This superficial film portrait of Lyndon Baines Johnson oozes sentimentality, as opposed to seeking to present historical truth. The film completely misses the truth that LBJ was a political opportunist, who was skillful at promoting himself at the expense of human values or the will of the American people.
The film conveniently bypasses the unsavory story of LBJ's rise to power, including:
(1) the way that he forced himself on the Democratic ticket through virtual blackmail, in order to become JFK's running mate in 1960;
(2) the way that he changed course in his personal beliefs to support the civil rights platform in order to enhance his prestige as the architect of The Great Society. Political expediency was all that matters to LBJ. He was not an agent of social change or a humanitarian, as depicted in the film;
(3) the way that he steered America into the disastrous Vietnam War. No mention is made of the disgraceful Gulf of Tonkin pretext for the war or LBJ's desperate attempt to win the war primarily out of trying to avoid being the first American president lose a war, as we learned from the Pentagon Papers.
The crooked past of LBJ was completely ignored in the film, as well as the deep loathing that he felt for the Kennedy brothers. Sorensen's State of the Union speech written for LBJ identified the death of John F. Kennedy as "the foulest deed of our time." But this Hollywoodized treatment of the JFK assassination and the "accidental" presidency of Lyndon Johnson fails to present the tectonic shift of history of our nation that occurred on November22, 1963. A large portion of the shift is due to the disgraceful conduct of Lyndon Baines Johnson, one of the most despicable figures in American history.
The film conveniently bypasses the unsavory story of LBJ's rise to power, including:
(1) the way that he forced himself on the Democratic ticket through virtual blackmail, in order to become JFK's running mate in 1960;
(2) the way that he changed course in his personal beliefs to support the civil rights platform in order to enhance his prestige as the architect of The Great Society. Political expediency was all that matters to LBJ. He was not an agent of social change or a humanitarian, as depicted in the film;
(3) the way that he steered America into the disastrous Vietnam War. No mention is made of the disgraceful Gulf of Tonkin pretext for the war or LBJ's desperate attempt to win the war primarily out of trying to avoid being the first American president lose a war, as we learned from the Pentagon Papers.
The crooked past of LBJ was completely ignored in the film, as well as the deep loathing that he felt for the Kennedy brothers. Sorensen's State of the Union speech written for LBJ identified the death of John F. Kennedy as "the foulest deed of our time." But this Hollywoodized treatment of the JFK assassination and the "accidental" presidency of Lyndon Johnson fails to present the tectonic shift of history of our nation that occurred on November22, 1963. A large portion of the shift is due to the disgraceful conduct of Lyndon Baines Johnson, one of the most despicable figures in American history.