Lyndon B. Johnson, Volumes 1-3

Volumes 1-3 : As one of Johnson's first acts upon assuming the presidency after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, he ordered a secret taping system installed in the White House and began recording his telephone conversations from the moment he returned to Washington, D.C. from Dallas. These three volumes--produced by scholars at the University of Virginina's Miller Center of Public Affairs--launch a series that will ultimately include the complete recordings of LBJ, fully transcribed, introduced and annotated. This set covers the first 65 hours of the nearly 800 hours of Johnson's White House recordings. Covering the dramatic months of November 1963 through January 1964, these volumes depict a man coming to grips with the awesome responsibilities of the presidency while simultaneously trying to lead a nation and a government in mourning. Captured on tape are Johnson's efforts to conciliate the Kennedy family while putting his own imprint on the office. Abroad, he is consumed by a coup in Vietnam, a bloody anti-American riot in Panama, a near civil war in Cyprus, and persistent leaks from within his own administration. Domestically, he pushes forward the civil rights revolution and leads a single-minded drive to reduce the size of the federal budget to gain political room for his war on poverty. --! From publisher's description.