Lyndon Baines Johnson, president

School Library Journal

Gr 5-10 A brief but detailed picture of a politician who is depicted as being led more often by ambition than by conscience. Despite his civil rights achievements, his ``War on Poverty,'' and his eventual despondency over the Vietnam War, Lyndon Johnson is portrayed as a schemer who sought influential friends and kept a scoresheet of favors to be given or garnished. Devaney analyzes Johnson's temperament and aspirations from boyhood through the Presidency against the backdrop of his Texas heritage. Johnson's relationships with Sam Rayburn, F.D.R., Bobby Baker, and the Kennedys are given interesting, anecdotal treatment. The text is divided into short, brisk chapters followed by a complete index. Black-and-white photographs are given detailed captions that reflect Devaney's view of Johnson as a brash but charismatic man. Upper grade and junior high students will find this latest Johnson biography readable, well organized, and informative, although sometimes overwritten (``carried a president to the cheers of hundreds of thousands and the rifle of one.'') They may be intrigued that a boy with such a braggart, explosive, and scheming personality could later capture the White House. Gerry Larson, Chewning Junior High, Durham, N.C.