
Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream
The Most Revealing Portrait of a President and Presidential Power Ever Written
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Narrated by:
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Gabra Zackman
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Jim Frangione
About this listen
Doris Kearns Goodwin's classic life of Lyndon Johnson, who presided over the Great Society, the Vietnam War, and other defining moments in the tumultuous 1960s, is a monument in political biography. From the moment the author, then a young woman from Harvard, first encountered President Johnson at a White House dance in the spring of 1967, she became fascinated by the man - his character, his enormous energy and drive, and his manner of wielding these gifts in an endless pursuit of power. As a member of his White House staff, she soon became his personal confidante, and in the years before his death he revealed himself to her as he did to no other.
Widely praised and enormously popular, Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream is a work of biography like few others. With uncanny insight and a richly engrossing style, the author renders LBJ in all his vibrant, conflicted humanity.
©2016 Doris Kearns Goodwin (P)2016 Simon & SchusterListeners also enjoyed...
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Drawing on President Bush’s personal diaries, on the diaries of his wife, Barbara, and on extraordinary access to the 41st president and his family, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham paints an intimate and surprising portrait of an intensely private man who led the nation through tumultuous times.
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Fair and insightful
- By Jean on 12-02-15
By: Jon Meacham
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The Triumph and Tragedy of Lyndon Johnson
- The White House Years
- By: Joseph A. Califano Jr.
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 17 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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President Lyndon Johnson was bigger than life - and no one who worked for him or was subjected to the "Johnson treatment" ever forgot it. As Johnson's "Deputy President of Domestic Affairs", Joseph A. Califano's unique relationship with the president greatly enriches our understanding of our 36th president. Califano shows listeners LBJ's commitment to economic and social revolution, and his willingness to do whatever it took to achieve his goals.
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LBJ The Greatest President of 20th century
- By David W. Goldstein on 07-28-15
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No Ordinary Time
- By: Doris Kearns Goodwin
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Abridged
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Presenting an aspect of American history that has never been fully told, Doris Kearns Goodwin describes how the isolationist and divided United States of 1940 was unified under the extraordinary leadership of Franklin Roosevelt to become, only five years later, the preeminent economic and military power in the world. Using diaries, interviews, and White House records, Goodwin paints an intimate, detailed portrait not only of the presidency during wartime but also of Franklin and Eleanor themselves.
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Good enough that I wish it were unabridged.
- By Kathryn Kienholz on 05-29-03
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Ascent to Power
- How Truman Emerged from Roosevelt's Shadow and Remade the World
- By: David L. Roll
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 20 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Spanning the years of transition, 1944 to 1948, Ascent to Power illuminates Truman’s struggles to emerge as president in his own right. Yet, from a relatively unknown Missouri senator to the most powerful man on Earth, Truman’s legacy transcends. With his come-from-behind campaign in the fall of 1948, his courageous civil rights advocacy, and his role in liberating millions from militarist governments and brutal occupations, Truman’s decisions during these pivotal years changed the course of the world in ways so significant we live with them today.
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Truman defeated Republican use of Dark Psychology
- By sunao mind☯️ heart ❤️ on 01-30-25
By: David L. Roll
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Franklin and Winston
- An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship
- By: Jon Meacham
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill were the greatest leaders of “the Greatest Generation.” In Franklin and Winston, Jon Meacham explores the fascinating relationship between the two men who piloted the free world to victory in World War II.
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Franklin and Winston Review
- By Ronald Hull on 01-29-04
By: Jon Meacham
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The Bully Pulpit
- Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism
- By: Doris Kearns Goodwin
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 16 hrs and 1 min
- Abridged
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Goodwin describes the broken friendship between Teddy Roosevelt and his chosen successor, William Howard Taft. With the help of the "muckraking" press, Roosevelt had wielded the Bully Pulpit to challenge and triumph over abusive monopolies, political bosses, and corrupting money brokers. Roosevelt led a revolution that he bequeathed to Taft only to see it compromised as Taft surrendered to money men and big business. The rupture led Roosevelt to run against Taft for president, an ultimately futile race that gave power away to the Democrats.
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Loved it.
- By Richard Lee on 04-10-16
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FDR
- By: Jean Edward Smith
- Narrated by: Marc Cashman
- Length: 32 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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One of today's premier biographers, Jean Edward Smith, has written a modern, comprehensive, indeed ultimate book on the epic life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. This is a portrait painted in broad strokes and fine details. We see how Roosevelt's restless energy, fierce intellect, personal magnetism, and ability to project effortless grace permitted him to master countless challenges throughout his life. Smith recounts FDR's personal battles and also tackles head-on and in depth the numerous failures and miscues of Roosevelt's political career.
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Interesting but flawed
- By Mike From Mesa on 09-15-13
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Master of the Senate
- The Years of Lyndon Johnson III
- By: Robert A. Caro
- Narrated by: Stephen Lang
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Abridged
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Master of the Senate carries Lyndon Johnson's story through one of its most remarkable periods: his 12 years in the U.S. Senate. At the heart of the book is its unprecedented revelation of how legislative power works in America, how the Senate works, and how Johnson, in his ascent to the presidency, mastered the Senate as no political leader before him had ever done. "There is something uniquely mesmerizing about the wily, combative Lyndon Johnson as portrayed by Caro," says Publishers Weekly.
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Abridgement bad
- By Shelly Brisbin on 09-05-04
By: Robert A. Caro
What listeners say about Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream
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- Donald Stark
- 11-07-20
She got better
I truly enjoy Doris Kearns Goodwin's histories. This was her first and certainly not her best. Her personal insights into LBJ were outstanding and interesting. Her divergence into pop psychology analysis was not.
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- Chris Hummel
- 07-11-21
Good insights belabored
Goodwin's first book, based in large part on personal connections and interviews with LBJ is filled with lengthy quotes from Johnson coupled with careful analysis from the author. Written in 1976, it does seem quite dated in terms of its reliance on Freudian psychoanalysis to make personality assessments that might be more persuasive without this framework. Goodwin spends a good deal of the book working (usually successfully) to demonstrate scholarly erudition and seems intent on demonstrating her main points by hitting them over and over again. Despite her efforts to make the book an exercise in political analysis meant to demonstrate changes and problems in the presidency, she is at her best in revealing Johnson's particularities in a fair yet sympathetic manner. It is hard for the reader (and it seems Goodwin herself) from viewing Johnson as a highly flawed yet largely likeable figure laid low by the tragedy of Vietnam his own shortcomings contributed to. The scenes of LBJ ordering around his ranch hands after leaving politics as if they were members of his Senatorial or Congressional staff, using his name to get parts delivered to his ranch to keep his cattle watered are especially poignant, bringing to mind Napoleon's confinement on Elba before the 100 Days. But for Johnson, there would be no return to power or influence, however brief, although his reputation would begin to be partially restored, beginning with this book. And Goodwin would develop from a good to a truly great writer of presidential biography.
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- Louie Louie
- 04-06-17
Not her best
I have enjoyed Ms. Goodwin's books, but this one was disappointing--surprising since she worked with President Johnson during and after his White House years. The writing seems unedited, and wanders off into speculative psychology and narratives about the political system in general. It certainly does not live up to its superlative subtitle, nor does it directly address Johnson's role in shaping the American Dream.
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- michael
- 06-06-19
Awkward performance
I enjoyed the book, but the performance was made awkward by the decision to switch between the primary narrator and the Male voice used to read the direct quotes of LBJ.
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- theProfessor
- 06-20-20
I really wanted to like this book
No sure how you can make a book about LBJ hard to listen to, but Goodwin succeeds. Does not provide much backstage insight into American politics, reads and sounds like her dissertation to much of the time. Too much psycho-analysis. Gee you have to think that in LBJ's career there must of been some humorous experiences along the way, few and far between in this book. I was to purchase the book on Lincoln called Team of Rivals, but than I saw if was 41 hours and authored by Goodwin, would certainly want to listen to a sample chaper.
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- Sara K Slamp
- 10-18-21
A Real Eye Opener!
The author reveals a tormented man who obviously was driven to have control in all areas due to his experiences in his early life. I was young when he took his place as President and didn’t realize he was so insecure. I enjoyed this book for all the information gained as a history lover!
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- LoveFromBothSides
- 03-22-23
Wonderful book - Perspective is Everything!
Well written, wonderful book! If you're young, please read. If you're not, please read -- it will give you a PhD in politics and how government actually works. I was at Berkeley in the late '60s -- and just like everyone of my generation, I had no idea how real politics actually worked. My best friend at the time was a graduate student in Political Science, and had know Doris Godwin when they were both at Harvard. So, I'd heard the tales of what a White House Fellow did. Interesting stuff to a 20 year old. Now, it's much more fascinating to read this well researched and insightful biography of an amazing president. Especially, considering the history from then until now. I'm sorry that most of the programs LBJ wanted to get passed, couldn't because of the Vietnam War. Who knows?
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- Alex T
- 03-18-24
Too much psychoanalysis
Some great insight, but too much opinionated psychoanalysis. Still probably Johnson's best biography available written by someone close to him.
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- kathleen shepard
- 08-27-24
Lyndon was more then the Vietnam conflict
A little too wordy. I would have enjoyed Doris Goodwin narrate the book although the narration was adequate
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- T. Scott, Minneapolis, MN
- 10-12-24
No Team of Rivals
Thankfully, I read the author's excellent Team of Rivals before taking on her first book on LBJ. In a nutshell, this book reads like a Master's thesis and not at all like a presidential memoir as we now know it to be. Much analysis about Johnson's path to power but surprisingly little real insite into Johnson's perception of the events he lived through that changed the path of the country. How do you write about any successor president who took the oath of office after the death of his predecessor without mentioning a word about the tragedy that led LBJ to the Executive office? How about his decision to run for President in 1960? His decision to run for Congress? Nothing on all fronts. It is a good book on LBJ's genius of accumulating power in the US Senate. Senate rrules were forever changed to benefit Johnson's lack of oratooratory, but genius level back room negotiation skills. Real insite in the book comes from Johnson's writings, although less than scholarly and meticulously curated by Johnson before his death. I was hoping for much much more.
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