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Book reviews for "Dallek,_Robert" sorted by average review score:
Character Above All: Robert Dallek on Lyndon Johnson, Hendrik Hertzberg
Published in Audio Cassette by Simon & Schuster (Audio) (September, 1996)
Authors: Robert Dallek, Hendrik Hertzberg, and Robert Anton Wilson
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Johnson and Carter
This product features two audio tapes. One each on Johnson and Carter. Robert Dallek and Hendrik Hertzberg are the speakers. Their speeches from 1995 show great knowledge and insight into their respective Presidents.

Hendrik Hertzberg was a speech writer for President Carter during his last two years in office. Hertzberg is a good speaker and often used humor to describe Carter and his administration. Hendrik describes Carter well. He portrays him as a loner and someone opposed to pomp and glitter. He also stated that Carter was no idealogue. Rather he handled issues one by one as they arose. And he spread himself too thin. Hendrik descibes some of the major events of the Carter Administration. The Panama Canal Treaty, the Israeli/Egyptian peace talks and the failed Iranian hostage rescue mission. Hertzberg portrays Carter as a courageous moral leader. But he also shows that Carter was not a great political leader.

Robert Dallek is a successful author and he shows here that he is also a good speaker. Dallek studied Lyndon Johnson thoroughly and clearly understood him. He states accurately that Lyndon Johnson was a complex man with a seemingly contradictory personality. Dallek quotes several stories about Johnson to show his sense of humor and his temperament.

Dallek provides data about Johnson's popularity over the years. As President, his approval ratings were good. As an ex President he's less popular. Dallek gives three reasons why he thinks LBJ's popularity has fallen. His assessment is probably correct.

Dallek then proceeds to rate Johnson as a President. He gives LBJ high marks in the realms of vision, pragmatism and consensus building on domestic issues. And he states that Johnson was very successful in passing his bills through Congress. Dallek provides a whole list of good bills which Johnson pushed through. In summary, Robert Dallek's assessment of Lyndon Johnson and his Presidency is very accurate and well informed.

Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Foreign Policy, 1932-1945
Published in Hardcover by Oxford University Press (April, 1979)
Author: Robert Dallek
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Leadership Style of the 20th Century's Greatest President
In one volume, Robert Dallek has attempted to counter the vast amount of printed material covering Franklin D. Roosevelt's domestic policies during the 1930's and 1940's. The result is a mammoth effort that sheds light on the enormous pressures Roosevelt faced both at home and abroad during the turbulent decades when the world struggled to emerge from the shambles of a Great Depression, and prepare itself for a global conflict. Dallek argues that most historians do not fully understand the nature of Roosevelt's foreign policy. Dallek also claims that researchers tend to focus on FDR's shortcomings without emphasizing the constraints with which he was forced to work. Dallek's main purpose is to highlight the continual dilemmas Roosevelt faced in an effort to always strive for balance and compromise between public opinion and foreign affairs. FDR realized the need to break the country away from isolationism and place it in the global arena, both economically and politically, while at the same time facing the growing threat from the Axis powers. Though Dallek is noted as a gifted narrator, it is Roosevelt's leadership style,criticized as somewhat unorthodox,and the many quandaries in which he prevailed that provides the strength of Dallek's book. Dallek chose a ridged chronological format, which he maintained throughout the book. The chronological methodology in essential to enable the reader to understand the patterns that emerged within Roosevelt's style of leadership. For instance, rather than try to sway public opinion as to why the United States should supply aid to its allies or begin preparing for war, Roosevelt instead would allow the events then taking shape in Europe and Asia to speak for themselves to convince the American public. FDR's early foreign policy (1932-1935) was primarily centered on economic recovery. Roosevelt clearly understood that the Great Depression was a global problem. Roosevelt strove to reduce tariffs, improve trade and stabilize the dollar with foreign currencies. He has been widely criticized for going off the gold standard and blamed for the failure of the London Economic Conference. Dallek states, however, that Roosevelt clearly achieved two very important underlying objectives: First, domestic economic recovery must take priority over foreign affairs This belief was evident in the many Hundred Days policies that FDR implemented. Second, Dallek argues that Roosevelt's main goal was at best to "restore a measure of faith in international cooperation." Roosevelt was always aware of his limitations. Dallek believes that the years 1935-1939 was the most important period in Roosevelt's foreign policy. During this time, Roosevelt faced many obstacles. Dubbed an "Idealist" for his efforts towards disarmament and United States participation in the World Court, FDR was also criticized as being naïve in his reactions to the aggressive actions of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. Dallek diligently describes how FDR's hands were tied by the very nature of the Neutrality Acts, pressure from Isolationists, student peace activists, and religious groups, particularly Catholics at home. The events of World War II exposed yet more criticisms upon Roosevelt's handling of foreign affairs. In a new Afterword (1995), Dallek explains some of the legitimate critiques as well as some of the ludicrous claims concerning FDR's handling of the war. Dallek disregards the revisionist view that Roosevelt knew of, or allowed the Japanese to attack Pearl Harbor as an excuse to draw the United States into the war. Some revisionists even propose the existence of a British conspiracy to lure the United States into the war. Dallek points out there are even those that claim British pilots flying planes with Japanese markings took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Dallek praises Roosevelt as a visionary, accurately predicting a world view he never lived to see. Dallek disagrees with the "naïveté" Roosevelt exhibited at Yalta, claiming FDR did not sell out Eastern Europe to Stalin. Dallek dismisses this as a myth, claiming Roosevelt clearly understood the price for 20 million Russian killed during World War II would be Eastern Europe. Dallek also defends Roosevelt's decision to back the doomed Chiang Kai-shek regime in China. Dallek believes FDR knew that someday China would be a dominant world power and although he felt that democracy in both China and the Soviet Union were unlikely, he hoped for eventual global cooperation between the superpowers. Dallek harshest criticism of Roosevelt's tenure is the interment of Japanese-Americans. This book offers the reader valuable insight into the complex problems facing Roosevelt's decision-making processes on the eve of World War II. For this reason, Dallek's work holds a valued place in political and historical literature.

Kennedy Versus Lodge: The 1952 Massachusetts Senate Race
Published in Hardcover by Northeastern University Press (October, 2000)
Authors: Thomas J. Whalen and Robert Dallek
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Very Useful Study of the Century's Most Important Senate Rac
As historian Robert Dallek explains in his forward, this is Thomas Whalen's debut and this work reflects that fact. The writing is sometimes wooden and some quotes are added more to impress the reader, or other historians, that Mr. Whalen went to the effort to interview some of the remaining survivors from that election half a century ago. However, Mr. Whalen's analysis is thoughtful. JFK's 51.5 %-48.5 % victory over Henry Cabot Lodge was historic in many ways. If he had lost, Jack Kennedy's presidential ambitions would most likely been crushed and he may have decided on another line of work. A Lodge victory may well have propelled him to a showdown with Richard Nixon for the 1960 Republican presidential nomination (and this would be dependent on Lodge being re-elected for Senate in 1958, one of the greatest Democratic years in election history). A Lodge Republican presidential nomination in 1960 would certainly have delayed the GOP's rightward turn that was to follow and may have altered the GOP for a generation or more. Ironically, by losing to Kennedy, Lodge would become Vice-President Nixon's running mate in 1960. The author is pretty clear about the reasons for JFK's narrow victory. Joseph Kennedy's money was of great use in this era of comparatively cheaply run elections. The Kennedy campaign charmed women voters with tea parties held by the Kennedy women and door-to-door campaigning. Eunice and Ethel were especially energetic. Lodge did not begin his own campaign until September, spending most of the summer working for the nomination of Dwight Eisenhower as the Republican presidential standard-bearer. Interestingly, Lodge's efforts for Ike angered the conservative Republican Massachusetts newspaperman Basil Brewer, who supported Robert Taft for the GOP presidential nomination. Brewer owned the New Bedford Evening Standard and the Cape Cod Standard Times and he threw his support to JFK rather than Lodge in an act of political revenge. Kennedy mauled Lodge in Irish-Catholic areas where Lodge had performed well in the past. Lodge had won 40 % + in most Irish wards in his election victory in 1946 over David Walsh. JFK reduced Lodge's totals to around 20 % in those same Irish-American neighborhoods. Kennedy cut into Lodge's advantages in traditionally Yankee/Brahmin neighborhoods like Beacon Hill, Back Bay and Cape Cod due to his non-ethnic outlook. As JFK advisor and future Democratic National Committee chairman Lawrence O'Brien explained, "Kennedy represented a new generation, a new kind of Irish politician, one who was rich and respectable and could do battle with the Lodges and other Yankee politicians on their own terms." Kennedy also improved upon the Democratic vote amongst other ethnic groups and in economically stressed manufacturing towns like Lynn. Interestingly, neither JFK nor Ted Kennedy was able to save Massachusetts manufacturing from decline in the years to come. One weak point of the book is a lack of understanding of Massachusetts's changing demographics in the 20th Century. By the time of JFK's victory over Lodge, the Massachusetts Irish were growing in numbers and power and were confident that the future was theirs politically. On the other hand, with much smaller families than the Irish, the Yankees could see the handwriting on the wall by 1952 that they were doomed to lose their control over a land they had dominated since 1620. Emphasizing this point was the landslide defeat of George Cabot Lodge, Henry's son, to the lightly regarded (at least then) Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy in the 1962 Senate race. After the defeat of the last political Lodge in 1962, Yankees largely surrendered the political arena to the Irish and other Massachusetts ethnic groups. Many, and probably most, Yankees would change their political allegience to Democratic within a generation or two as the modern day Republican party moved to the right. Fifty years after the Kennedy-Lodge Senate race, the Massachusetts Yankees are a small bulwark in the Democratic predominance of the essentially one-party state of Massachusetts.

An Excellent Book about an historic US Senate Race
While there have been many books written about presidential campaigns, relatively few books have been written about important congressional campaigns. Thomas Whalen's "Kennedy versus Lodge" attempts to correct this bias by offering the reader a well-written, well-researched account of a truly historic US Senate race in Massachusetts between two of the most important political families in American history. Until 1952 the dominant political family in Massachusetts and New England was the Republican Lodge family, and they were far better-known and more distinguished than the Kennedys. The Lodges were descended from the original English, Puritan colonists who had settled Massachusetts in the 1600's, and they had made their millions in the nineteenth century while the Kennedys and other Irish Catholic immigrants to Boston were fighting just to survive. From the 1880's to the 1920's the family's most famous figure was Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Sr. A close friend of Theodore Roosevelt and one of the most powerful men in Congress, Lodge led the fight to keep the USA out of the League of Nations and became President Woodrow Wilson's most hated enemy. Lodge also looked down his nose at the "grubby" Irish Catholic immigrants who were beginning to outnumber the older Protestant English families (called "Yankees" or "Brahmins") who had dominated Massachusetts politics since the United States became an independent nation. In 1916 Lodge faced a stiff challenge for his Senate seat by John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, the popular Irish Catholic Mayor of Boston, and who was John F. Kennedy's grandfather. Lodge narrowly defeated Fitzgerald, thus beginning a great rivalry between the two families. Fitzgerald's daughter, Rose, desperately wanted to avenge her father's defeat by the Lodges, and in 1952 she got her chance when her handsome and charming son, Congressman John F. Kennedy, ran against Lodge's grandson and namesake, Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., for a Senate seat. Lodge was the dominant politician in New England and a national leader of Liberal Republicans (and there used to be lots of Liberal Republicans). Kennedy was originally seen as the underdog in the race, and Lodge had beaten some tough Irish Catholic politicians before. Lodge even advised JFK's tough father, Joe, to "save his money" and avoid the race. Of course, that only made the Kennedys even more determined to "get even" and defeat the Lodges once and for all. They poured a huge amount of money into the race, ran a slick advertising campaign, and John F. Kennedy himself repeatedly visited every town and village in Massachusetts. Lodge, however, was so confident of victory that he ignored his own race and spent most of 1952 helping to lead the fight to get the Republican presidential nomination for Dwight Eisenhower and defeat the conservative Republican candidate, Senator Robert Taft of Ohio. Eisenhower won the nomination, but Taft's angry supporters in Massachusetts vowed revenge against Lodge and defected to Kennedy's campaign. Lodge didn't get his own Senate campaign started until August 1952, and by then the Kennedy's campaign "machine" was running at full steam. In the end John F. Kennedy narrowly defeated Lodge and "evened the score" for the Kennedys. As Whalen points out, this Senate campaign truly made history. If Kennedy hadn't beaten Lodge, he almost certainly would never have become President. And if Lodge had won, then he would have become one of the most powerful Republicans in America, and could have been the Republican presidential nominee in 1960 instead of Richard Nixon. And, of course, Kennedy's victory allowed his family to replace the Lodges as New England's most powerful and famous political dynasty. After their 1952 defeat, the Lodges never again elected a member of their family to political office, and today the family has "retired" from political life. Overall, this is a fine book about an important Senate race between two wealthy and prominent politicians whose careers would change American history, for better and for worse.

Two Great Political Dynasties Headed in Opposite Directions
Here is an engaging account of a seminal election campaign, the results of which would reverberate through Massachusetts and national politics for decades to come.

Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. was the grandson of an early 20th Century political titan and Teddy Roosevelt confidant, and in 1952, an accomplished, three-term Senate incumbent in his own right. John F. Kennedy was the upstart Congressman with star power: the charismatic war hero with a natural electoral base in the Bay State's sizable Irish Catholic community and plenty of Daddy's money to bolster his campaign.

Thomas Whalen tells the story of the election that would catapult Kennedy into national prominence and put him on the road to the White House eight short years later. Whalen explores many reasons for Kennedy's victory, including his assiduous courting of the women's vote, adroit use of the new television medium, and the electorate's strong affinity for an "Irish Brahmin."

Another major factor, according to Whalen, was Lodge's role in helping to engineer the Republican nomination for Dwight Eisenhower at the Republican convention. Lodge, who served as Ike's campaign chairman, earned the eternal enmity of the Taft loyalists, who meted out their retribution by openly siding with his Democratic opponent in the 1952 Senate campaign. Kennedy's position as an avowed Cold Warrior helped to facilitate the flight of Republican conservatives such as the influential newspaper publisher Basil Brewster into the Kennedy camp. Even Ike's superb showing at the top of the ticket -- he won Massachusetts handily -- could not carry the day for Lodge, who would never again hold elective office.

Lodge's defeat would signal the beginning of the end of Yankee Republican primacy, and cement Democratic hegemony in the Bay State. After Ike, no Republican Presidential candidate would carry the state again until Reagan in 1984.

For the Kennedy clan, the victory was sweet revenge. JFK's maternal grandfather, the irrepressible "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, had failed in a bid for the elder Lodge's Senate seat in 1916.

Highly recommended for anyone interested in U.S. politics.

Hail to the Chief: The Making and Unmaking of American Presidents
Published in Hardcover by Hyperion (September, 1996)
Author: Robert Dallek
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Good for research, not for reading.
Dallek writes a very informative and thourough review on the highlights and nadirs of presidential terms. He points out how and why presidents were elected and what , if anything, they did to change America. This book serves a purpose as a reference, but not for political reading.

Hail to Chief Dallek
Robert Dallek is one of my professors at Boston University. His class is amazing, as is this book. Although the average reader may not enjoy it so much, Hail to the Chief is a great book for anyone interested in American presidents and politics. I highly recommend it :)

Thoughtful and insightful work on the American Presidency
Despite the other review posted at Amazon.com, 'Hail to the Chief' is not only thoroughly researched and written, but entertaining to those who are interested in the American Presidency and the tools necessary to be a successful president. As someone who has had the pleasure of taking two college courses with Professor Dallek, reading his books have been helpful in his courses, and also have proven to be invaluable in my quest to learn more about American government.

Air Force One: A History of the Presidents and Their Planes
Published in Hardcover by Hyperion (May, 2003)
Authors: Kenneth T. Walsh and Robert Dallek
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An Enjoyable, Light Book
This book could have been subtitled: "A History of Presidential Character as Revealed through Their Planes." Beginning with FDR and ending with the current main passenger of Air Force One, George W. Bush, Kenneth Walsh details the history and experiences of U.S. presidents who have taken to the air on the world's most famous jet, providing a fascinating angle by which to view them.

Walsh is careful to weave basic information about the presidents into the book. If you already know a good deal about the modern U.S. presidents, you will find much of this information either simplistic or repetitive. If you don't know very much about the modern presidents, however, but you want to know more about Air Force One, then you won't get lost here.

Walsh usually introduces each president with a brief history, and then shows convincingly that the planes they flew had a way of revealing the character of that president in a way that other places - the Oval Office, for example - did not. Reporters and staff, if they are fortunate enough to be allowed on board the jet, have access to a president that they do not have anywhere else. Presidents also seem to open up more when they fly Air Force One. Both of these circumstances allow a unique opportunity to see the usually powerful and distant man unfiltered.

While the historical moments that took place on Air Force One are all here (LBJ's swearing in as president just after the assassination of JFK; George W. Bush's long flight around the country after the terror attacks on 9-11, etc.), I personally found the trivial or less famous information more interesting. I had never heard, for example, that Nixon's Air Force One had to take evasive maneuvers during a trip to the Middle East after it appeared Syrian fighter jets might attack it (they were mistakenly sent up to welcome the Presidential jet). I also had no idea that secure communications on the president's hi-tech plane are often disrupted while it is in flight.

This is a light book that can be finished in an evening of reading. My only disappointment with it was the lack of basic drawings of the interior setup of Air Force One or drawings of the insides of previous presidential jets. I don't think the information is classified (since Walsh describes it in words), so it would have been interesting to see the various layouts.

A history of American Presidency on board the Air Force One
What if you could be a fly on the bulkhead and watch the President of the United States as he flies on Air Force One? Most of us will never have such an opportunity, so this book is a fascinating view inside the president's official jumbo jet.

The book starts with a very swift, journalist's sweep through Franklin Roosevelt to George Walker Bush. While Teddy Roosevelt was the first president in the air, FDR was the first to use it for presidential business including internationally. But Air Force One is really a contemporary element of the Presidency, becoming an important player in US history with the stunning image of the swearing-in of Johnson aboard the plane after the assassination of Kennedy.

Walsh describes everything from the food--Barbara Walters got a Spam sandwich, George H.W.Bush banned, what else, broccoli while son George likes Asian and spicy Tex-Mex. He tells you about the lavatories, souvenir notepads, who sits where (seats are assigned, and the president has a suite in the very front, including a desk and bed.) And there is other fascinating trivia--why, for example did George W. ground his father when both were flying? You'll find the answer here.

I once saw Air Force One on the tarmac at Boston Logan, when Clinton was at the end of his second term. It was night, we were delayed to allow Air Force One to land. Then we saw it, glistening huge and frosty-white in the glare of the runway lights. Air Force One IS impressive, and a symbol of our US leadership. This is a very fun read, and a unique insight into one aspect of the US President's life.

First Class Ride!

I have just finished reading Kenneth T. Walsh's newest book, "Air Force One: A History of the Presidents and Their Planes". This book, I am happy to report, is as informative and articulate a reading experience as I have had in a long time. Mr. Walsh's long-time "insider" status as well as his exhaustive research and crisp, concise style of writing made this a thoroughly enjoyable read, start to finish.

The short history of aviation and it's effect on American history is truly remarkable, as Mr. Walsh reports. Over the few years it has taken for the jet age to develop, our executive branch has been relatively quick to recognize and tap the potential for extending democratic values and influence. Between FDR's first tedious and exhausting hop-scotch to Casablanca and George W. Bush's incredible split-second decision on board Air Force One the day of September 11, 2001, this book gives the reader some wonderful minute-by-minute reporting from the key people involved, right up to the presidents themselves.

Each of our presidents has approached the Ait Force One experience in their own unique way, thereby revealing a closer insight into their hearts and minds. This book details each, from Clinton's relatively relaxed and homey flying style, Johnson's bullying, to Nixon's brooding and self-obsessed genius. And for me personally, the detailed descriptions of each airplane's awesome power and capabilities imparted a sense of certainty and reassurance that our leadership is just as secure and in command at 35,000 feet and 700 mph as it has ever been in the White House or Camp David.

These airplanes and the phalanx of people who fly them have known more history than one could ever have even imagined. With this book, Mr. Walsh has brought American history buffs as well as casual readers like myself a slice of flying knowlege and experience not soon to be forgotten.

An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963
Published in Audio CD by Little Brown & Company (13 May, 2003)
Authors: Robert Dallek and Richard McGonagle
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skeptical about medical aspects
The story here is one of tenacity and determination at truly heroic levels; regardless on one's political opinions on Kennedy, it has to be granted that he made himself function despite medical problems and symptoms that would reduce most people to a distinctly sub-presidential level. "Tough" is a very fair word to use here. The story is made worse by questions regarding his treatment and doctors' competence. And this raises a big question with me: I am a physician and don't see how his war exploits were possible, even with a phony medical exam getting him into the military. All these problems and yet he was able to function in high-stress military operations in remote areas of the Western Pacific islands? How did he get all his medications when even normal mail must have been sporadic? If he did obtain them, no one noticed him taking them? Two days in salt water? Going many days without food or water (especially, in the tropics, water)? This is hard to reconcile with the medical problems he is said to have had as far back as prep school and college, much less service on a PT boat in the Phillipines. I'm not implying anything underhanded here but I don't get it.

Good reading, but...
I was raised to admire JFK- here was an Irish Catholic that made it. (Sounds corny, but you don't know my Ma). Even though my political beliefs differ from his I still see him through those childs eyes I had when I did a fifth grade report on his life. Dallek brought a humanity that has laced in my eyes; he opened up JFKs life to reveal, frankly, someone I still admire. It was so nice to read of JFKs problems and perceptions of life. He was just a reular guy (I know Dah!- but hey, he was president and most previous biographies focus on that). As for the book, the writing style kept me going. Dallek has a fluidity to his writing that I enjoyed. He brought in looks at JFKs life from his personal letters that revealed a lot about JFK. My only complaint is that Dallek points out JFKs "shyness" during his first political run, yet didn't make much reference to it during his look at JFKs early years (instead saying that JFK was quickly popular at his schools). I'd love to see how any shyness affected his early years- true his easy smile would have made up for it, but the author doesn't explore this. It's like he just tacked on a weakness in JFKs life that was reported to him. Other than that, the book is a good read.

A new look at Kennedy
Who'd think that there would be another Kennedy book with something left to say? Well, there is. This book is done in a scholarly way, but mostly readable. We are getting far away enough now to have some perspective on Kennedy. For those of us who were there when he ran, and saw him as the breath of fresh air that he was - for all the failings we hear about now - this is a must read. A lot of new information, concentration on his political career and what he fought for, and a new look at all his physical problems, make this book interesting from cover to cover.

Lone Star Rising: Lyndon Johnson and His Times 1908-1960
Published in Hardcover by Oxford University Press (August, 1991)
Author: Robert Dallek
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Not Enough Personality
Robert Dallek has the right idea about LBJ. In his forward, he addresses the problems with villifying him, and sets out to do him justice. In this he succeeds. But LBJ does not come alive in Dallek's work, as he does in Caro's. Despite good intentions, Dallek disappoints.

Presenting the good Lyndon
Dallek's biography has the virtue of being written by someone who clearly admires Johnson. As such, it is somewhat of a counterweight to Robert Caro and I suggest both be read for balance.

Nevertheless, in presenting the "good Lyndon", Dallek downplays the worst of Johnson. There is nothing particularly wrong with this (Dallek certainly doesn't ignore the flaws, just tends to gloss over them a little), but it does lead to a fairly tepid book, one that is nowhere near as much fun to read as Caro's. Thus, if I could only read one (which of course many readers will do considering the length of both Caro's and Dallek's presentations), I would read Caro's. Caro's second and third volumes (covering the 40's and 50's, roughly the second half of the Dallek volume being discussed here) are possibly the best political biography ever written. It is against that "competition" that Dallek's book must be weighed and I found, in the balance, that Dallek's work is merely ordinary.

The Landmark LBJ Biography
Dallek's two-volume examination of LBJ is a dramatic and nuanced examination of one the most complex figures in 20th century American history. Even almost three decades after his death, there are no shortage of people who see LBJ as the ultimate villan of American politics. Many people of this camp dislike Dallek's work, because he puts his subject in his context.

While Dallek does not excuse the sort of election fraud in which LBJ engaged, he does explain that it was wide spread. Some find this an unacceptable defense, but one should note that the sorts of tricks he describes have been wide spread in the US for most of the 19th and early 20th century. To dismiss LBJ for engaging in such activities who require similar condemnation of every US president from Adams to FDR.

Dallek in fact, is unflinching in discussing LBJ's negative side. His pension for strong arming opponents, his abuse of his staff, his womanizing and drinking, and his dirty tricks are all layed bare. At the same time, Dallek reviews how crucial LBJ was as part of the New Deal and his brave role as a champion of civil rights.

The other major LBJ biography by Caro is far less balanced in its approach to this complex and ultimately tragic figure. For a truly great and complete biography of LBJ, I suggest that you read this one.

Ronald Reagan: The Politics of Symbolism
Published in Hardcover by Harvard Univ Pr (March, 1984)
Author: Robert Dallek
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Mediocre, with factual errors
The careful reader will recognize enough factual errors in this book to be made uncomfortable with its scholarship and research.

Good, but a little dated
Robert Dallek is an excellent historian, as seen in his work on FDR's foreign policy and his masterful accounts of LBJ. This book was an attempt to gauge Reagan's presidency in the midst of it. It has some wonderful insight on Reagan's use (and abuse) of political symbolism, but it needs to be updated with more than a new preface to stay fresh.

A great summary of Reagan's 1980's legacy
Robert Dallek, one of my favorite historians, here paints a picture of Reagan in his first four years in office which sees the former actor and Governor as an ideologue who, ironically, uses symbolism over substance to form his coalition.

Dallek's book makes great points about Reagan's legacy, even though it was written just four years into his Presidency. He points out the horrible legacy of the national debt, which grew by about $3 trillion during Reagan's watch. He points to the coming redistribution of wealth towadrs the wealthy and away from the middle and working class and poor. Statistics have shown that from 1979 to 1993 the top 20% saw 97% of the real increase in wealth, thus proving Dallek's beliefs. Dallek shows Reaganomics to be an anti-working class and anti-social and moral justice crusade dedicated to the old Republican views of Hoover and a slap in the face to dwindling moderation in the party, as portrayed by the great moderate Gerald Ford. Dallek shows Reagan to be an ideologue on foreign policy, whose 'zeal' for eliminatiing so-called 'waste' on programs for the poor does not translate into a zeal to eliminate true waste which affects the pockets of the wealthy arms dealers. Dallek shows Reagan's views to be uncaring and regressive and ultimately harmful to the progress of the past.

This is, to say the least, a great book. It began to show the injustice of Reaganomics, which saw the top income tax rate on the wealthy fall from 70% to 28% and payroll taxes on working individuals increase 7 separate times. Reagan ignored great issues - such as medical insurance reform, civil rights, urban issues, the environment, education and progressive social policies - and concentrated on tax reductions for the wealthy, a false foreign policy which portrayed a hollow Soviet empire as a true warrior and a regressive nature in regards to civil rights and economics. He also began a great scam, the forging of the modern religious right. Reagan, whose religious views were inactive at best, portrayed himself as a true fundamentalist in order to win over angry white fundamentalists, who were upset with scores in civil rights, women's rights and public activism. He won over millions of working class whites by telling them he was on 'their side' and not 'the other folks' side,' that is, on the side of the minorities. Yet, while he did this, he became the poster boy for the Chamber of Commerce - what a scam! To add insult to injury, he defeated in 1980 Democrat Jimmy Carter, a truly devoted evangelical Christian. Once again, what a scam!

As a true fan of real history, I appreciate this work. Republican ideologues today falsely paint Reagan as a great President, when in fact he was mediocre at best.

Dallek is one of the best out there. His books on LBJ and FDR are great, as is his work on the Presidents. For those who enjoyed his past work, I would highly recommend this one! This one comes with a great recommendation by the great historian James Mcgregor Burns.

Flawed Giant: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1960-1973
Published in Hardcover by Oxford University Press (01 April, 1998)
Author: Robert Dallek
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Skip this one!
Dalleck is a third rate historian who has produced a poorly-written, pro-LBJ screed that provides almost new information. Read Robert Caro and learn the truth.

A Fine Sequel
Unlike some other reviewers, I was not disappointed by this sequel to Lone Star Rising. LBJ was so complex, and so was his Presidency. I've read many books on him and often get the impression given by the parable of the elephant and the three blind men: each writer gives a part of the description of the 'elephant' that was Johnson, but no real complete picture. Mr. Dallek comes closer, in my opinion, to representing the complete picture of Johnson and his Presidency, than others. I've always viewed Johnson in the same mold as FDR, in terms of scope of personality and ability to place a personal stamp on his Presidency. Both mean had such great assets and achievements, and both had great shortcomings. The difference that comes to mind immediately is Johnson's lack of confidence in many judgments and life-long lack of self-confidence; this is well-illustrated in this book. Unlike Roosevelt, Johnson lacked the ability to disguise his motives and emotions in an ongoing manner.

Like other reviewers, I only wish there had been greater coverage of Johnson's Vice-Presidential years. I've never read any detailed history of this period in Johnson's life, other than the feuding with the Kennedy clan. There's probably a book here for someone willing to spend the time and effort.

Dallek's writing is much more balanced than the books by Caro, and I think history will prove them of greater value.

Definitive Johnson
Robert Dallek's concluding volume on Lyndon Johnson completes what is to date the definitive biographical account of Johnson's life. Flawed Giant primarily deals with Johnson's Presidential years and is a bit more sober in tone than the lyrical Lone Stare Rising. But Dallek provides a fresh look at the difficult decisions facing a conflicted man with absorbing detail. This is no small feat, as the events of Johnson's life from 1961 to 1973 have been picked apart by biographers, historians and journalist again and again. It is unfortunate that the middlebrow, popular accounts of Johnson's life by Robert Caro have received so much attention. The result has been that serious biography on this subject has not been given it's day in the sun. I should note that Robert Dallek's comments about Mr. Caro have been much kinder to the popular writer than mine. Flawed Giant is a must read for those interested in American history and politics.

The American Style of Foreign Policy
Published in Paperback by New American Library (April, 1984)
Author: Robert Dallek
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