Chapter:
Part one of a biography of Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th president.
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Transcript: Chapter 01
Narrator: He had been scorned as an unscrupulous politician, a vulgar, wheeler-dealer driven by ambition and a lust for power, but on January 20, 1965, the night of his inaugural gala, Lyndon Johnson was a happy man. Overwhelmingly elected, he promised to wipe out poverty and segregation, protect the old and educate the young -- that was his dream. Few presidents would ever know more triumph, few suffer such a swift and tragic fall.
John Connally, LBJ Campaign Aide, LBJ Advisor: He was generous and he was selfish. He was kind. At other times, he was cruel. At times, he was an earthy, crude-acting fellow. At other times, he was incredibly charming. He could be whatever he wanted to be, but he was a strange, complex man who had basically almost a Jekyll-and-Hyde existence. He was two different people.
George Reedy, U.S. Senate Staff, White House Press Secretary: What was it that would send him into those fantastic rages where he could be one of the nastiest, most insufferable, sadistic SOB's that ever lived and a few minutes later really be a big, magnificent and inspiring leader?
Robert Dallek, LBJ Biographer: What you have is a thoroughly American president, who was American from day one: his birth in South Central Texas. This is a man who reflected American moods and attitudes and contradictions and trends. And when he failed, it was America's failure.
George Reedy: Hubris, as the Greeks would put it. "Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad." Now, this was a man that was so big, that reached so far and made it and then let the whole thing crumble. I think it's one of the great stories of history.
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