Rating: 
Summary: The Uncritical Presidency
Review: Michael Beschloss's *Taking Charge: The Johnson White House Tapes 1963-64* generated some excitement upon its release, but the material contained in this volume merits more attention today than that reception delivered. Compiled from Oval Office tapes made by LBJ for documentary purposes, we are provided with a few choice cuts regarding the Kennedy assassination (a conversation between LBJ and Jacqueline Kennedy, giving some of the flavor of Johnson's legendary parliamentary tactics) but also a great deal of material pertaining to the "initial conditions" for Johnson's presidency: namely, his loss of political co-ordination with southern Democrats strongly opposed to the brewing conflict in Vietnam and Johnson's growing closeness with FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. The period of time covered by these tapes included great legislative victories for LBJ, including the passage of the Civil Rights Act (one of the most comprehensive pieces of legislation ever enacted by Congress), but for those still concerned with the less-than-salutary effects of the "Best And The Brightest" scenario upon the American polity this will be a revelatory document indeed. At the start of the "Great Society", one of US politics' famed control freaks demonstrates practically no "steering" ability with respect to the direction of discourse concerning matters of federal moment: suggesting that this period was not quite as told on all levels, like many other administrations studied more intensively in terms of their ramifications for ordinary life. Currently the first of two volumes devoted to such material, and a must for any serious student of political power.
Rating: 
Summary: LBJ's tapes do us a favor for history
Review: President Lyndon Johnson's tapes are exactly why modern presidents might want to leave the recorders off. We can read all kinds of conversations here- from his domestic problems with civil rights, to his election, to the war in Vietnam. We also can see how tender he was towards his wife, while still having affairs with other women. Michael Beschloss does us all a favor by providing transcripts of the tapes' key moments in the first two years of LBJ's presidency, with background material to explain all of their significance. Vietnam War researchers and U.S. history buffs will need to make this book a guaranteed spot on their shelves. Please note, too, that the auditapes are also available- but not all of the material in the book is found on the tapes.
Rating:
Summary: not the best of the recent LBJ/RFK/JFK/White House books
Review: Recent months have seen the publication of a spate of books regarding presidential politics in the turbulent decade that was the 1960s. Taking Charge, The Kennedy Tapes, Shadow Play, LBJ's War, Kennedy and Nixon, The Walls of Jericho, The Living and the Dead, Guns and Butter, Dereliction of Duty, The Other Missiles of October---all these books offer some insight into the thoughts, beliefs, actions and geopolitical decisions of the men (and they were all men) who ran our country during that difficult and often painful period. Many of them are well-researched, some are well-written, a few (including this one) have become best-sellers, but all of them are missing a vital piece of the puzzle, a flaw which leaves each of them, for all af their research and erudition, strangely unsatisfying and incomplete. This book is equally, infuriatingly, incomplete. Although interesting, it offers a totally one-sided picture of LBJ's early months, much like hearing one end of a telephone conversation---you can glean a lot of infofmation, but without the missing pieces you have no real idea of the overall context and meaning of what you are hearing One magnificent new book supplies those vital missing piecse and, in doing so, paradoxically renders each of the other books both more valuable and at the same time obsolete----Mutual Contempt, by Jeff Shesol. Shesol's thesis, which he amply substantiates with tapes, documents and personal interviews, is that the feud between RFK and LBJ was pivotal not only in the later stages in their respective political careers, but also in a wide range of policy decisions taken by Johnson, as President. It is both an important piece of historical research and a thoroghly enjoyable read. It is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand the Vietnam War, the Johnson Presidency, the catastrophic results of the Great Society which we are still living with today, or, indeed, the 1960s in general. It should certainly be read in preference to any of the other books mentioned above, including Taking Charge.
Rating: 
Summary: LBJ TAPES
Review: TAKING CHARGE:THE JOHNSON WHITE HOUSETAPES,1963-1964.IS TRANSCRIPTS OF LYNDON BANIES JOHNSON THE 36th PRESIDENT OF THE UNTIED STATES's FIRST YEAR IN OFFICE.COMPLETE WITH TEXT AND BLACK AND PHOTOS THIS BOOK TELLS OF HIS PRESIDENCY IN OWN WORDS.THIS BOOK IS A MUST FOR ANY STUDENT OF THE LBJ PRESIDENCY
Rating:
Summary: TAKING CHARGE THE AUIDO TAPE EDITION
Review: THE AUDIO TAPES OF TAKING CHARGE IS A MUST FOR ANY STUDENT FOR THE PRESIDENCY OF LYNDON BANIES JOHNSON.
Rating:
Summary: This one you need to hear, not read
Review: The story is told that when Nixon took office, LBJ showed him around the White House and revealed a hidden taping system. He made the argument that everything a president said or did should be taped for posterity. Johnson has fared a little better than Nixon viz. the results of such executive record keeping. In the case of excerpts chosen by Michael Beschluss for these tapes (and as the review title suggests, do by the audio version), there is no criminal activity uncovered. Instead, we hear things as diverse as conversations with Martin Luther King about the Civil Rights Act, arm-twisting of Southern Democrats to get that and other progressive laws passed, chilly exchanges between the President and Attorney General Robert Kennedy after President Kennedy's death, and a hilarious exchange with a flabbergasted New York tailor as Johnson asks the tailor to make trousers for him, describing exactly how they should fit around the Presidential....er, anatomy. Of course, there are heartfelt conversations with both Jacqueline and Rose Kennedy immediately after President Kennedy's death. In one very sweet exchange, Jackie refers to media criticism of his calling her "honey" as they flew with the president's body from Dallas to Washington. Kennedy insisted she felt positive about the term of endearment."Honey is loving word, a wonderful word," she tells him. The 35th President comes across with a multifaceted personality: the dogged politician who won't take no for an answer (and won't forget a favor given); the Texas rancher who doesn't believe in coddling his dogs; the old fashioned Southern gentleman who addressed female officials with charm and not a little flirtation. Throughout the tapes, Johnson is shown trying to get his head around the little "police action" in Southeast Asia he inherited....what would be the downfall of an otherwise successful presidency. That won't happen until a further volume, however; this set of tapes covers only 1963 and 1964. Beschluss's comments (he reads his writing himself) tie the excerpts together chronologically and provide a little editorializing, but solid opinions based on knowledge of the time. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to these tapes; I felt as though I was hearing history. In addition, I learned more about one of the most colorful politicians of the twentieth century.
Rating:
Summary: This one you need to hear, not read
Review: The story is told that when Nixon took office, LBJ showed him around the White House and revealed a hidden taping system. He made the argument that everything a president said or did should be taped for posterity. Johnson has fared a little better than Nixon viz. the results of such executive record keeping. In the case of excerpts chosen by Michael Beschluss for these tapes (and as the review title suggests, do by the audio version), there is no criminal activity uncovered. Instead, we hear things as diverse as conversations with Martin Luther King about the Civil Rights Act, arm-twisting of Southern Democrats to get that and other progressive laws passed, chilly exchanges between the President and Attorney General Robert Kennedy after President Kennedy's death, and a hilarious exchange with a flabbergasted New York tailor as Johnson asks the tailor to make trousers for him, describing exactly how they should fit around the Presidential....er, anatomy. Of course, there are heartfelt conversations with both Jacqueline and Rose Kennedy immediately after President Kennedy's death. In one very sweet exchange, Jackie refers to media criticism of his calling her "honey" as they flew with the president's body from Dallas to Washington. Kennedy insisted she felt positive about the term of endearment."Honey is loving word, a wonderful word," she tells him. The 35th President comes across with a multifaceted personality: the dogged politician who won't take no for an answer (and won't forget a favor given); the Texas rancher who doesn't believe in coddling his dogs; the old fashioned Southern gentleman who addressed female officials with charm and not a little flirtation. Throughout the tapes, Johnson is shown trying to get his head around the little "police action" in Southeast Asia he inherited....what would be the downfall of an otherwise successful presidency. That won't happen until a further volume, however; this set of tapes covers only 1963 and 1964. Beschluss's comments (he reads his writing himself) tie the excerpts together chronologically and provide a little editorializing, but solid opinions based on knowledge of the time. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to these tapes; I felt as though I was hearing history. In addition, I learned more about one of the most colorful politicians of the twentieth century.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating history before the spin masters filter it
Review: The transcripts included here are fascinating. Especially those related to the Kennedy Assassination and the Gulf of Tonkin. They give strong evidence for what Johnson knew and believed at the time rather than the much later revisions of what he is supposed to have believed. Mr. Beschloss have provided a great service to us so we can get to the reality of things rather than the thrice-spun revisions too many books, movies, and TV shows spew out in order to advance some cockamamie view of the world. It is also interesting to read his conversations with folks on a personal basis. The chitchat is quite helpful in seeing Johnson as a person. His private opinions of the Warren Commission and of Oswald's role in the assassination are also fascinating. Mr. Beschloss also supplies helpful footnotes to provide context and clarify so of the statements that would otherwise be opaque. There is also an appendix telling us why we have access to the tapes now rather than in 2023 or later as was Johnson's intention (short answer: Oliver Stone's film "JFK" led congress to open up virtually all records on the assassination to help quell the paranoia of conspiracy theorists). There is also a list of the people included in the book with a line about who they are and their birth and death dates. There is also an appendix including a few conversations specifically on the Warren Commission Report. I bought my copy as a first edition with the attached audiotape of a few selections. It would be nice to get these tapes in a complete version on DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating history before the spin masters filter it
Review: The transcripts included here are fascinating. Especially those related to the Kennedy Assassination and the Gulf of Tonkin. They give strong evidence for what Johnson knew and believed at the time rather than the much later revisions of what he is supposed to have believed. Mr. Beschloss have provided a great service to us so we can get to the reality of things rather than the thrice-spun revisions too many books, movies, and TV shows spew out in order to advance some cockamamie view of the world. It is also interesting to read his conversations with folks on a personal basis. The chitchat is quite helpful in seeing Johnson as a person. His private opinions of the Warren Commission and of Oswald's role in the assassination are also fascinating. Mr. Beschloss also supplies helpful footnotes to provide context and clarify so of the statements that would otherwise be opaque. There is also an appendix telling us why we have access to the tapes now rather than in 2023 or later as was Johnson's intention (short answer: Oliver Stone's film "JFK" led congress to open up virtually all records on the assassination to help quell the paranoia of conspiracy theorists). There is also a list of the people included in the book with a line about who they are and their birth and death dates. There is also an appendix including a few conversations specifically on the Warren Commission Report. I bought my copy as a first edition with the attached audiotape of a few selections. It would be nice to get these tapes in a complete version on DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Fly on the Wall in the Oval Office
Review: This book's release is incredibly timely, eerily so. At a time when one southern president, charming and outgoing, becomes undone by taping of oval office events, here comes Michael Beschloss' razor sharp edited transcripts of Lyndon B. Johnson's White House conversations and meetings. Unlike Clinton, however, LBJ was not afraid to let it all hang out, both figuratively and literally. He said what was on his mind, political correctness be damned. Reading this book is absolutely fascinating... it is like hiding behind one of the curtains in the oval office. This book is also an antidote to the one-sided characterizations of Johnson in many biographies (Caro) as a madman. He certainly emerges as a multifaceted personality in these pages, and is a much more sympathetic character than you might believe.
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