cover image The Fierce Urgency of Now: Lyndon Johnson, Congress, and the Battle for the Great Society

The Fierce Urgency of Now: Lyndon Johnson, Congress, and the Battle for the Great Society

Julian E. Zelizer. Penguin Press, $29.95 (354p) ISBN 978-1-594-20434-0

Zelizer (Governing America), a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, turns his attention to the short, politically turbulent period in American politics from November 1963 to November 1966 when President Lyndon Johnson forged what has become known as the Great Society, which paved the path for many of today’s essential social programs. Zelizer paints Johnson as a flawed—opportunistic, domineering, ambitious—yet impressive leader, who took advantage of a perfect storm of legislative and governmental conditions to push through an unprecedented number of projects and achievements; a president who gambled greatly while his party and a liberal majority were in ascendancy and won accordingly. As Zelizer explains, “The political acumen Johnson and his colleagues on Capitol Hill possessed was essential, but what made the difference were the forces that temporarily reshaped Congress and broke the hold of conservatives on that notoriously inertial institution.” His focus on the conflict between conservative and liberal factions is even more timely in today’s climate. Zelizer writes with an expert’s deep understanding of the subject, but the dry tone and painstaking attention to detail make this a scholarly resource more than a casual item. [em]Agent: Andrew Wylie, Wylie Agency. (Jan.) [/em]