Review by R. Alan Clanton
Thursday Review Editor
A detailed, highly readable account of the Washington of the middle 1960s, a period dominated by the political might of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson and Hubert Humphrey, and a decade which saw the passage of more social legislation than at any time in American history. Contrasts the frequently cited tableau of 1960s counter-culture, revolutionary movements and youth movements—the things which often overshadow our understanding of that tumultuous decade—with the real legislative realignments which occurred, and the creation of a powerful extension of what FDR had begun and those larger, more ambitious programs shepherded by the greatest of contemporary liberals, Lyndon Johnson. The book also explores Johnson’s remarkable window of opportunity—a rare instance of a Congress receptive and responsive to the development of sweeping programs for improvement and a liberalized Supreme Court under Earl Warren willing to stay largely clear of obstructing the forces of progressivism. This is a well-written and well-documented book about a critical period in American history, and its deep look into what was then an uptick in the perceived essential roles of government bear a striking relevance to today’s more partisan debates over some of the same issues. (The Penguin Press, New York)
