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Reaching for Glory: Lyndon Johnson’s Secret White House Tapes, 1964-1965 by Michael Beschloss Recommendation: •••
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LBJ’s Back, Sort Of The Lyndon Johnson Library continues to release to the public copies of the tapes President Lyndon B. Johnson recorded while in office. Historian Michael Beschloss has been listening to the tapes, and publishing printed excerpts, the second volume of which was recently released, Reaching for Glory. For each selection, Beschloss makes some contextual comments to frame the printed conversation, and uses footnotes to help explain references made to people and events that might be unclear to a reader. In the interest of space, Beschloss omits many hours of text that he considered less relevant or valuable form a historical perspective. The inclusions give a reader insight into the methods and personality of Johnson. The omissions contain insights that a reader or student of Johnson will need to gain elsewhere. Unfortunately, the bulk of material covered in Reaching for Glory has not been released in tape form. C-Span has archived taped conversations from its radio program on the Johnson Tapes at c-span.org, but the time period stops in late 1964. Here’s an example of the impact of what a reader learns from each source. First, an excerpt from Beschloss: Walter Jenkins Special Assistant to the President Saturday, October 10, 1964, 10:38am Resting at the LBJ Ranch, Johnson is lying in bed with Lady Bird, reading the morning newspapers. Both are back from their campaign trips. Johnson’s closest aide, who has worked for him since 1939, calls him from Washington about the latest polls. Jenkins: I thought maybe that you might want Lou Harris’s latest figures…. LBJ: Son of a bitch! Looks to me, he working for (Goldwater). He keeps saying how he’s ‘lunging.’…. His adjectives just scare me to death. What are they? Jenkins: … New York. Sixty-six (Johnson). Twenty-seven (Goldwater). And seven (undecided)….That’s down a little bit….He said Bobby Kennedy is slipping and down to fifty-fifty. He’s destroying himself every day by invoking his brother and talking about nobody but him, and taking John-John out on rallies. * * * LBJ: Now tell Humphrey, and tell the Cabinet,… ‘When you are referring to the President, never refer to him as “Lyndon” or “Lyndon Johnson.” Refer to him as “the President.”’ It has so much more prestige….Humphrey is just like a gigolo. He jumps up every day, saying, ‘They’re hitting Lyndon Johnson.’ … But he ought to be saying, ‘They’re hitting our dear President.’ Or ‘our great President.’ Readers gain several key insights from this selection: Johnson sleeps in on Saturdays and reads the newspapers in bed while making phone calls; his long-term assistant calls to tell Johnson some poll numbers, and hears Johnson’s reaction to the numbers; and Johnson gives some marching orders to Jenkins. If you listen to the tape recording of this conversation (you can access the tape at http://www.c-span.org/ram/lbj/lbj3941.ram), more insights can be gleaned. The conversation lasts more than a half hour. Jenkins reads lots of numbers over the phone, which Johnson writes down in columns. Johnson quizzes Jenkins with insightful questions about the numbers; some of the questions Jenkins can answer, others he can’t. While we read the direction Johnson gives Jenkins of what to tell Humphrey and the Cabinet, the tape gives added insight into Johnson as micromanager. He tells Jenkins over and over exactly what he wants Jenkins to do and how he wants him to do it. A listener comes away from eavesdropping on the conversation with the impression that no matter what Jenkins does or says, it’s never good enough for LBJ. A listener comes away with the impression that no matter how positive the poll numbers, Johnson has serious concerns about being elected, and he focused on areas of Goldwater strength. Reaching for Glory makes a valuable contribution to the resources available in understanding Lyndon Johnson. Johnson’s conversations with Jacqueline Kennedy receive particular attention in this volume, and Beschloss also includes excerpts from Lady Bird Johnson’s diary which add a perspective to the events and new insight into Johnson’s state of mind. This a must-read for Johnson aficionados, like me. Others will find this a fascinating glimpse into a compulsive and domineering executive. Steve Hopkins, December 12, 2001
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