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Lyndon B Johnson
The Practical President
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Lyndon B. Johnson – A Life, by Irwin Unger and Debi Unger
(John Wiley & Sons Inc).
I do not suggest that this biography of the famous president is a suitable book for every student, although it is very well written and tells the story clearly. The advanced or political student will have no difficulty with it.
I call Johnson ‘the practical president’ because, of all the presidents of the 20th century, he seems to me to be the one with most practical experience of law - making.
Johnson was elected to the House of Representatives at age 28 in 1937, having served as a secretary there since 1931. He was elected to the Senate in 1948, a few months after his fortieth birthday.
In due course he became Senate Minority Leader. When the republicans lost their senate majority in 1955 he became Senate Majority Leader, the most powerful democrat in a country where the president at that time was a republican, Dwight D. Eisenhower.
A TEXAS PRODIGY
I learned from the book that, long before the glamorous John F Kennedy came along, LBJ was a ‘boy wonder’ – a political prodigy.
At the age of 10 he used to read the serious political newspapers and then explain the political background and consequences to the men who hung out at the local barber shop.
As a teenager his interest in politics in Texas and in Washington was obsessive, and yet he never had any wish to go to university. Instead he went to Teacher Training College in San Marcos, Texas, to become a teacher.
TEACHING IN TEXAS
After his first year he had to quit college to get a job to support himself. He was given a position at the Wellhausen School in Cotulla, Texas. This was a school for Mexican children. This was the first time Johnson met real poverty.
He applied his usual energy, working 16 hours a day. He noticed that many children came to school without any breakfast and he set up a free food program for them.
After a year he went back to training college in San Marcos but when he graduated he returned to teaching, this time at the Sam Houston High School, where he remained until he went into full-time politics in 1931.
The authors of this book have spoken to many of his former pupils and they report him to have been ‘hard but fair’.
IN THE U.S. CONGRESS
In 1931 he went to Congress as secretary to a senator. This was his first big break, and many very senior democrats from Texas and other places helped him to get the job. They had watched his progress in Texas and they knew he was a man they should help – his record showed that he was something special.
The book is very clear about the secret of LBJ’s success – from his earliest youth he worked 16 hours a day almost every day, and when he thought that more was required, he did more.
He was always a ‘man on the make’ in the sense that he made sure that the newspapers and senior politicians knew about his successes, and he made friends with any powerful person he met.
At first he knew President Roosevelt only slightly, but soon made the friendship stronger, so that within five years the president was calling the young man from Texas ‘an old, old friend’.
"VULGAR COWBOY FROM TEXAS"
Lyndon Johnson was not a modest man and many people always saw him as a big, rough, vulgar cowboy from Texas. John F Kennedy chose him as vice president for the 1960 presidential election which Kennedy won.
When Kennedy was assassinated on 21 November 1963, Johnson became president. It was a very troubled time and eventually LBJ was considered to be a good, if not very popular, president.
FINALLY, A PRESIDENT FROM TEXAS
The story of his problems in trying to follow John F Kennedy, and the events of his early years in office, are explained in this book in a very clear manner.
I think his presidency was overshadowed by three things –
1. The glare of the ‘brilliance’ of the Kennedy years
2. The tendency to a bipolar [manic depressive] nature which seemed to impede his wish for action, and
3. His growing involvement with the war in Vietnam, a national disaster in which, as we knew before this book came out, he seemed to believe that only his experts knew anything.
This is a very readable, scholarly and convincing book that gives us enough detail to support and explain those half – forgotten days.
No man is a hero to his biographer, but I think LBJ was a hero because he passed, or helped to pass, more social legislation to help the poor in the USA than any man, especially when he was in the Senate. He was not perfect, but few great men are.
This fascinating book will help to restore his reputation.
Questions:
1. Does this article suggest that the book is suitable for beginners?
2. Why does the writer describe Lyndon B. Johnson as ‘the practical president’?
3. What was Johnson’s first job in the senate?
4. How old was LBJ when he became a senator?
5. Only one of the following statements is TRUE –
a) Johnson had no real power in the Senate.
b) The president at that time was a socialist.
c) LBJ was a prodigy before the time of John F. Kennedy.
d) The article says that John F. Kennedy was a movie star.
6. Only one of the following statements is TRUE -
a) Johnson learned to read at the age of 21.
b) The local barber shop was a place where men gathered.
c) Johnson had no interest in politics until 1955.
d) Lyndon Johnson’s first job was as a dentist.
7. Why did Johnson leave Teacher Training College?
8. What did Johnson do to help the Mexican children?
9. Only one of the following statements is UNTRUE (false) –
a) LBJ returned to college in San Marcos after a year in Cotulla.
b) The school in Cotulla had many Chinese children.
c) LBJ graduated from college.
d) He taught at the Sam Houston High School.
10. In which school did Johnson teach until 1931?
11. Only one of the following statements is TRUE –
a) Johnson’s former students describe him as ‘handsome’.
b) The authors of the book did not consult any of LBJ’s former pupils.
c) The authors spoke to many of Johnson’s former students in Texas.
d) The authors spoke to Johnson personally many times.
12. Who assisted LBJ in obtaining a place in Congress?
13. What was indicated by Johnson’s personal history?
14. What was the secret of Johnson’s success?
15. With what kind of people did he make friends?
16. How did President Roosevelt describe Johnson?
17. Only one of these statements is FALSE –
a) John F. Kennedy chose Johnson to be his vice-president.
b) Johnson was an elegant, refined kind of man.
c) Many people considered LBJ to be a vulgar cowboy.
d) LBJ was a native of the state of Texas.
18. What is described as ‘a very troubled time’?
19. Which war dominated the Johnson years?
20. Why does the writer of this article think that Lyndon B. Johnson was a hero?
También hay ’The Years of Lyndon Johnson' una biografía destacada en tres volúmenes por Robert A Caro (Alfred A Knopf).
Los tres volúmenes tienen 2.220 páginas en total y, en mi opinion, forman una de las mejores biografías del siglo veinte. Es una historia de Tejas y una guia detallada del trabajo del Senado USA también. Un libro fascinante y maravilloso.
Vea este video de Robert A. Caro muy interesante (en su inglés tan claro y comprensible) AQUI.
Answers (palabras claves):
1. No, it is not suitable
2. Practical experience of law-making
3. Secretary (since 1931)
4. Forty (40)
5. c
6. b
7. To support himself/get a job/earn money
8. He orgaized a free food program
9. b
10. Sam Houston High School
11. c
12 "many very senior democrats"
13. It showed he was something special
14. Hard work/he worked long hours/he worked hard
15. Any powerful person
16. "An old, old friend"
17. b
18. The early hears of lBJ's presidency
19. Vietnam
20. He passed legislation to help poor people.
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