965 succeeded in obtaining new liberal legislation. Johnson's popularity steadily declined after 1966 and his reelection bid in 1968 collapsed as a result of turmoil in his Democratic party over Vietnam, race, and widespread crime and rioting. He withdrew from the race to concentrate on peacemaking. Johnson was renowned for his domineering personality and arm twisting of powerful politicians.  
  
 
==Early Life==
 
==Early Life==
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As President, Johnson greatly expanded the federal government with his [[Great Society]] programs.  He played a key role in helping the [[civil rights movement]] win legislative victories, pushing for the adoption of the Civil Rights Act (1964), which outlawed segregation, and the Voting Rights Act (1965), which guaranteed African-Americans' right to vote. He also greatly expanded American involvement in [[Vietnam]] (see [[Vietnam War]]).  Although Johnson won the 1964 presidential election in a landslide over Republican [[Barry Goldwater]], his popularity plunged as the death toll from the conflict in Vietnam steadily increased.  In early 1968, faced with plummeting poll numbers and mounting public opposition to his foreign policy, Johnson announced that he would neither seek nor accept his party's nomination for the presidency in 1968.  It is widely thought that had he run, he would have been trounced in the primaries or in the subsequent general election - eventually won by Republican [[Richard M. Nixon]].
 
As President, Johnson greatly expanded the federal government with his [[Great Society]] programs.  He played a key role in helping the [[civil rights movement]] win legislative victories, pushing for the adoption of the Civil Rights Act (1964), which outlawed segregation, and the Voting Rights Act (1965), which guaranteed African-Americans' right to vote. He also greatly expanded American involvement in [[Vietnam]] (see [[Vietnam War]]).  Although Johnson won the 1964 presidential election in a landslide over Republican [[Barry Goldwater]], his popularity plunged as the death toll from the conflict in Vietnam steadily increased.  In early 1968, faced with plummeting poll numbers and mounting public opposition to his foreign policy, Johnson announced that he would neither seek nor accept his party's nomination for the presidency in 1968.  It is widely thought that had he run, he would have been trounced in the primaries or in the subsequent general election - eventually won by Republican [[Richard M. Nixon]].
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==Bibliography==
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===Biographies===
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* Caro, Robert A. ''The Years of Lyndon Johnson'' (3 volumes as of 2006): ''The Path to Power'' (1982); ''Means of Ascent'' (1990); ''Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson'' (2002). The most detailed biography, extends to 1960; generally hostile to LBJ; See Dallek and Woods for balanced biographies; [http://www.amazon.com/Path-Power-Years-Lyndon-Johnson/dp/0679729453/ref=sr_1_2/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1189836030&sr=1-2 vol 1 excerpt and online search from Amazon.com]; [http://www.amazon.com/Means-Ascent-Years-Lyndon-Johnson/dp/067973371X/ref=sr_1_3/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1189836030&sr=1-3 vol 2 excerpt and online search from Amazon.com]; [http://www.amazon.com/Master-Senate-Lyndon-Johnson-Vintage/dp/0394720954/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1189836030&sr=1-1 vol 3 excerpt and online search from Amazon.com]
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* Dallek, Robert. ''Lone Star Rising: Lyndon Johnson and His Times, 1908–1960'' (1991), [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=59394514 online edition vol 1];  ''Flawed Giant: Lyndon Johnson and His Times, 1961–1973'' (1998) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=65196503 online edition vol 2]; also: '' Lyndon B. Johnson: Portrait of a President'' (2004). A 400-page abridged version of his 2 volume scholarly biography, [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=103184871 online edition of short version].
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* Goodwin, Doris Kearns. ''Lyndon Johnson & the American Dream'' (1977). A character study.
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* Schulman, Bruce J. ''Lyndon B. Johnson and American Liberalism: A Brief Biography with Documents'' (1995) 
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* Woods, Randall. ''LBJ: Architect of American Ambition'' (2006). A highly detailed scholarly biography (1000 pages). [http://www.amazon.com/LBJ-Architect-American-Randall-Woods/dp/0684834588/ref=sr_1_1/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1189835998&sr=1-1  excerpt and online search from Amazon.com]
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===Presidential years===
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*  Altschuler, Bruce E.; ''LBJ and the Polls'' (1990) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=37809550 online edition]
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* Andrew, John A. ''Lyndon Johnson and the Great Society'' (1999) 224 pp. [http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1566631858/ref=sib_dp_pt/103-4827826-5463040#reader-link excerpt and online search from Amazon.com]
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* Bernstein, Irving. ''Guns or Butter: The Presidency of Lyndon Johnson'' 1994.
 +
* Bornet, Vaughn Davis. ''The Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson''. 1983
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* Branch, Taylor. ''Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-63'' (1989) [http://www.amazon.com/Parting-Waters-America-Years-1954-63/dp/0671687425/ref=sr_1_31?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208722057&sr=1-31 excerpt and text search]
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* Branch, Taylor. ''Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years 1963-65'' (1999) [http://www.amazon.com/Pillar-Fire-America-Years-1963-65/dp/0684848090/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208722178&sr=1-5 excerpt and text search]
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* Branch, Taylor. ''At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-68'' (2007)
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* Divine, Robert A., ed. ''The Johnson Years. Vol. 1: Foreign Policy, the Great Society and the White House.'' 1981; essays by scholars
 +
* Divine, Robert A., ed. ''The Johnson Years. Vol. 2: Vietnam, the Environment, and Science.'' 1987; essays by scholars
 +
* Divine, Robert A., ed. ''The Johnson Years. Vol. 3: LBJ at Home and Abroad''. 1994; essays by scholars [http://www.amazon.com/Johnson-Years-Three-Home-Abroad/dp/0700606556/ref=sr_1_5/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1189836030&sr=1-5  excerpt and online search from Amazon.com]
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* Firestone, Bernard J., and Robert C. Vogt, eds. ''Lyndon Baines Johnson and the Uses of Power.'' (1988); essays by scholars  [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=23324778 online edition]
 +
* Graham, Hugh Davis. ''The Civil Rights Era: Origins and Development of National Policy, 1960-1972'' (1990)
 +
* Gould, Lewis L. ''Lady Bird Johnson and the Environment.'' 1988.
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* Lichtenstein, Nelson, ed. ''Political Profiles: The Johnson Years''. 1976. short biographies of 400+ key politicians
 +
* Mann, Robert. ''The Walls of Jericho: Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Richard Russell, and the Struggle for Civil Rights.'' 1996.
 +
* Milkis, Sidney M. and Jerome M. Mileur, eds. ''The Great Society And The High Tide Of Liberalism'' (2005) 490pp of essays by scholars; [http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1558494936/ref=sib_dp_pt/103-4827826-5463040#reader-link excerpt and online search from Amazon.com]
 +
* Redford, Emmette S., and Marlan Blissett. ''Organizing the Executive Branch: The Johnson Presidency.'' 1981.
 +
* Shesol, Jeff. ''Mutual Contempt: Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy, and the Feud That Shaped a Decade'' 1997.
 +
* White, Theodore H. ''The Making of the President, 1964''  1965.  [http://www.historyebook.org/ online at ACLS e-books]
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* Zarefsky, David. ''President Johnson's War on Poverty'' 1986.
 +
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===Vietnam===
 +
* Barrett, David Marshall. ''Advice and Dissent: An Organizational Analysis of the Evolution of Lyndon Johnson's Vietnam Advisory System, 1965–1968.'' (University of Notre Dame, 1990)
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* Berman, Larry. ''Lyndon Johnson's War: The Road to Stalemate in Vietnam'' (1991)
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* Brands, H. W. ''The Wages of Globalism: Lyndon Johnson and the Limits of American Power '' (1997)
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* Casey, Francis Michael. ''The Vietnam Policy of President Lyndon Baines Johnson in Response to the Theory of the Protracted Conflict as Applied in the Politics of Indochina: A Case Study of Threat Perception and Assessment in the Crisis Management Process of a Pluralistic Society.'' (Claremont Graduate School, 1976)
 +
* Cherwitz, Richard Arnold. ''The Rhetoric of the Gulf of Tonkin: A Study of the Crisis Speaking of President Lyndon B. Johnson.'' (University of Iowa, 1978)
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* Goodnight, Lisa Jo. ''The Conservative Voice of a Liberal President: An Analysis of Lyndon B. Johnson's Vietnam Rhetoric.'' (Purdue University, 1993)
 +
* Kaiser, David E. ''American tragedy: Kennedy, Johnson, and the origins of the Vietnam War.'' (Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2000) ISBN 0-674-00225-3
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* Logevall, Fredrik Bengt Johan. ''Fear to Negotiate: Lyndon Johnson and the Vietnam War, 1963–1965.'' (Yale University, 1993)
 +
* Turner, Kathleen Jane. ''The Effect of Presidential-Press Interaction on Lyndon B. Johnson's Vietnam War Rhetoric.'' (Purdue University, 1978)
 +
* Vandiver, Frank E. ''Shadows of Vietnam: Lyndon Johnson's Wars'' (1997) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=53311933 online edition]
 +
* Woods, Randall B. "The Politics of Idealism: Lyndon Johnson, Civil Rights, and Vietnam," ''Diplomatic History'' (2007)
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31 (1), 1–18. [http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/J.1467-7709.2007.00599.X online at Blackwell-Synergy]]
 +
 +
==Primary sources==
 +
* Barrett David M. ed. "Lyndon B. Johnson's Vietnam Papers: A Documentary Collection" (1997).  Documents from LBJ Library and other archives.
 +
* Beschloss Michael R. ed. ''Taking Charge: The Johnson White House Tapes, 1963–1964'' (1997). Transcribed recordings of LBJ's phone calls.
 +
* Beschloss, Michael R. ed. ''Reaching for Glory: Lyndon Johnson's Secret White House Tapes, 1964-1965''  (2002) [http://www.amazon.com/Reaching-Glory-Lyndon-Johnsons-1964-1965/dp/074322714X/ref=sr_1_7/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1189836030&sr=1-7  excerpt and online search from Amazon.com]
 +
* Califano Joseph A., Jr. ''The Triumph & Tragedy of Lyndon Johnson'' (1991). By a cabinet member.
 +
* [http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/publications/ERP/ Council of Economic Advisors, ''Economic Report of the President'' (annual 1947- )], complete series online; important analysis of current trends and policies, plus statistcial tables
 +
* Gallup, George H. ed. ''The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1935–1971, volume 3: 1959–1971'' (1972). Summary of poll data.
 +
* Johnson Lyndon B. ''The Vantage Point: Perspectives on the Presidency, 1963–1969'' (1971). LBJ's memoirs.
 +
* ''Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson'' (10 volumes, GPO, 1965-70). All speeches and official statements.
 +
* Reedy, George ''Lyndon B. Johnson: A Memoir'' (1982), ISBN 0-8362-6610-2. A memoir by the press secretary.
 +
  
 
==References==
 
==References==

Revision as of 11:27, December 3, 2008

Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon johnson.jpg
36th President of the United States
Term of office
November 22, 1963 - January 20, 1969[1]
Political party Democratic
Vice Presidents None (1963-1965)
Hubert Humphrey (1965-1969)
Preceded by John F. Kennedy
Succeeded by Richard Nixon
36th Vice-President of the United States
Term of office
January 20, 1961 - November 22, 1963
President John F. Kennedy
Preceded by Richard Nixon
Succeeded by Hubert Humphrey
Born August 27, 1908
Stonewall, Texas
Died January 22, 1973
Stonewall, Texas
Spouse Lady Bird Johnson
Religion Disciple of Christ
Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973), often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States of America (1963–1969). After serving in the House and Senate since 1937, Johnson was elected Vice President in 1960, and in November, 1963, he succeeded to the presidency following President John F. Kennedy's assassination. Although he had a reputation as a moderate in the 1950s, he seized the leadership of liberalism as president, moved the Democratic Party to the left, and pushed through Congress the Great Society, comprising liberal legislation including civil rights laws, Medicare (free health care for the elderly), Medicaid (free health care for the poor), aid to education, and a major "War on Poverty". Simultaneously, he escalated the American involvement in the Vietnam War, from 16,000 American soldiers in 1963 to 550,000 in early 1968.

Johnson won reelection in a landslide in 1964 over conservative leader Barry Goldwater, and in 1965 succeeded in obtaining new liberal legislation. Johnson's popularity steadily declined after 1966 and his reelection bid in 1968 collapsed as a result of turmoil in his Democratic party over Vietnam, race, and widespread crime and rioting. He withdrew from the race to concentrate on peacemaking. Johnson was renowned for his domineering personality and arm twisting of powerful politicians.

Early Life

Johnson was born in Stonewall, Texas, as one of five children. He graduated from Johnson City High School in 1924, and in 1926 enrolled in Southwest Texas State Teachers' College, graduating in 1931.

Political Service

In 1932 Johnson moved to Washington, D.C. to work as an aide to Congressman Richard Kleberg. He briefly attended law school at Georgetown. In 1934 Johnson married Claudia Taylor (known as "Lady Bird"), with whom he had two daughters, Lynda (b. 1944) and Luci (b. 1947). In 1935, Johnson returned to Texas to run the Texas National Youth Administration, which created jobs for young people during the Depression. Including his wife's nickname, Lady Bird, all members of the family had the initials LBJ.

Johnson resigned from his job in 1937 to run successfully for a seat in the House of Representatives representing Austin and the surrounding area. In 1941 he lost a controversial race for a U.S. Senate seat to the governor of Texas, Pappy O'Daniel. The race was marked by allegations of voter fraud against both candidates. Johnson retained his House seat after the election.

In 1948, Johnson ran in another controversial Senate race, this time against former governor Coke Stevenson. After no candidate won a majority of the votes in the election, Johnson defeated Stevenson in a run-off election. After joining the Senate, Johnson established relationships with several senior senators, including Richard Russell. Johnson was appointed to the powerful Armed Services Committee in 1950, which brought him into the public spotlight. He became the leader of the Democratic Party in the Senate in 1953. Johnson sought the Democratic nomination for president prior to the 1960 election, but accepted the nomination for vice-president following Kennedy's nomination.

Presidency

Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn into the Office of the President just hours after John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The Oath of Office took place aboard Air Force One (en route to Washington DC from Dallas), was administered by Sarah T. Hughes (one of the first justices to hear and write the decision for Roe v. Wade in favor of abortion). [2] Also, since no Bible could be found aboard Air Force One, Johnson recited the oath with his hand on a Roman Catholic missal instead.[3]

As President, Johnson greatly expanded the federal government with his Great Society programs. He played a key role in helping the civil rights movement win legislative victories, pushing for the adoption of the Civil Rights Act (1964), which outlawed segregation, and the Voting Rights Act (1965), which guaranteed African-Americans' right to vote. He also greatly expanded American involvement in Vietnam (see Vietnam War). Although Johnson won the 1964 presidential election in a landslide over Republican Barry Goldwater, his popularity plunged as the death toll from the conflict in Vietnam steadily increased. In early 1968, faced with plummeting poll numbers and mounting public opposition to his foreign policy, Johnson announced that he would neither seek nor accept his party's nomination for the presidency in 1968. It is widely thought that had he run, he would have been trounced in the primaries or in the subsequent general election - eventually won by Republican Richard M. Nixon.

Bibliography

Biographies

Presidential years

  • Altschuler, Bruce E.; LBJ and the Polls (1990) online edition
  • Andrew, John A. Lyndon Johnson and the Great Society (1999) 224 pp. excerpt and online search from Amazon.com
  • Bernstein, Irving. Guns or Butter: The Presidency of Lyndon Johnson 1994.
  • Bornet, Vaughn Davis. The Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson. 1983
  • Branch, Taylor. Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-63 (1989) excerpt and text search
  • Branch, Taylor. Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years 1963-65 (1999) excerpt and text search
  • Branch, Taylor. At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-68 (2007)
  • Divine, Robert A., ed. The Johnson Years. Vol. 1: Foreign Policy, the Great Society and the White House. 1981; essays by scholars
  • Divine, Robert A., ed. The Johnson Years. Vol. 2: Vietnam, the Environment, and Science. 1987; essays by scholars
  • Divine, Robert A., ed. The Johnson Years. Vol. 3: LBJ at Home and Abroad. 1994; essays by scholars excerpt and online search from Amazon.com
  • Firestone, Bernard J., and Robert C. Vogt, eds. Lyndon Baines Johnson and the Uses of Power. (1988); essays by scholars online edition
  • Graham, Hugh Davis. The Civil Rights Era: Origins and Development of National Policy, 1960-1972 (1990)
  • Gould, Lewis L. Lady Bird Johnson and the Environment. 1988.
  • Lichtenstein, Nelson, ed. Political Profiles: The Johnson Years. 1976. short biographies of 400+ key politicians
  • Mann, Robert. The Walls of Jericho: Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Richard Russell, and the Struggle for Civil Rights. 1996.
  • Milkis, Sidney M. and Jerome M. Mileur, eds. The Great Society And The High Tide Of Liberalism (2005) 490pp of essays by scholars; excerpt and online search from Amazon.com
  • Redford, Emmette S., and Marlan Blissett. Organizing the Executive Branch: The Johnson Presidency. 1981.
  • Shesol, Jeff. Mutual Contempt: Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy, and the Feud That Shaped a Decade 1997.
  • White, Theodore H. The Making of the President, 1964 1965. online at ACLS e-books
  • Zarefsky, David. President Johnson's War on Poverty 1986.

Vietnam

  • Barrett, David Marshall. Advice and Dissent: An Organizational Analysis of the Evolution of Lyndon Johnson's Vietnam Advisory System, 1965–1968. (University of Notre Dame, 1990)
  • Berman, Larry. Lyndon Johnson's War: The Road to Stalemate in Vietnam (1991)
  • Brands, H. W. The Wages of Globalism: Lyndon Johnson and the Limits of American Power (1997)
  • Casey, Francis Michael. The Vietnam Policy of President Lyndon Baines Johnson in Response to the Theory of the Protracted Conflict as Applied in the Politics of Indochina: A Case Study of Threat Perception and Assessment in the Crisis Management Process of a Pluralistic Society. (Claremont Graduate School, 1976)
  • Cherwitz, Richard Arnold. The Rhetoric of the Gulf of Tonkin: A Study of the Crisis Speaking of President Lyndon B. Johnson. (University of Iowa, 1978)
  • Goodnight, Lisa Jo. The Conservative Voice of a Liberal President: An Analysis of Lyndon B. Johnson's Vietnam Rhetoric. (Purdue University, 1993)
  • Kaiser, David E. American tragedy: Kennedy, Johnson, and the origins of the Vietnam War. (Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2000) ISBN 0-674-00225-3
  • Logevall, Fredrik Bengt Johan. Fear to Negotiate: Lyndon Johnson and the Vietnam War, 1963–1965. (Yale University, 1993)
  • Turner, Kathleen Jane. The Effect of Presidential-Press Interaction on Lyndon B. Johnson's Vietnam War Rhetoric. (Purdue University, 1978)
  • Vandiver, Frank E. Shadows of Vietnam: Lyndon Johnson's Wars (1997) online edition
  • Woods, Randall B. "The Politics of Idealism: Lyndon Johnson, Civil Rights, and Vietnam," Diplomatic History (2007)
31 (1), 1–18. online at Blackwell-Synergy]

Primary sources

  • Barrett David M. ed. "Lyndon B. Johnson's Vietnam Papers: A Documentary Collection" (1997). Documents from LBJ Library and other archives.
  • Beschloss Michael R. ed. Taking Charge: The Johnson White House Tapes, 1963–1964 (1997). Transcribed recordings of LBJ's phone calls.
  • Beschloss, Michael R. ed. Reaching for Glory: Lyndon Johnson's Secret White House Tapes, 1964-1965 (2002) excerpt and online search from Amazon.com
  • Califano Joseph A., Jr. The Triumph & Tragedy of Lyndon Johnson (1991). By a cabinet member.
  • Council of Economic Advisors, Economic Report of the President (annual 1947- ), complete series online; important analysis of current trends and policies, plus statistcial tables
  • Gallup, George H. ed. The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1935–1971, volume 3: 1959–1971 (1972). Summary of poll data.
  • Johnson Lyndon B. The Vantage Point: Perspectives on the Presidency, 1963–1969 (1971). LBJ's memoirs.
  • Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson (10 volumes, GPO, 1965-70). All speeches and official statements.
  • Reedy, George Lyndon B. Johnson: A Memoir (1982), ISBN 0-8362-6610-2. A memoir by the press secretary.


References

  1. ↑ http://home.comcast.net/~sharonday7/Presidents/AP060301.htm
  2. ↑ University of North Texas Libraries, Sarah T. Hughes Collection, http://www.library.unt.edu/archives/historical-manuscripts/historical-manuscripts-exhibits/hughes/
  3. ↑ New York Times, "After a Time of Tragedy, a Beginning Toward the 'Great Society,'" January 1973. Online at http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/04/12/specials/johnson-tragedy.html