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Title details for The Fierce Urgency of Now by Julian E. Zelizer - Available

The Fierce Urgency of Now

Lyndon Johnson, Congress, and the Battle for the Great Society

by Julian E. Zelizer
Andrew Garman
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A majestic big-picture account of the Great Society and the forces that shaped it, from Lyndon Johnson and members of Congress to the civil rights movement and the media. Between November 1963, when he became president, and November 1966, when his party was routed in the midterm elections, Lyndon Johnson spearheaded the most transformative agenda in American political history since the New Deal, one whose ambition and achievement have had no parallel since. In just three years, Johnson drove the passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts; the War on Poverty program; Medicare and Medicaid; the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities; Public Broadcasting; immigration liberalization; a raft of consumer and environmental protection acts; and major federal investments in public transportation. Collectively, this group of achievements was labeled by Johnson and his team the "Great Society." In The Fierce Urgency of Now, Julian E. Zelizer takes the full measure of the entire story in all its epic sweep. Before Johnson, Kennedy tried and failed to achieve many of these advances. Our practiced understanding is that this was an unprecedented "liberal hour" in America, a moment, after Kennedy's death, when the seas parted and Johnson could simply stroll through to victory. As Zelizer shows, this view is off-base: In many respects America was even more conservative than it seems now, and Johnson's legislative program faced bitter resistance. The Fierce Urgency of Now animates the full spectrum of forces at play during these turbulent years, including religious groups, the media, conservative and liberal political action groups, unions, and civil rights activists. Above all, the great character in the book whose role rivals Johnson's is Congress-indeed, Zelizer argues that our understanding of the Great Society program is too Johnson-centric. He discusses why Congress was so receptive to passing these ideas in a remarkably short span of time and how the election of 1964 and burgeoning civil rights movement transformed conditions on Capitol Hill. Zelizer brings a deep, intimate knowledge of the institution to bear on his story: The book is a master class in American political grand strategy. Finally, Zelizer reckons with the legacy of the Great Society. Though our politics have changed, the heart of the Great Society legislation remains intact fifty years later. In fact, he argues, the Great Society shifted the American political center of gravity-and our social landscape-decisively to the left in many crucial respects. In a very real sense, we are living today in the country that Johnson and his Congress made.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    January 8, 2015

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781490649214
      • File size: 366515 KB
      • Duration: 12:43:34

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      The Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, Medicare, Medicaid, the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities, consumer and environmental protection acts--these and many other landmark bills all passed through Congress during the first years (1963-1966) of Lyndon Johnson's presidency. However, listening as Andrew Garman narrates in a calm and reasoned tone, one realizes that it would be a mistake to think that the pillars of Johnson's liberal "Great Society" legislation sailed through Congress without a fight. With clarity and a just a hint incredulity, Garman recounts how Dixiecrats, hard-line conservatives, and old-line New Dealers were able to come together for the briefest of times and create the political and social landscapes of the nation we live in today. B.P. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      October 20, 2014
      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. Agent: Andrew Wylie, Wylie Agency.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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