LBJ
David Grubin (for PBS)
1992

his engrossing biography of the most famous Texas president was originally produced for PBS as part of The American Experience series. Directed by David Grubin and running four hours in length, it is an exhaustive and riveting look at a man, and his love/hate relationship with his times.

From a Texas perspective, the first hour of LBJ: A Biography is the most interesting of all. Starting with his election to Congress during the New Deal, when he worked to bring electricity and indoor plumbing to Central Texas, the shape and size of Texas politics are measured. We learn about ballot box stuffing and other questionable practices which cost LBJ his first Senate seat. (His campaign manager inadvertently revealed LBJ's vote tally to his opponent, who promptly saw to it that he emerged with 150 or so more votes.) LBJ took great strides to ensure victory the next time around, and once he returned to Washington he never left, becoming what some call the most effective president in our history, until Vietnam brought him to his knees.

Perhaps the most chronicled and studied president of the 20th century, LBJ is as fascinating and complicated a character as you'd hope to find in the White House -- or in all of Texas for that matter. But one can't help but imagine how miserably LBJ would fare in the current climate, where we expect the power-hungry egomaniacs who actually make it all the way to the White House to also project a lily-white and pure image.

Image of an Assassination

LBJ

Plutonium Circus