I have been a bit out of my reading routine lately. I have been getting through plenty of magazines, reading the newspaper and plenty of online stuff, I haven't finished a book in a while. Today, I finished, My Brother Lyndon by Sam Houston Johnson.The book is out of print, but amazon.com can set you up with a used copy.
I picked up my copy at used book store in New Mexico. Somewhere in my father's house is an autographed copy. It seems my grandfather used to run with Sam Johnson (and a little bit with Lyndon) in Texas political circles. It is said the Sam used to babysit my aunts.
This is probably one of the most candid books on historical politics ever done. Johnson wrote it the year after his brother left office. It is a bit jarring in its literary style, the storyline jumps around, a lot. But it is rare and different perspective of LBJ, Texas politics, the Kennedys and even a bit about Vietnam.
One of the most interesting parts of the whole book is Johnson's nearly prophetic view of the changing face of politics in the light of the new media:
More than ever before, the 1960 campaign emphasized the crucial importance of big money in politics. Television had become the most effective (sometimes the only) contact between the voters and the candidates, on local as well as national elections; and that's a medium that gobbles up money like a dollar slot machine in Vegas. Inevitably, this need for bigger and bigger money will taint the political process. When a candidate has to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars from a single fat cat, can anyone seriously believe those big contributors are merely interested in good government.
Sam Houston Johnson died in 1978 so he never knew how right on he was.
peace,
will
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