Synopses & Reviews
A majestic big-picture account of the Great Society and the forces thatand#160;shaped it, from Lyndon Johnson and members of Congress to the civiland#160;rights movement and the media Between November 1963, when he becameand#160;president, and November 1966, when his party wasand#160;routed in the midterm elections, Lyndon Johnsonand#160;spearheaded the most transformative agenda inand#160;American political history since the New Deal,and#160;one whose ambition and achievement have had noand#160;parallel since. In just three years, Johnson droveand#160;the passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rightsand#160;Acts; the War on Poverty program; Medicareand#160;and Medicaid; the National Endowments for theand#160;Arts and the Humanities; Public Broadcasting;and#160;immigration liberalization; a raft of consumer andand#160;environmental protection acts; and major federaland#160;investments in public transportation. Collectively,and#160;this group of achievements was labeled by Johnsonand#160;and his team the and#147;Great Society.and#8221;
In The Fierce Urgency of Now, Julian E. Zelizer takesand#160;the full measure of the entire story in all its epicand#160;sweep. Before Johnson, Kennedy tried and failedand#160;to achieve many of these advances. Our practicedand#160;understanding is that this was an unprecedentedand#160;and#147;liberal hourand#8221; in America, a moment, afterand#160;Kennedyand#8217;s death, when the seas parted andand#160;Johnson could simply stroll through to victory.and#160;As Zelizer shows, this view is off-base: In manyand#160;respects America was even more conservative thanand#160;it seems now, and Johnsonand#8217;s legislative programand#160;faced bitter resistance. The Fierce Urgency of Nowand#160;animates the full spectrum of forces at play duringand#160;these turbulent years, including religious groups,and#160;the media, conservative and liberal political actionand#160;groups, unions, and civil rights activists.
Above all, the great character in the bookand#160;whose role rivals Johnsonand#8217;s is Congressand#151;indeed,and#160;Zelizer argues that our understanding of theand#160;Great Society program is too Johnson-centric. Heand#160;discusses why Congress was so receptive to passingand#160;these ideas in a remarkably short span of time andand#160;how the election of 1964 and burgeoning civil rightsand#160;movement transformed conditions on Capitoland#160;Hill. Zelizer brings a deep, intimate knowledge ofand#160;the institution to bear on his story: The book is aand#160;master class in American political grand strategy.
Finally, Zelizer reckons with the legacy of theand#160;Great Society. Though our politics have changed,and#160;the heart of the Great Society legislation remainsand#160;intact fifty years later. In fact, he argues, the Greatand#160;Society shifted the American political center ofand#160;gravityand#151;and our social landscapeand#151;decisivelyand#160;to the left in many crucial respects. In a very realand#160;sense, we are living today in the country thatand#160;Johnson and his Congress made.
Review
Sam Tanenhaus, The New Yorker:and#160;
and#8220;The Fierce Urgency of Now, Julian E. Zelizerand#8217;s account of wins and losses in the Johnson years, combines history with political science, as befits our data-happy moment. The information comes at us steadilyand#8212;there are useful facts on almost every pageand#8230;The emphasis falls instead on the high, and sometimes low, workings of legislative government and#8230;This patient no-frills approach offers illuminations that a more cinematic treatment might not. And if Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton, at times betrays the head-counting instincts of a House whip, well, head-counting is the nuts and bolts of congressional lawmaking.and#8221;
The Washington Post:and#160;
and#8220;Insightfuland#8230;Zelizer briskly dispels nostalgia for a time when politics were supposedly easier, asserting that and#8216;this period of liberalism was much more fragile, contested, and transitory than we have usually remembered.and#8217;and#8230;[Zelizerand#8217;s] fundamental point is that itand#8217;s always a struggle to enact bold legislation, which becomes possible in historical moments created by much broader forces than the political genius of a few individualsand#8230;.[An] intelligent, informative book.and#8221;
Chicago Tribune: and#160;
and#8220;[An] authoritative new historyand#8230;Although The Fierce Urgency of Now expertly illustrates both the breadth and the limitations of presidential power, Zelizer resists telling the story of the Great Society as Johnsonand#8217;s biography. History doesn't always come in the form of a tight narrative with a compelling hero, and it doesn't here.and#8221;
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:and#160;
and#8220;Political context does, indeed, matter. And the Democratic landslide of 1964, which brought to Washington the most liberal class of elected officials in decades, clearly greased the wheels for Mr. Johnsonand#8217;s Great Society.and#8230; The lesson Lyndon Johnson had learnedand#8230; should command the attention of all and#8216;president-centricand#8217; historians and#8212; and the political pundits who think that Barack Obama can break the partisan gridlock in Congress by simply emulating the and#8216;treatmentand#8217; employed by our nationand#8217;s 36th president.and#8221;
Kirkus:
A sort-of-liberal president faces an intransigent, obstructionist Congress: We mean Lyndon Johnson, of course, and the class of 1966. Zelizer, a lucid writer, doesn't need to cherry-pick to line up parallels with todayand#8230;A smart, provocative study.and#8221;
Publishers Weekly:and#160;
and#8220;Zelizer paints Johnson as a flawedand#8212;opportunistic, domineering, ambitiousand#8212;yet impressive leader, who took advantage of a perfect storm of legislative and governmental conditions to push through an unprecedented number of projects and achievements; a president who gambled greatly while his party and a liberal majority were in ascendancy and won accordinglyand#8230;His focus on the conflict between conservative and liberal factions is even more timely in todayand#8217;s climate. Zelizer writes with an expertand#8217;s deep understanding of the subject.and#8221;
and#160;
About the Author
Julian E. Zelizer