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bryan8063's review against another edition
3.0
This is an interesting book that traces the rise of Reagan and the downfall of LBJ. It would be interesting to have more of Nixon in this book, and in the end, the connection between LBJ and Reagan doesn't always come together, but overall, I'm glad I read it.
In compliance with FTC guidelines I received this book free through the History Book Club on Goodreads
In compliance with FTC guidelines I received this book free through the History Book Club on Goodreads
teriboop's review against another edition
4.0
In his first book Newsweek journalist Jonathan Darman compares the landslide elections of Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan and details the undercurrent issues that faced America during their political careers. In Landslide: LBJ and Ronald Reagan at the Dawn of a New America, Darman details LBJ's presidency from the time he took office after Kennedy's assassination and his eventual landslide for his full term election. He also reviews Reagan's move from Hollywood actor to political soundboard for the Republican party, to his rise as California governor in his own landslide election during LBJ's tenure in office.
I enjoyed the book to the point that I knew little about LBJ but remember Reagan as president and was able to get some in-depth knowledge about both men and their journey to the presidency. I expected more of a compare/contrast scenario between the men, but felt like the book was really more about Johnson and Reagan was thrown in for an occasional thematic contrast.
I also learned a bit about Lady Bird Johnson who seemed to be LBJ's confidant and champion. She was quite a lady. Darman briefly mentioned Nancy Reagan and never showed how she may or may not have been that same support system for Reagan.
All in all, I enjoyed the book and plan to read more on LBJ. I wasn't a big fan of his before, but have a better respect for him, while my thoughts on Reagan see him more as the actor playing a politician than the politician I thought he was.
In compliance with FTC guidelines, please note that I received this book for free through the History Book Club on Goodreads.
I enjoyed the book to the point that I knew little about LBJ but remember Reagan as president and was able to get some in-depth knowledge about both men and their journey to the presidency. I expected more of a compare/contrast scenario between the men, but felt like the book was really more about Johnson and Reagan was thrown in for an occasional thematic contrast.
I also learned a bit about Lady Bird Johnson who seemed to be LBJ's confidant and champion. She was quite a lady. Darman briefly mentioned Nancy Reagan and never showed how she may or may not have been that same support system for Reagan.
All in all, I enjoyed the book and plan to read more on LBJ. I wasn't a big fan of his before, but have a better respect for him, while my thoughts on Reagan see him more as the actor playing a politician than the politician I thought he was.
In compliance with FTC guidelines, please note that I received this book for free through the History Book Club on Goodreads.
aloyokon's review against another edition
4.0
A side by side portrait of two of the biggest presidents in American history during the exhilarating and turbulent years of the mid 1960s.
dunningsk's review against another edition
2.0
An OK history -- not by a true historian -- of a time period that has been covered exhaustively. If you have never read about the early days of the Johnson presidency, this could be somewhat interesting, and I did appreciate learning more than I already knew about Reagan's very early political career. That said, I simply could not stomach what seemed to be Darman's overall thesis. Darman pitches Lyndon Johnson as a president whose great ambitions for the United States -- racial equality, an end to poverty, high-quality public education for us all -- were pure fever-dream fantasy which gave conservatives the ammunition they needed to control American politics in the future. Frankly, I find the idea that the president who gave us the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, Medicare, Head Start, and numerous other progressive initiatives was dangerously progressive a little absurd on its face. Johnson was far from a perfect president, but there's no need to act like he was just as dangerously radical for the country as Ronald Reagan. I would suggest any one of Robert Caro's excellent volumes on Johnson instead of this book.
squidbag's review
4.0
I picked this up when I already had more than 20 checkouts from the library because I just happened to have it pass through my hands. It is a highly excellent, well-researched and expertly quoted/supported work of narrative non-fiction that jumps back and forth between LBJ and Reagan during the thousand days beginning on November 22nd, 1963. With a great depth of characterization of both men (supported by their papers, recordings and personal interviews with those surrounding them) and also of other, less "important" characters who are pivotal to the story, this book makes for compelling historical reading, and will push you to think about what the events and consequences of this book meant for the period of 1968 to 2001, and what they mean for us as Americans going into these midterm elections, and further, into 2016.
Read it.
Read it.
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