My Brother, Lyndon

Of the numerous persons to write books about Lyndon Johnson there is probably none as qualified to do so as Sam Houston Johnson. Sam Houston was LBJ's only brother. He lived with and worked for Johnson off and on for decades. In spite of the author's great admiration for LBJ, he is still willing to write critically of his brother. So this book combines knowledge of its subject matter with objectivity. This combined with a very readable writing style makes this book well worth reading. This book was written in 1969, the year LBJ left office. According to author Booth Mooney, Johnson viewed this book as a huge betrayal by his younger brother. So much so that LBJ apparently quit talking to Sam Houston. That it caused such a rift is surprising since the book is basically favorable to LBJ. According to Mooney, the two brothers never reconciled before President Johnson's death in 1973. In this book we see Sam Houston as the easy going prankster. This stands in contrast to the serious Lyndon. Not only did the author live with Lyndon and Lady Bird periodically during the 1940's and 50's but he also lived with them in the White House during much of the Johnson Presidency. So the author can speak authoritatively about not only his brother but many other politicians of that time. Sam Houston Johnson shows that his brother was a loyal Vice President to John F. Kennedy. Both in public and in private LBJ defended Kennedy in spite of the bad treatment he received from Kennedy's men. And according to the author it was Lyndon who convinced Kennedy to send men to the moon. The author contends that Secretary of Defense McNamara was two-faced and disloyal. He believes that if Johnson would have dumped McNamara sooner the Vietnam War might have ended much sooner. And LBJ would have been easily reelected in 1968. The author also criticizes President Nixon. He states that as a candidate Nixon was irresponsible and opportunistic in his comments against Johnson.