It takes some courage to come out with a biography of Lyndon Baines Johnson, given that his life has been chronicled by many authors, the most recent of whom was Robert Dallek, whose two-volume biography was outstanding. Irwin Unger is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian (for The Green- back Era in 1965); in LBJ, he and his wife Debi have produced a solid, impartial biography. It is not in the same league as the Dallek opus, but it comes close.
Lyndon Johnson was born in 1908 in Stonewall, Texas. He was the eldest child of Sam Ealy Johnson, a minor Texan politician, and Rebekah Baines, a journalist. His mother was ambitious for her firstborn, and was devoted to him. The affection was two-way and Johnson hurtled into life drenched with the certainty and confidence that supportive mother-love can bestow. His consuming interest was politics. Sports held no attraction and even girls got little of his time, especially if hustings work or political debate were on offer. Academia didn't appeal. Eventually he graduated with a teaching degree but took off for Washington a year later as an assistant to a Congressman. The ladder was climbed swiftly and by 1955, at the age of 47, he was majority leader of the Senate, the youngest ever to hold the post. But Johnson's confidence was on the surface only. His insecurity got the better of him in 1960 when he left it too late to challenge Jack Kennedy for the Democratic presidential nomination. He settled for second prize but was a deeply-unhappy vice president. Kennedy treated him with respect but they were never remotely close, while JFK's younger brother Robert, consumed with a disdain for Johnson that bordered on the pathological, never missed an opportunity to put him down, writing him off as a boorish, conservative hillbilly who was out of his depth. Kennedy could hardly have been more wrong.
Becoming a "president by accident" after Dallas, Johnson flourished in the face of great adversity. The country was in mourning for JFK and Johnson found himself subject to incessant comparison. He had to keep the Kennedy flag flying but wanted to be his own man. Post-1963, Robert Kennedy dedicated his life to undermining Johnson, turning the latter's nagging insecurity into incurable paranoia. But as the authors point out in great detail, Johnson's legislative successes were astonishing. The "Great Society" programmes which gave the people Medicare, federal aid for education, and consumer protection were his, but, above all, he delivered civil rights to the black community in the face of huge opposition. He pushed through all he inherited of Jack Kennedy's programme and much more besides. And he inherited Vietnam, which, to his dying day, haunted and harassed him.
Johnson was not a rabid anti-communist. He persisted with the war in Vietnam mostly because pulling out would have constituted electoral suicide. The anti-war movement was vocal, but it was a minority. Following Johnson's decision to stand down in 1968, the electorate made its choice between Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphrey and George Wallace, none of whom even hinted at a pull-out.
The Ungers have written a commendable biography. They capture Johnson's combativeness, extraordinary energy and self-doubt; they get inside Johnson's mind. However, they are not uncritical. They demonstrate conclusively how, over Vietnam, Johnson's usually sound judgment completely deserted him, as shown by his refusal to accept that Ho Chi Min's patience would eventually triumph over military might. The Ungers also paint some dislikeable pictures of their subject, as when, for instance, without any good reason, he held back from supporting the estimable and ever-loyal Humphrey as his successor. LBJ: A Life is scholarly and solid. It would not, however, win prizes for style: it lacks pace and is devoid of panache. A bit flawed, just like its subject.
Eoin McVey is a Managing Editor with The Irish Times