"G-Man" by Beverly Gage (2022)

With its 59 pages of Notes covering each if its 58 chapters, and a 20 page Bibliography, this carefully researched biography of J. Edgar Hoover may be the best yet. It is the Winner of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Biography, as well as the Winner of the 2022 National Book Critics Circle Award. 

The actual biographical portion spans over 750 pages and after a brief portion devoted to his years as a child, it dives into a decade by decade narrative of one of the most unusual lives of the 20th century. Both his presence and its impact are still felt today. 

From the years leading up to the First World War, the first Red Scare and the resultant Palmer Raids,  through the years of Prohibition and the Teapot Dome Scandal this is a book which  keeps on giving.

Sifting through every source available to the author, Ms. Gage has penned a biography which will surprise you in many ways. It overturns many assumptions made by previous authors on such issues as Hoover's stance on subjects from Japanese Internment Camps; he was against it; to his views on treating Jim Crow and Civil Rights in the same way he viewed Communism. In many ways this book is an eye opener.

And yet, when it comes to his refusal to accept the existence of a nationwide Organized Crime Syndicate, to his rocky relationship with the Kennedy's and his subsequent stonewalling of the Warren Commission, there are few surprises.

The most eye opening portions of this book, for me, involved the way President Johnson was able to get him to view the Civil Rights Struggle in the same way he had come to view Organized Crime and the Labor Racketeers as two sides of the same coin. They were all law breakers. 

His biggest errors are not ignored either. The Cointrel program, in which he justified the Agency's spying on the Civil Rights and Anti-War Movements, are treated as exactly what they were, an Overreach and Abuse of Power which has set the tone of the FBI through to the current day. The book offers no excuses. But it does provide explanations of how it evolved from its initial legitimacy to the rocky and suspect political bureaucracy it has become. 

There is much to be gleaned from this painstakingly researched biography. I have barely scraped the surface in this review. As the longest serving Director if the Bureau, 48 years, this is the story of a man who left his mark on Anerica, for better or for worse. And as such, it is a book well worth the reading.

" Indomitable Will" by Mark K. Updegrove (2012)

This is an unusual biography in that it is more of a “talking” history of the man by the people who knew him best. The book is written by Mark Updegrove; who is the Director of the LBJ Library and Museum in Austin, Texas; so you do have to take that into account. It is, however, very candid on most subjects. In some ways, as in LBJ’s relationship with his wife, there is new material here that is of great interest in understanding a man who may have been one of our country’s most complex Presidents.

As with any biography, particular attention should always be paid to the author, as well as any relationship he may have with his subject. That said, I did find this to be a pretty fair portrait of President Johnson; unflinching in any credit due him for things both good and bad during his time in office.

As I said earlier, one of the more interesting parts of this book dealt with LBJ’s relationship with his wife Lady Bird; born Claudia Alta Taylor; and her behind the scenes support of her husband as President. Although aware of his philandering nature, she was secure enough on her own to simply disregard it. And, at the same time she would critique his speeches and act as a sounding board for him during his 5 years in the White House. Mr. Updegrove does a wonderful job of giving her credit for her efforts. He paints a new portrait; more accurate than any previous; of Lady Bird as she really was.

Some of the behind the scenes maneuvering by both the Soviets and the Americans on the eve of the Israeli 6 Day War in 1967 were of special interest. The Soviets, after having instigated the whole thing with Syria and Egypt to make war on Israel, realized that the situation was moving too quickly and attempted to put a stop to it. The Americans, on their side, wanted Israel to wait and be attacked, thus taking the high road. Instead, Israel, acting unilaterally, pre-empted the attack by Syria, Egypt and Jordan with an attack of her own, slicing through the opposing armies and capturing the West Bank, Golan Heights and Jerusalem in the process. These territories are still in dispute today, with Israel having held them as an example of the consequences of being attacked by her neighbors.

If you’ve ever seen the “Andy Griffith Show” where the Soviet and American negotiators meet in Sheriff Taylor’s kitchen for a summit, you will enjoy the account of the “Glassboro Summit”, in which the President met with Premier Kosygin in the living room of Glassboro State College President Dr. Robinson’s home in New Jersey. The setting was similar to the way it was portrayed on the “Andy Griffith Show”, worn furniture and all. In this atmosphere, the two world leaders were able to bond over talk of their grandchildren; Johnson had just become a grandfather; much as Jimmy Carter and Anwar Sadat would later do at Camp David.

The book is basically an oral biography in that most of it is taken up by the quotes of the people involved in the incidents the author writes about. When he writes about a typical cabinet meeting, it is done with quotes by the people who were there, and who have gone on record with these recollections. This gives the book a sense of immediacy, as if you are being spoken to by the participants, rather than just reading about distant events. Harry Truman was portrayed in just such a way by Merle Miller in “Plain Speaking”, which is still one of my favorite Presidential autobiographies.

President Johnson was not the greatest foreign policy leader we have ever had, but domestically he was the most far reaching. His completion of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; which began with President Kennedy; would have been enough for one administration to tackle, but Johnson went further, giving the law its teeth with the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. That legislation went beyond mere words; it ensured that there would be no more obstacles for blacks to overcome in order to vote. That act did more to help change the politics of this country than anything since Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. It empowered a whole demographic to exercise their rights for the first time.

Under Johnson’s Presidency, and with his instigation, the minimum wage rose from $1.25 per hour to $1.60 per hour, a 28% increase for the lowest paid of Americans. While walking through the White House and seeing a group of tourists in the hall, he was asked about that increase. His response was eloquent; he told the visitors that the law was for “that little charwoman who scrubs the floor at that hotel”, and “the waitress that’s got three kids at home, that goes in there in the morning before daylight to be ready to serve coffee when they drop in at six o’clock, and usually stays until dark.”

It is easy to remember President Johnson for the Vietnam War, social disorder here at home, and a myriad of other problems. This book focuses more on some of the better things which grew from that Presidency. Sometimes, when we look back, it is easiest to remember the turmoil. But, it is also equally important to remember the steps which were taken in the right direction, if only to inspire the leaders of the present and future to further heights.

"Calculated Risk" by Jonna Doolittle Hoppes

I never met my paternal Grandfather, and my maternal Grandfather refused to see any of his grandchildren. No one is sure just why. No matter, this book was written by Jimmy Doolittle's grandaughter, Jonna Doolittle Hoppes. It teems with the affection she held for this man.

She has mined a treasure of articles and books, and even her Grandfather's writings on technical issues, to produce a book that is not only the story of one the world's greatest aviators, but also the story of a marriage.

Josephine Doolittle, known to all simply as "Joe", for her favorite Uncle, was a woman with a wry sense of humor and a quick wit. She had to be, to keep up with her husband Jimmy. They first met in High School, and after that they were constantly together. They approached her Dad on Christmas eve 1921, to seek his blessing to be married, and when he refused, they left anyway to begin their lives together. They never dreamt that Jimmy's love of flying would touch the entire world, and that Joe's love and support of him would have such an effect upon history.

Jimmy grew up in Nome, Alaska, where his dad was a carpenter during the Gold Rush. Young Jimmy would live in a few different places while growing up, such as Seattle, San Francisco and even Los Angeles. This would be only the beginning of a life that would take him around the world more than once, setting new records all along the way.

He is the highest ranking Officer that I know of, who has flown in combat, leading the famed "Doolittle Raids" against Japan from the carrier USS Hornet in early 1942, at a time when we were losing battle after battle in the Pacific. His reputation as the "Master of the Calculated Risk" made him the ideal candidate to both plan, and lead, this mission.

His lists of "firsts" in the field of Aviation include flying cross country in less than 24 hours, ansd being the first to fly "blind", using only primitive instruments like Radio Direction Finders and Dead Reckoning to ascertain his position. He was the winner of many of the major air races during the 1930's and went on to command the Allied 12th, 8th and 15th Air Forces during World War two in three seperate theatres of operations.

The author documents both General Doolittles achievements as well as his faults in an open and honest book. Clearly she loved both of her grandparents and that affection shines through each chapter. She uses all of her Dad's anecdotes and stories, while backing them up with her Grandmother Joe's recollections of the same incidents. This is a wonderfully crafted biography of two ordinary people who went on to change the course of history, both in war and peace. That it is written with so much love by their grandaughter makes it all the more endearing to the reader.