JFK & LBJ The Last Two Great Presidents

As a young White House correspondent during the Kennedy and Johnson years in Washington, D.C., Godfrey Hodgson had a ringside seat covering the last two great presidents of the United States, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, two men who could not have been more different. Kennedy’s wit and dashing style, his renown as a national war hero, and his Ivy League Boston Brahmin background stood in sharp contrast to Lyndon Johnson’s rural, humble origins in Texas, his blunt, forceful (but effective) political style, his lackluster career in the navy, and his grassroots populist instincts. Hodgson, a sharp-eyed witness throughout the tenure of these two great men, now offers us a new perspective enriched by his reflections since that time a half-century ago. He offers us a fresh, dispassionate contrast of these two great men by stripping away the myths to assess their achievements, ultimately asking whether Johnson has been misjudged. He suggests that LBJ be given his due by history, arguing that he was as great a president as, perhaps even greater than, JFK.

 

The seed that grew into this book was the author’s early perception that JFK’s performance in office was largely overrated while LBJ’s was consistently underrated. Hodgson asks key questions: If Kennedy had lived, would he have matched Johnson’s ambitious Great Society achievements? Would he have avoided Johnson’s disastrous commitment in Vietnam? Would Nixon have been elected his successor, and if not, how would American politics and parties look today? Hodgson combines lively anecdotes with sober analyses to arrive at new conclusions about the U.S. presidency and two of the most charismatic figures ever to govern from the Oval Office.

“A deeply detailed, fascinating characterization of two men, a country, and an era.”—Kirkus Reviews

A firsthand observer weighs the achievements—and failures—of two fabled American presidents

A firsthand observer weighs the achievements--and failures--of two fabled American presidents
As a young White House correspondent during the Kennedy and Johnson years in Washington, D.C., Godfrey Hodgson had a ringside seat covering the last two great presidents of the United States, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, two men who could not have been more different. Kennedy's wit and dashing style, his renown as a national war hero, and his Ivy League Boston Brahmin background stood in sharp contrast to Lyndon Johnson's rural, humble origins in Texas, his blunt, forceful (but effective) political style, his lackluster career in the navy, and his grassroots populist instincts. Hodgson, a sharp-eyed witness throughout the tenure of these two great men, now offers us a new perspective enriched by his reflections since that time a half-century ago. He offers us a fresh, dispassionate contrast of these two great men by stripping away the myths to assess their achievements, ultimately asking whether Johnson has been misjudged. He suggests that LBJ be given his due by history, arguing that he was as great a president as, perhaps even greater than, JFK.
The seed that grew into this book was the author's early perception that JFK's performance in office was largely overrated while LBJ's was consistently underrated. Hodgson asks key questions: If Kennedy had lived, would he have matched Johnson's ambitious Great Society achievements? Would he have avoided Johnson's disastrous commitment in Vietnam? Would Nixon have been elected his successor, and if not, how would American politics and parties look today? Hodgson combines lively anecdotes with sober analyses to arrive at new conclusions about the U.S. presidency and two of the most charismatic figures ever to govern from the Oval Office.

In this lively insider's view of presidents Kennedy and Johnson, a former White House correspondent explores the achievements of the two men and argues that one has been underrated while the other is all too often overrated.

As a young White House correspondent and Washington reporter during the Kennedy and Johnson years, Godfrey Hodgson covered two presidents who could hardly have been more different. John Kennedy’s wit and dashing style, his war-hero status, and his Ivy League/Boston background stood in sharp contrast to Lyndon Johnson’s provincial origins in Texas and his forceful manner, questionable service as a naval officer, and populist instincts. Hodgson, a close-up witness throughout the tumultuous 1960s, now draws on the insights of subsequent decades to strip away myths and assess the two presidents’ real achievements.

 

The seed that grew into this book was the author’s early perception that JFK’s performance in office was largely overrated while LBJ’s was consistently underrated. Hodgson asks key questions: If Kennedy had lived, would he have matched Johnson’s ambitious Great Society achievements? Would he have avoided Johnson’s disastrous commitment in Vietnam? Would Nixon have been elected his successor, and if not, how would American politics and parties look today? Hodgson combines lively anecdotes with sober analyses to arrive at new conclusions about the U.S. presidency and two of the most charismatic figures ever to govern from the Oval Office.

What prompted you to write this book?

 

Over the years, as I studied different fields of twentieth-century American political history, I came to feel more and more strongly that LBJ deserved a more positive reassessment, that he had not been given his just due.

 

 

How would you characterize the main differences between the two presidents?

 

As men, in background and temperament they could hardly be more different. JFK was highly educated, though not academically especially brilliant. LBJ’s formal education was undistinguished, though those who dealt with him all commented on his exceptional intelligence. JFK was the child of great wealth; LBJ, if his family’s poverty has been exaggerated, came from a family of local notables that had fallen on hard times. If JFK was all charm, LBJ was forceful and relentless. As politicians, LBJ was a populist, JFK a Whig in the British sense, an aristocrat with a passion for liberty and a devotion to public service.

 

 

How did JFK and LBJ differ on civil rights and Vietnam?

 

LBJ was profoundly, viscerally committed to the idea that the time had come to give African Americans equality. JFK came late to understand that the civil rights movement was the most urgent item on the national political agenda. On Vietnam, they were essentially agreed: that American “credibility” demanded defeat of communism in Vietnam.

 

My argument boils down to two counterfactuals: Would Kennedy, had he lived, have carried out LBJ’s remarkable domestic agenda? Would he, in 1965, have avoided LBJ’s commitment of American forces to the Vietnam War? Recognizing that the answers are ultimately unknowable, I offer carefully argued answers that illuminate the qualities and achievements of both presidents.