LBJ- The American Experience

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American Experience At Its Best
I first viewed this American Experience on PBS when it came out in the 90's, and recently purchased the DVD from Amazon. I was not let down. Memory served me right that this is among the best productions presented by American Experience. LBJ "the program" helps make sense of the complex LBJ "the man". This president was among the most driven personalities in our history, and the producers here bring it out with sometimes brutal honesty but compassion for the realities of what Johnson was up against.

A Texas Original
There have already been a number of excellent reviews on this documentary. President Johnson will remain a controversial President until after we are in our graves. More than any other twentieth-century President, he represents greatness in sterling qualities and faults combined. LBJ had no interests outside politics. He never read a book for pleasure, had no hobbies--he lived and breathed politics to the exclusion of all else. His personal magnetism has been well-documented, and his bullying just as well-documented. How fortunate he was to have Lady Bird for a wife! It is pure speculation where the Presidency might have taken LBJ, tied as he is to Vietnam. There is little doubt that his leadership combined with raw political power moved the civil rights movement forward as no one else could have. He truly wanted to end poverty in this country, not simply lending lip service. He matured in the Presidency, striving for accomplishments as no President since. Nevertheless, Vietnam proved the millstone that proved his failure. I will always find it poignant watching that last public appearance he had, where he was giving a speech while quietly popping nitroglycerin tablets for his angina. With today's medical resources he wouldn't have died so young, or so painfully. The New Deal Texas liberalism that President Johnson represented has been lost in 'compassionate conservatism' in our state, but Mr. Johnson's documentary can take us back to a time when Texas was not only big, but also had big ambitions.

Required Viewing For Everyone On The Left
This is beyond the best presidential documentary ever - it's probably the best documentary I've ever seen. On my list of top ten films of all time. I was born during his administration, but when the film first ran on PBS, I knew almost nothing about him. That's the best way to approach this film, which probably makes it an outstanding teaching tool. David Grubin is a superstar. If you lean to the left in your views at all, this is something you really need to see. It's a heartbreaker. Perhaps the neocons should have watched this before deciding to invade Iraq? Maybe we all could learn from this. My only complaint is that Michael Bacon's outstanding soundtrack has never been released on CD, or even made available for download.

Greatest Documentary Ever
This is my all time favorite documentary. Whatever your personal opinion of LBJ is, one thing is undeniable, and that is that he is one of the most interesting figures in American history. Johnson was a complex man, and this film shows all of the different facets of his life. To watch a person grow from their own racist roots, to become one of the most powerful champions of the civil rights movement and then to lose it all by the Vietnam war is extremly compeling. You will find yourself riveted and saddened by the tragic story that this film ultimately presents.

Outstanding!
This presents a very comprehensive view of Johnson's life and political career. If I find fault, it is the way Johnson's management of the Vietnama War is handled. We are shown how Johnson supposedly backed himself into a corner with the war, but little context is provided. It's seems clear to me the producers were liberal. They make it seem that all Johnson had to do to end the war was recall our military. Simple enough military tactic - not so simple a stategic tactic in the context of the Cold War. In contrast, the producers give considerable context to Johnson's management of civil rights issuses, of course favoring minorities.