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Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating. LBJ's Pure Will to Succede Examined
Review: Although Presidents and national politicians are very different from you and me, LBJ stands out among presidential personalities due to his indomitable will to succede.Dallek writes a fascinating portrait of Johnson and his route to national preeminence. A poor boy from the hill country of Texas, LBJ should not have risen much above the station of his relatives or neighbors. He had none of the advantages that most other notables of his era enjoyed. But he did have an incredible hunger to achieve and he developed uncanny political and personal skills that made him perhaps the moste effective Senate Majority Leader in our history (this volume only takes LBJ's life up through his ascention to the Vice Presidency). This book is fascinating as the author delves into each challenge faced by Johnson. We quickly see him learn what is necessary to master his immediate situation (college, congressional staffer, congressman, senator), understand perhaps better than those around him what buttons his colleagues and supporting cast needed pushed to aid Johnson in achieving his goals and use his incredible persuasive powers to bend others to his will. Dallek uses innumerable personal recollections as well as published sources to minutely document Johnson's rise. He is a skillful enough author that the wealth of information does not bore, but illuminates a fascinating personality and a well written study. As a reader, I could not help but be fascinated by LBJ's life story and this disseciton of his methods. Whether or not you agreed with LBJ's political goals and philosophies, one can appreciate his mastery of the process necessary to implement them. This is a first rate presidential biography
Rating: 
Summary: Presenting the good Lyndon
Review: Dallek's biography has the virtue of being written by someone who clearly admires Johnson. As such, it is somewhat of a counterweight to Robert Caro and I suggest both be read for balance. Nevertheless, in presenting the "good Lyndon", Dallek downplays the worst of Johnson. There is nothing particularly wrong with this (Dallek certainly doesn't ignore the flaws, just tends to gloss over them a little), but it does lead to a fairly tepid book, one that is nowhere near as much fun to read as Caro's. Thus, if I could only read one (which of course many readers will do considering the length of both Caro's and Dallek's presentations), I would read Caro's. Caro's second and third volumes (covering the 40's and 50's, roughly the second half of the Dallek volume being discussed here) are possibly the best political biography ever written. It is against that "competition" that Dallek's book must be weighed and I found, in the balance, that Dallek's work is merely ordinary.
Rating:
Summary: Presenting the good Lyndon
Review: Dallek's biography has the virtue of being written by someone who clearly admires Johnson. As such, it is somewhat of a counterweight to Robert Caro and I suggest both be read for balance. Nevertheless, in presenting the "good Lyndon", Dallek downplays the worst of Johnson. There is nothing particularly wrong with this (Dallek certainly doesn't ignore the flaws, just tends to gloss over them a little), but it does lead to a fairly tepid book, one that is nowhere near as much fun to read as Caro's. Thus, if I could only read one (which of course many readers will do considering the length of both Caro's and Dallek's presentations), I would read Caro's. Caro's second and third volumes (covering the 40's and 50's, roughly the second half of the Dallek volume being discussed here) are possibly the best political biography ever written. It is against that "competition" that Dallek's book must be weighed and I found, in the balance, that Dallek's work is merely ordinary.
Rating: 
Summary: PROBABLY MORE EVEN-HANDED THAN SOME WORKS
Review: Dallek's two volume work is probably a bit more even handed in dealing with LBJ than some of the biographies of recent years. While it is certainly not a collection of "way to go LBJ" chapters, it does go out of it's way to point out much of the good Johnson accomplished. The book appeared to be well researched and read easily. While I feel that it could have pointed out and examined Johnson's many, many flaws and their underlying source, there are indeed many other works which do so, so another good LBJ bash book was and is not probably needed at this time. I did enjoy this one and am glad I added it to my collection.
Rating:
Summary: The Landmark LBJ Biography
Review: Dallek's two-volume examination of LBJ is a dramatic and nuanced examination of one the most complex figures in 20th century American history. Even almost three decades after his death, there are no shortage of people who see LBJ as the ultimate villan of American politics. Many people of this camp dislike Dallek's work, because he puts his subject in his context. While Dallek does not excuse the sort of election fraud in which LBJ engaged, he does explain that it was wide spread. Some find this an unacceptable defense, but one should note that the sorts of tricks he describes have been wide spread in the US for most of the 19th and early 20th century. To dismiss LBJ for engaging in such activities who require similar condemnation of every US president from Adams to FDR. Dallek in fact, is unflinching in discussing LBJ's negative side. His pension for strong arming opponents, his abuse of his staff, his womanizing and drinking, and his dirty tricks are all layed bare. At the same time, Dallek reviews how crucial LBJ was as part of the New Deal and his brave role as a champion of civil rights. The other major LBJ biography by Caro is far less balanced in its approach to this complex and ultimately tragic figure. For a truly great and complete biography of LBJ, I suggest that you read this one.
Rating:
Summary: The Landmark LBJ Biography
Review: Dallek's two-volume examination of LBJ is a dramatic and nuanced examination of one the most complex figures in 20th century American history. Even almost three decades after his death, there are no shortage of people who see LBJ as the ultimate villan of American politics. Many people of this camp dislike Dallek's work, because he puts his subject in his context. While Dallek does not excuse the sort of election fraud in which LBJ engaged, he does explain that it was wide spread. Some find this an unacceptable defense, but one should note that the sorts of tricks he describes have been wide spread in the US for most of the 19th and early 20th century. To dismiss LBJ for engaging in such activities who require similar condemnation of every US president from Adams to FDR. Dallek in fact, is unflinching in discussing LBJ's negative side. His pension for strong arming opponents, his abuse of his staff, his womanizing and drinking, and his dirty tricks are all layed bare. At the same time, Dallek reviews how crucial LBJ was as part of the New Deal and his brave role as a champion of civil rights. The other major LBJ biography by Caro is far less balanced in its approach to this complex and ultimately tragic figure. For a truly great and complete biography of LBJ, I suggest that you read this one.
Rating:
Summary: The soft focus version ...
Review: If you are a postmodern thinker and a fan of Lyndon Johnson, this is the biography for you. Dallek attempts to create the image the Johnson was pretty much like any other Texas politician of the times who came from hardscrabble poverty to politics. However, Johnson is the only one who became majority leader of the senate and later president, so one tires quickly of almost all differentiations being on the positive side. It gives the impression that Johnson prevailed because he was two dimensional (good and bad) and the rest were just evil. This is Lyndon Johnson Lite. I gave it three stars because basicly its a good read for children and adults who don't want to know negative details about their icons.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating Look at a Public Man
Review: John Connally, former Secretary of the Treasury and Governor of Texas, who was very close to LBJ for many years once said that Johnson was a "strange and complex man who could be whatever he wanted to be", cruel or compassionate, crude or charming, selfish or generous. These traits are illustrated well in Robert Dallek's two volume biography of Lyndon Johnson. Fortunately, recent years have shown a more realistic view of Johnson as this complex man and not just the warmongering fiend the anti-Vietnam War people perceived more than 30 years ago. One of the most important points that Dallek brings out is that LBJ learned lessons from Franklin Roosevelt's deceptive policies of trying to bring the US into war with Nazi Germany, against American public opinion (which the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor ultimately proved unnecessary) and applied them to his almost surrepitious effort to engage American troops in South Vietnam. I highly recommend these 2 books for anyone interested in American History or the study of political leadership.
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Summary: Not Enough Personality
Review: Robert Dallek has the right idea about LBJ. In his forward, he addresses the problems with villifying him, and sets out to do him justice. In this he succeeds. But LBJ does not come alive in Dallek's work, as he does in Caro's. Despite good intentions, Dallek disappoints.
Rating:
Summary: Good But Not Great
Review: This is an adequate biography of the first 52 years of Lyndon Johnson's life. The book is comprehensive, readable, and interesting. But the book does not convey the richness of the many JOhnson stories that can be so much fun. The oral biography of Johnson by Merle Miller is more fun to read, and Mutual Contempt, the recently published story of Lyndon and Bobby Kennedy's relationship, is a hell of a lot more interesting.
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