The arc of Lyndon Baines Johnson's life is a version of the American dream: the poor boy from the backwaters of the Texas hill country who ascended to the very pinnacle of power - only to see his presidency undermined by the conflict in Vietnam, a war he supported and expanded but never understood. One of the most perplexing, astute and larger-than-life politicians in modern American history, LBJ set out to "out-Kennedy the Kennedys" by pushing through historic social legislation on a scale that rivaled FDR. Big, brash, intimidating and driven by an all-consuming ambition, Johnson dominated people and institutions. Part 1 of 2.
