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

Transcribing, editing, and explaining the most powerful moments from hundreds of hours of newly released LBJ tapes, Michael Beschloss has added another lasting treasure to the American historical record.Reaching for Gloryexposes the inner workings of the Johnson presidency from the summer of 1964 through the summer of 1965.From behind the scenes, you will hear Johnson pulling the strings of his presidential campaign against Barry Goldwater and pursuing his feud with the new senator Robert Kennedy. He agonizes over Martin Luther King, Jr., and the bloody march on Selma, Alabama, and twists arms on Capitol Hill to pass voting rights, Medicare, and more basic laws than any American president before or since. Above all, you will hear him sending young Americans off to Vietnam while privately insisting that the war can never be won.Winding Johnson's voice and exclusive excerpts from Lady Bird Johnson's private diaries into a gripping narrative, Michael Beschloss provides context and historical insights, showing how profoundly LBJ changed the presidency and the country.Reaching for Gloryallows us to live at Lyndon Johnson's side, day by day, through the dramatic, triumphant, and catastrophic year of a turbulent presidency that continues to affect us all.

Michael Beschloss has been called by Newsweek "the nation's leading presidential historian." Author of five previous books on American presidents, he is a frequent lecturer and regular commentator on ABC News and PBS's The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. Born in Chicago, he is a trustee of the White House Historical Association, the National Archives Foundation, and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Contents

PROLOGUE: "Jackie, I Love You!"

1. Mudslinging Campaign

2. Sex Scandal in the Throne Room

3. A Landslide Can't Buy Happiness

4. Girding for Battles

5. "I Don't See Any Way of Winning"

6. "It May Look Like I'm Stirring Up These Marches"

7. "The Kids Are Led by Communist Groups"

8. "Do We Let Castro Take Over?"

9. "I Don't Believe They're Ever Going to Quit"

10. "We Know It's Going to Be Bad"

EPILOGUE: Riding on a Crest

EDITOR'S NOTE

CAST OF CHARACTERS

APPENDIX

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INDEX