Lbj: A Remembrance

Using black and white still photographs, accompanied by commentary from Lyndon Baines Johnson's contemporaries, this nicely produced documentary is an honorable reminder of a side of LBJ that most of us have forgotten: namely, the man who devoted much of his political career to civil rights, education, the eradication of poverty, and health care programs such as Medicare. A product of a poor family himself, Johnson always felt uneasy around his upper class, well-educated peers. Anecdotes relate Johnson's superior political sense: he didn't hesitate to use events to further his aims. In the wake of the killing of Bobby Kennedy, for instance, Johnson was able to get the first piece of legislation on gun control passed. Ultimately, the Vietnam War proved to be Johnson's undoing, and in the pictures taken from this period, the strain of a situation that baffled, frustrated, and haunted the man are clearly evident in the weary lines on his face. Acknowledging defeat, Johnson announced in 1968 that he would not seek re-election, and retired to his Texas home, where he spent the last few years of his life. A moving, and often humorous, documentary LBJ: A Remembrance is highly recommended for those libraries who can afford it. (Available from: New Dimensions Media, 85895 Lorane Hwy., Eugene, OR 97405; 1-800-288-4456.)