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Landslide: LBJ and Ronald Reagan at the Dawn of a New America Hardcover – Deckle Edge, September 23, 2014
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Advance praise for Landslide
“Jonathan Darman turns fresh eyes on two political giants of the late twentieth century, LBJ and Ronald Reagan. Landslide is full of surprises and new insights on these two presidents, and is written with flair. A delicious feast of a read.”—Lesley Stahl
“Masterly . . . In taking us back to a moment in American history when politics worked, Jonathan Darman provides a resonant reality check on a system that now seems all too dysfunctional. The intertwined stories of Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan offer us a window on the intrinsic give-and-take that makes governing possible. Anyone who cares about politics, biography, and current affairs will find this a delightful and illuminating book.”—Jon Meacham, author of Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
“Jonathan Darman writes with power, sweep, vivacity, and humor. He is at once a gifted storyteller, a keen judge of character, and a genie of political insight. He gives us two giants, Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan, in all their glory and human vanity, and takes us on a breathtaking thousand-day ride. The relevance to today will be achingly obvious to readers—who will be both riveted and disturbed by this moving, memorable book.”—Evan Thomas, author of Ike’s Bluff and Robert Kennedy
“An ingenious and compelling book . . . With astute psychological insight, Jonathan Darman explains the motivations and achievements of these two men, how Lyndon Johnson’s downfall paved the way for Ronald Reagan’s rise, and how their overarching visions of governing became myths that defined the Republican and Democratic parties. Darman connects the dots between the lives of these two iconic characters in a dramatic and original way, offering a fresh perspective as he sweeps the reader through the events of the tumultuous sixties that reverberate to this day.”—Sally Bedell Smith, author of Elizabeth the Queen and Grace and Power
“Jonathan Darman turns fresh eyes on two political giants of the late twentieth century, LBJ and Ronald Reagan. Landslide is full of surprises and new insights on these two presidents, and is written with flair. A delicious feast of a read.”—Lesley Stahl
“Masterly . . . In taking us back to a moment in American history when politics worked, Jonathan Darman provides a resonant reality check on a system that now seems all too dysfunctional. The intertwined stories of Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan offer us a window on the intrinsic give-and-take that makes governing possible. Anyone who cares about politics, biography, and current affairs will find this a delightful and illuminating book.”—Jon Meacham, author of Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
“Jonathan Darman writes with power, sweep, vivacity, and humor. He is at once a gifted storyteller, a keen judge of character, and a genie of political insight. He gives us two giants, Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan, in all their glory and human vanity, and takes us on a breathtaking thousand-day ride. The relevance to today will be achingly obvious to readers—who will be both riveted and disturbed by this moving, memorable book.”—Evan Thomas, author of Ike’s Bluff and Robert Kennedy
“An ingenious and compelling book . . . With astute psychological insight, Jonathan Darman explains the motivations and achievements of these two men, how Lyndon Johnson’s downfall paved the way for Ronald Reagan’s rise, and how their overarching visions of governing became myths that defined the Republican and Democratic parties. Darman connects the dots between the lives of these two iconic characters in a dramatic and original way, offering a fresh perspective as he sweeps the reader through the events of the tumultuous sixties that reverberate to this day.”—Sally Bedell Smith, author of Elizabeth the Queen and Grace and Power
About the Author
Jonathan Darman is a writer in New York City. He is a former correspondent for Newsweek, where he covered national politics, including John Kerry’s presidential campaign in 2004 and Hillary Clinton’s in 2008. This is his first book.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By
James Strock
VINE VOICE on July 22, 2014
Format: Hardcover
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'Landslide' is a delightful read. It's filled with insights and observations that will interest the most knowledgeable political junkie. It's written with a flair that will keep anyone's attention.
The concept is to follow the unlikely, parallel lives of Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan in the historic thousand days following the assassination of John Kennedy in 1963. Darman brilliantly recreates the path moving through the Democratic landslide of 1964, to the repudiating Republican sweep in the 1966 midterms.
Most of the story that Darman relates is familiar. His insight is in telling them in parallel. The results are riveting.
Darman's recitation of the career and character of Johnson is well-crafted and compelling. This book may hold particular allure for those who want to get a fair sense of what LBJ was about--but who may resist immersion in Robert Caro's authoritative, multi-volume project.
Darman's analysis of Reagan is memorable. In my view, the author has succeeded where so many others have faltered: he makes great strides in credibly comprehending Reagan's methodically opaque character.
Reagan's unconventional career prompted many to underestimate him. Many on the left dismissed him as naive, "an amiable dunce" as Clark Clifford said. He was simply at the right place at the right time. He stumbled into power.
Many on the right also underestimated Reagan, or, at the least misperceived him. Among the enduring myths of contemporary Republicans is that Reagan entered politics reluctantly. In common with some of his adversaries, many of his supporters saw the absence of a conventional path to power as suggesting that Reagan was not well-prepared for high office.Read more ›
The concept is to follow the unlikely, parallel lives of Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan in the historic thousand days following the assassination of John Kennedy in 1963. Darman brilliantly recreates the path moving through the Democratic landslide of 1964, to the repudiating Republican sweep in the 1966 midterms.
Most of the story that Darman relates is familiar. His insight is in telling them in parallel. The results are riveting.
Darman's recitation of the career and character of Johnson is well-crafted and compelling. This book may hold particular allure for those who want to get a fair sense of what LBJ was about--but who may resist immersion in Robert Caro's authoritative, multi-volume project.
Darman's analysis of Reagan is memorable. In my view, the author has succeeded where so many others have faltered: he makes great strides in credibly comprehending Reagan's methodically opaque character.
Reagan's unconventional career prompted many to underestimate him. Many on the left dismissed him as naive, "an amiable dunce" as Clark Clifford said. He was simply at the right place at the right time. He stumbled into power.
Many on the right also underestimated Reagan, or, at the least misperceived him. Among the enduring myths of contemporary Republicans is that Reagan entered politics reluctantly. In common with some of his adversaries, many of his supporters saw the absence of a conventional path to power as suggesting that Reagan was not well-prepared for high office.Read more ›
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
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Yours Truly
VINE VOICE on July 20, 2014
Format: Hardcover
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If you know nothing about the politics of the Sixties, this is an excellent place to start. Darman's framing of the period around the death of John Kennedy and the succession of Lyndon Johnson and the presidential campaign of Barry Goldwater is well-told and informative.
If, on the other hand, you are familiar with the period either from living through it and/or reading about it, the initial part of the book feels like a review. But hang on. Having set up scene with biographies of LBJ and Goldwater's conservative successor, Ronald Reagan, Darman analyzes the visions Johnson and Reagan had for the country in a way that is both riveting and original. He arranges the facts and many cogent observations into a frame through which we can see how we reached the political stand-off we have today.
Rather than repeat many commonplace explanations, Darman teases out the pertinent information and leaves the rest behind. Especially, I liked his analysis of LBJ's faulty reasoning about Vietnam. He's insightful about the president's habits of thought and how they led to his eventual decision not to run for a second elected term. At times, it brought me to tears, which is unusual for a political book. But knowing the consequences of these thought patterns, the tragedy is apparent. Darman has a higher regard for Georgia senator Richard Russell than Robert Caro, but the real inspiring figure in the Johnson constellation is his wife, Lady Bird. This is as good a portrait of a political spouse as I've seen in a long time.
By beginning Reagan's story before he even ran for governor of California, Darman is able to demonstrate how needy he was for adoration and skilled he was in courting it. Besides that, Reagan was acutely tuned to the fallout from Johnson's overreaching.Read more ›
If, on the other hand, you are familiar with the period either from living through it and/or reading about it, the initial part of the book feels like a review. But hang on. Having set up scene with biographies of LBJ and Goldwater's conservative successor, Ronald Reagan, Darman analyzes the visions Johnson and Reagan had for the country in a way that is both riveting and original. He arranges the facts and many cogent observations into a frame through which we can see how we reached the political stand-off we have today.
Rather than repeat many commonplace explanations, Darman teases out the pertinent information and leaves the rest behind. Especially, I liked his analysis of LBJ's faulty reasoning about Vietnam. He's insightful about the president's habits of thought and how they led to his eventual decision not to run for a second elected term. At times, it brought me to tears, which is unusual for a political book. But knowing the consequences of these thought patterns, the tragedy is apparent. Darman has a higher regard for Georgia senator Richard Russell than Robert Caro, but the real inspiring figure in the Johnson constellation is his wife, Lady Bird. This is as good a portrait of a political spouse as I've seen in a long time.
By beginning Reagan's story before he even ran for governor of California, Darman is able to demonstrate how needy he was for adoration and skilled he was in courting it. Besides that, Reagan was acutely tuned to the fallout from Johnson's overreaching.Read more ›
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By
Michael Griswold
VINE VOICE on July 8, 2014
Format: Hardcover
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I picked up Landslide by Jonathan Darman because Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan are not two presidents who are often linked together. I want to be very clear in this review about what the book is and is not.
Landslide is primarily set in the 1960’s and begins with the Kennedy assassination and Lyndon Johnson assuming the presidency. Darman does a great job within these first two chapters of positioning LBJ and Reagan as powerful men with ambition for days who were plagued by shadows. LBJ appeared consumed by at once busting out of the mythicized shadow of JFK, while not appearing to publicly degrade him. Reagan meanwhile had to bust out of his public persona as a Hollywood actor, and later break away from the radical wing of the Republican Party personified by Barry Goldwater.
We get this very contradictory portrait of LBJ as this man who had experienced great successes such as the Great Society and Civil Rights, but was prone to bouts of gloomy pessimistic sadness even during successful periods.. On a personal level, he viewed himself as a great president, yet could never break out of the shadow of his predecessor, no matter how much legislation he passed. By 1966, his gloom piled up as Vietnam threatened to consume his entire presidency and his large Democratic majority in Congress had been washed away, derailing his hopes for the ultimate vision of the Great Society.
Ronald Reagan appears almost phantom like in the shadows of LBJ’s presidency, slowly picking up steam during speeches throughout the country against the excesses and wastes of The Great Society. This is the vision of Reagan until the final seventy or so pages when we see the LBJ version of society crack and fray and Reagan rise to become the governor of California.Read more ›
Landslide is primarily set in the 1960’s and begins with the Kennedy assassination and Lyndon Johnson assuming the presidency. Darman does a great job within these first two chapters of positioning LBJ and Reagan as powerful men with ambition for days who were plagued by shadows. LBJ appeared consumed by at once busting out of the mythicized shadow of JFK, while not appearing to publicly degrade him. Reagan meanwhile had to bust out of his public persona as a Hollywood actor, and later break away from the radical wing of the Republican Party personified by Barry Goldwater.
We get this very contradictory portrait of LBJ as this man who had experienced great successes such as the Great Society and Civil Rights, but was prone to bouts of gloomy pessimistic sadness even during successful periods.. On a personal level, he viewed himself as a great president, yet could never break out of the shadow of his predecessor, no matter how much legislation he passed. By 1966, his gloom piled up as Vietnam threatened to consume his entire presidency and his large Democratic majority in Congress had been washed away, derailing his hopes for the ultimate vision of the Great Society.
Ronald Reagan appears almost phantom like in the shadows of LBJ’s presidency, slowly picking up steam during speeches throughout the country against the excesses and wastes of The Great Society. This is the vision of Reagan until the final seventy or so pages when we see the LBJ version of society crack and fray and Reagan rise to become the governor of California.Read more ›
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