lbj ask very pointedly. he says, what he said today he said i should accept it when yesterday you said i shouldn't. he said because if you don't accept it, just as god made little green apples, richard nixon will become president of the united states. that is something that rayburn, who just despised president nixon could not deal with. i think that lbj does it for the country and a large mentor. >> did he play any significant role -- i don't believe that kennedy ever introduced introduce any civil rights legislation? is that right? but i know there was frustration with wallace during kennedy's administration about letting the students at the university. i am wondering if johnson played a role as a southerner in any of that stuff? >> johnson uses jfk's martyrdom, in part to give the civil rights act of 1964 through. he says very pointedly to lawmakers, this is what our president would have wanted. this is what john f. kennedy, our fallen president, would have wanted. you owe to him and his country. i don't k

lbj. september 1st. 1934. this is a book about naziism in 19 34 well before they reared their ugly heads to the world. it shows the world view of this, you know, couple from texas. they had a great view of the world. but, you know, you can't assess lbj of itself. the johnsons were a package deal. i think most people saw them as that way. one of the things she talks about as hard as it was to work for lyndon johnson, you had to lady bird johnson sort of as a buffer. one of the things she said, i always made sure i walked behind him and said thank you. [laughter] and i really do believe they came as a package deal. there was one aid in there, to the johnsons who says, you know, aids to presidents never have a meal with the president and first lady. it was hard to get out of a meal with lyndon and lazy bird johnson. they treated you as family when you were at the ranch and johnson spent a fifth after the presidency at the ranch where he could relax and conduct business. everybody ate with the johnsons. everybody

lbj responded with flaming gun. they bombed a north vietnamese army base.m his cell, downed pilot knew the war was escalating. >> i would look out in my cell and i would look up this way and there were three tracers. >> this is decision point for the president. this is rolling thunder bombing campaign against north vietnam. >> it begin on two march, 1965. president and his advisors bombing would force the north to back down. white house maintains strict control over targets. that in fear of a wider war with china or the soviets muted the effectiveness of rolling thunder. >> there will be followed very closely by the introduction of marines initially under the auspices, thought from the very beginning, to make offensive killing operations. >> make it late in the day and miss some of the morning additions. it will minimize it. >> marines came ashore and thousands were on the way. they landed two months later on 7 may with second battalion. >> how are you g.i. joe. >> they made landing with the greetings of hanoi anna. >> and guys in your squad say about this.

lbj responded with flaming gun. they bombed a north vietnamese army base.m his cell, downed pilot knew the war was escalating. >> i would look out in my cell and i would look up this way and there were three tracers. >> this is decision point for the president. this is rolling thunder bombing campaign against north vietnam. >> it begin on two march, 1965. president and his advisors bombing would force the north to back down. white house maintains strict control over targets. that in fear of a wider war with china or the soviets muted the effectiveness of rolling thunder. >> there will be followed very closely by the introduction of marines initially under the auspices, thought from the very beginning, to make offensive killing operations. >> make it late in the day and miss some of the morning additions. it will minimize it. >> marines came ashore and thousands were on the way. they landed two months later on 7 may with second battalion. >> how are you g.i. joe. >> they made landing with the greetings of hanoi anna. >> and guys in your squad say about this.

for lbj, it was like living a nightmare. and you can go through the spring of '68, the invasion of czechoslovakia, all of the things that are going on domestically, including the assassinations of robert kennedy and martin luther king. let me turn now a little bit to the real essence and the substance. the book is wonderfully written, clear, crisp. this is not your standard bland official history that simply recounts the events. drea offers regarding mcnamara, johnson and to a lesser extent clifford shrewd and to my mind generally persuasive judgments. his analysis provides, i think, a more balanced critique of mcnamara than you're likely to find in the standard account from left to right. from others who have attempted to assess mcnamara's record, drea acknowledges his genius, especially his ability to analyze complex problems, the grasp the workings of the pentagon. he is one of the few secretaries that has come close to mastering the budgeting process. it is interesting to speculate how his reputation might look today had

why did lbj do the same thing to hubert humphrey? he would not let him use a jet plane across the united states. >> you really know this stuff. you are right. he certainly did the same thing to hubert humphrey. i have to say that i have not finished on why i will do it. and nothing i have examined and now. >> let me ask you about the next volume. i know you hate this. what is your timetable? what does it really matter what i say to you? would you believe me? >> of course. this book took 10-years? >> yes, but that is not right. i was doing the research on the rest of its. i have done most of the research on the next volume as well. >> that is underwriting the next? >> yes. i have written part of it. >> do you think this will be the final book? you'd written three and asked this. i said yes. >> what is the update on your memoir that you say you are writing? >> that is very long. i did not have to do any research. it is my own life. it is the day memoir about how i grew up in new york. it is more and more about what it was light to try

i mean, she was able to come -- lbj was such a character. he would go off at times.nd she could put a hand on the knee and say lyndon, you don't really mean that. there's just an ease that came into that. and that relationship of whatever you do in your marriage, in your life and your partnership, that's the real power that i think besides all the things you do in the world at large. but let's start with you and literacy. i mean, i know what you've done. and how did it happen that you chose that? >> well, i jogged around memorial park one year, knowing george was going to run. granted, nobody else thought he was, but anyway, i tried to think of something. i had worked in hospitals always as a volunteer, and then i decided i should do something that helps the most people and cost the government less money. i didn't want to be controversial. i got problems with that anyway. >> exactly. >> comes naturally, but i picked lit reiss, but there's just no question in my mind, and now i've gone into family literacy, because if you have a mother or father or care take who can r

but she -- we had flown -- when lbj was vice president, we had flown from the u.s. to the mediterranean, had flown the length of the mediterranean and landed in beirut and had just walked into the hotel room, which was supposed to be a rest stop before they went to iran and turkey and italy and lebanon, of course. and mrs. johnson's on the phone, so i come into the room. she said can you get a car and let's go to bombeck. i said what's bombeck. i said i thought this was supposed to be a rest stop, and she said i may never get here again. it was very short order, and we were in the car going up over the lebanon mountains past big stacks, men with big stacks of this wonderful flat bread on their head going through the olive groves and the orchards into bombeck where you saw civilization, upon civilization, upon civilization, and so i'm so grateful for her for bringing me along for the great adventure but also for taking me to bombay. >> now you brought up the circumstances surrounding the beginning of the johnson presidency. i'll give you an opportunity to respond. re

he has devoted four decades to the life of lbj. robert caro with the fourth installment of his epic biography on lyndon johnson. >>> plus, the never before heard details of what happened in this iconic picture. >>> and a late-night defense of that late-night endorsement. >> we decided to put it out late at night so it would be sort of the first thing people see in the morning. >> okay. >> and you know -- >> because it was kind of buried. it was 16 paragraphs and it was a 13th paragraph, oh, by the way, this mitt romney romney fella -- >> no, no, no. >> i'm andrea mitchell live in new york. in our "daily fix," he voted with ronald reagan more than any other senator, but lugar is now kicked out. his tea party-backed opponent won by more than 20 points. senate icon did not go gently into the night, releasing a statement blasting the erosion of the political center. with postpolitics.com, and mark halperin is an msnbc contributor and with "time" magazine. chris, we're going to talk about lugar in a moment, but stand by because i want y

, lbj, of course, spanish for the bj. begin tonight with last night's momentous news. >> it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that i think same-sex couples should be able to get married (cheers and applause) >> jon: finally,-- from its president of the united states. of course the president still believes it is an issue best left to the states. but they're not complaining tonight. it's a great day when the president of the united states says on national it was gay people should no longer be relegated to only planning other people's weddings. it's not right! it's like putting a cat in charge of the goldfish toss game. it's not fair! you're just torturing the cat. let him eat the fish or move him down to the clown. that's a better game for the cat. what are we talking about? i forgot already. gay marriage. many were suggesting that the president's hand was forced by his vice president old flubs mcgill cutie of the delaware blabbermouth by addressing the issue with his remarks on "meet the press" last sunday. >> so

lbj's got the rebound. he goes to the line. he's just a 58% free-throw shooter. in the final minute of a one-possession game, misses both. wow. heat down two. still, with a pulse. wade, backing in. got the step. just puts it up short. miami has one, last chance to tie. it's not lbj. it's not wade. it's mario chalmers. playing off the mark. pacers win 78-75. they're 3-1, on the road this postseason. >>> elsewhere, in the west. clippers with one day of rest, taking on the spurs, who have been off for about eight days. blake griffin's sprained left knee was just fine. tony parker, to tim duncan. the dynamic duo, at it again. the double-double for the big fundamental. and the new issue, stephen jackson, to boris daiwa, for 17. they've won 15-straight postseason games. jackson, helping the cause. chris paul had just six points. he did have ten dimes. that one to griffin. it's a ten-point game. and way too much, as san antonio, duncan, gets it to go. san antonio, has won their first five postseason games this playoff season. >>> the nba playoffs continue on espn thursd

lbj has options. he's on that plane. it's a small plane.e goes into the kennedy bedroom to make that call to bobby kennedy, stretches out on that bed and calls bobby kennedy, who had only 31 minutes earlier learned that his brother was dead. >> yes. >> and he insists, johnson insists on calling him to ask for advice about the swearing-in and the transition of power because he's the attorney general. >> yes. >> they had such a complicated, hateful relationship. what inspired him to do that? and how did that then poison bobby kennedy's reactions? >> that's a great question and complicated to answer. you know, the two of them, as a historian, andrea, you hate to use words like hatred, but that's not too strong a word to use in the relationship between bobby kennedy and lyndon johnson. they hated each other. and the fact -- you know, bobby kennedy gets this news at his estate, at his home, hickory hill. he's having lunch by the swimming pool with his wife, evelyn, robert morganthorpe of new york, and suddenly, they see a painter who is painting

the first person who yell out will be lbj.ow come that damn book on the kennedys was twice as long as mine. but let me begin, because i love to tell

the first person who yell out will be lbj.ow come that damn book on the kennedys was twice as long as mine. but let me begin, because i love to tell stories from the beginning with what it was like when you first get to the white house. you have this great line where you said "i woke up with the president-elect." what's it like to wake up with the president in the morning? and know you are in a place with 132 rooms and you have to make it a home? how do you do that? >> the house really i think was very easy. we brought furniture for the one family room, which was beautiful. and our own curtains came, matched the couches that we brought. it's -- first of all, 90-some people who work for you are family. they really are. and when we went back all those years later, eight years later, when george and laura were there, there was our family. they were still there. there are some of them still there. not many anymore. old age got them. >> did you have a favorite place in the white house where you liked to go? >> well, i loved my litt

lyndon johnson, talk about changing culture lbj would call cronkite directly to complain about something it was really that world war ii generation of reporters who were, that we are all in this together, we fought together and we are trying to make america good, vietnam war corroded that when you started seeing vietnam and finally, you know, famously, february 27th, 1968 when the tet offensive occurred and he came back, walter cronkite and called vietnam a stalemate, many people connected johnson's clams with this objective mr. center now turning on the war and then, of course, watergate and nixon's hatred of the press and the unleashing of conspiracy row agnew and it became a war against the fourth estate and who won? the media, woodrow and bernstein and walter cronkite, so presidents have gotten skeptical of the press, it is now a very antagonistic relationship, much more so .. than it was when they wouldn't show franklin roosevelt in a wheelchair in a photo and everybody knew about jack kennedy's affairs but wouldn't do them today in a youtube internet world every missed smile a pres

lbj against civil rights.60, and 1964. >> it's not just negros, but really it's all of us who must overcome the crippling legacy offing bigotry and injustice. and we shall overcome. >> when he signed this law in 1965, lbj told an aide we lost the south for a generation. and he was right. many jumped ship and headed straight to the republican party. those disaffected democrats found a comfortable home in the republican party of barry goldwater, whose

lbj against civil rights.60, and 1964. >> it's not just negros, but really it's all of us who must overcome the crippling legacy offing bigotry and injustice. and we shall overcome. >> when he signed this law in 1965, lbj told an aide we lost the south for a generation. and he was right. many jumped ship and headed straight to the republican party. those disaffected democrats found a comfortable home in the republican party of barry goldwater, whose 1964 presidential campaign opposed civil rights. i grew up, a mother a father when i was born in the 50s, republicans, in the '60s they were democrats. either writers don't know history, or they don't know what civil rights is all about. thanks for watching, i'm al sharpton. >>> pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, let's play "hardball." >>> good evening, i'm chris matthews in

roy willkins to support kennedy, don't let it take you all the way to lbj. he said if i'm honest, i will tell you that the one person that i think who has fire in his belly to end it is linden johnson. he said don't worry, my wife is not only a row nman catholic, b in love with john kennedy and wouldn't sleep with me if i didn't support john kennedy. robert kennedy, marshal is the third key person for civil rights. one of the wisest people i ever knew. very concerned with making federalism work. and getting mr. greyhound to carry the buzz to the next stage and doing everything they could to get the police and local government. >> why was the freedom rider that violent? >> it was the sit in, the four little girls in birmingham being killed, having an enormous impact. all of that changed them. to great disappointment in the first draft that we saw two days before. had no reference to civil rights. we didn't notice then. he had no reference to any domestic issue whatsoever. committed to human rights at home and around the world. it was 24 hours before he spoke

lebron james, flashes it in from downtown. 27 for lbj. tied at 84. anthony answers back. knicks win 89-87 to stop an nba record 13-game playoff losing streak. >>> sixers pulled away from the bulls late in game four. holiday hits the three. 3 seconds later, connects again. 20 points for him. sixers put the bulls on the road and lead the series. to the ice, king and the blues. the kings capped a does in the third. scoring on the empty net. get the sweep with the victory. they're in the conference finals for only the second time in franchise history. >> there is so much young talent on the pga tour, it's been hard for a guy like rickie fowler to get into the winner's circle. fowler clicking on all circles. tied for the lead at 14-under. waisted opportunities. d.a. points for par, and the wind -- win on 18. 14-under. rory mcilroy, a chance to win on 18. birdie putt. to strong. fowler sets the time on the first playoff hole. incredible approach. two feet from the jar, and he taps that in for birdie, and the colorful 23-year-old is finally a winner on the pga tour. >> we'll hea

. >> there was this great conversation between martin luther king and lbj. on the second full day of johnson's tenure as president, he calls everybody, does a remarkable job in keeping the country stable in the aftermath of the assassination. he says to martin luther king, i'm going to support them all. i will support all those policies, and i want you to bring your ideas. come visit me. next time you're you're in washington, come and see me and we will talk about it. he forced his coalition, partnership with martin luther king it is very important. one of the things that king says to johnson, there is no better way to you can honor the late president then by pursuing his policies. johnson says i will support them all. >> thank you. >> final question for you. this book is about johnson and the presidency and it does present a remarkably multifaceted portrait of a man in full. what lessons or primary lesson do you think future presidents can take from johnson's style of presidential leadership? >> well, i think it is a bygone era in washington. his washington

i suspect mitt romney was thinking in the old lbj way. lbj once said, cleaning up his language, it's much better to have people on the inside of the tent aiming out than the outside of the tent aiming in. >> he was speaking of j. edgar hoove when he said that. >> boy, was he ever. >> ronald reagan said, it's not about what they believe in, it's about what i believe in. >> yeah. reagan got into an interesting point in 1980 when the john burch society, a rather fringe group came out in robust for him. they said, these crazy people are supporting you. he said, you know, they may be supporting me, but that doesn't mean i'm supporting them. that was the end of it. >> this from "the washington post," looking at getting nomination after texas, the republican party will have selected an unlikely zarnd for 2012. a man of moderate temperament and a party fueled by hot temperament, a flip-flopper in a party that demands ideological purity. >> isn't that interesting? that's very well put. >> so how did this happen and what does he do now? >> there's

and he did it perfectly and broke the news of the death of lbj. >> and someone that palled around, wetely go to break, not able to get into the fact that walter cronkite palled around with andy warhol. jimmy buffet. that's why you got to read the book. it's "cronkite." douglas brinkley, congratulations on the book. coming up, former supreme court justice john paul stevens isn't done ringing the alarm bells. [ female announcer ] want to spend less and retire with more? then don't get nickle and dimed by high cost investments and annoying account fees. at e-trade, our free easy-to-use online tools and experienced retirement specialists can help you build a personalized plan. and with our no annual fee iras and a wide range of low cost investments, you can execute the plan you want at a low cost. so meet with us, or go to etrade.com for a great retirement plan with low cost investments. ♪ more than 50 times a day? so brighten your smile a healthy way with listerine® whitening plus restoring rinse. it's the only rinse that makes your teeth two shades whiter and two times stronger. ♪ liste

his book entitled "lbj in vietnam: a different kind of war," creates an almost perfect perch from which george can review ed drea's book. and that's what he's going to do for us now. george? [ applause ] >> thank you very much, john, for that kind introduction.

. >> roy wilkins, he said, don't let it take you all the way to lbj. but he said, harris, if i'm honest, i will tell you that the one person who i think has fire in his belly, because of what he's seen in the south, to end it, is lyndon johnson. and then he said, but don't worry, he said, my wife is not only a roman catholic, but passionately in love with john kennedy, and she wouldn't sleep with me if i didn't support john kennedy. you can see why kennedy had an affinity toward roger's uncle. robert kennedy -- [ laughter ] robert kennedy, berth marshall

. >> roy wilkins, he said, don't let it take you all the way to lbj. but he said, harris, if i'm honest, i will tell you that the one person who i think has fire in his belly, because of what he's seen in the south, to end it, is lyndon johnson. and then he said, but don't worry, he said, my wife is not only a roman catholic, but passionately in love with john kennedy, and she wouldn't sleep with me if i didn't support john kennedy. you can see why kennedy had an affinity toward roger's uncle. robert kennedy -- [ laughter ] robert kennedy, berth marshall is the key person, assistant attorney general for civil rights. one of the wisest people i ever knew. was very cautious, very concerned with making federalism work. as you know, if you followed the dealings with governor wallace on the dealings with the governor of mississippi, and getting the -- mr. greyhound to carry the bus to the next stage and seeing it through, and seeing the -- all the force of the federal government through. they did everything they could to get the local police and the local g

layer -- lbj library library would be there.ere demonstrations against that because this was the late 60's and early 70s. and now, if you try to remove the lbj library from austin you would have demonstrations and so on. that experience really taught me that the value of presidential library, if it has something that goes forward and it is not just a mausoleum more or less, that is something that moves forward like the lbj school school will and the institute here well, then they are worth working for. it was really a tough time in austin when that was announced, and so there were also a number of faculty here who were in graduate school at the same time i was. they could verify that was the case. so that made me feel like that it was set up appropriately. it would have a continuing value to the university and the greater dallas and north texas area over time. now there is a constellation of presidential libraries here with clinton and this one, bush 41 and lbj within driving distance of each other. c-span: this will be the 13th

there's one other case like this, and that's at the lbj presidential library at the university of texas. he was from very humble roots, a little town calmed bugtussle down in southeastern oklahoma, but this is a little league team from elmore city, also a littletown in that neck of the woods, and he, mcallister was considered his home and when he left the congress, he retired to mcallister. he didn't stay in washington. he didn't go on to lobby or do something, you know, to make more money. he really saw himself returning to his roots, and so that's what he did. one other little thing. he was not a tall man, which is why he's known as the little giant from little dixie, which is the name we give to southeastern oklahoma. he was 5'4", and if you look under the desk here you can see, he has a little stool. that's his original stool to lift his feet up so that he could elevate his chair and be a little bit more of an imposing feature behind the desk, but he certainly lived up to his nickname of the little giant from little dixie. >> why collect all of these items, the papers, the physical

they would go into their rooms, go to bed at night, and there were chanters out there, hey, hey, lbj, how many kids did you kill today? hey, hey, and on it would go. i think the climate that had invaded the white house, i tried to avoid that because i kept track of these full-page ads that ran in the "new york times" every sunday, sometimes during the week, they would have people, artists, writers, signing petitions to the president, and i kept track of those because i didn't want to invite those people to the state dinner. i didn't -- i didn't want them to be sending ugly regrets. we didn't need that. we wanted a pause. but an intellectual had been added to the white house staff, a man from princeton named eric goldman, and eric had this idea of a white house festival of the arts, which we had already been thinking about in my office, but i was talking to eric about it, and i was going to do "x" part of it and he was going to do "y" part of it, and the "y" part of it was that he was inviting writers to come and read their works, and i was -- i was really concerned about that because

lbj's legacy. politics, power and lessons learned. i'll talk to robert carrow. and is college worth the cost? an ivy league university president has some surprising answers. "the wall street journal report" begins right now. >> this is america's number one financial news program. "the wall street journal report." now, maria bartiromo. >> here's a look at what's making news as we head into a new week on wall street. it was the most eagerly awaited initial public offering in recent memory. and on friday, mark zuckerberg rang the opening bell at nasdaq from facebook headquarters in california. on thursday, the facebook ipo was priced at $38 a share. the upper end of the expected range. it opened much higher than that. that valued the company at more than $100 billion, making it the largest internet ipo ever. company raising $18 billion on that ipo. the company began trading on the nasdaq on friday. take a look at how the stock opened and how it closed. the facebook anticipation did not help the markets much. by thursday the dow industrials closed at four-month lows

yoichi okamoto, lbj's total photographer, was an absolute role model, total access to the president and all that and ollie atkins, the second white house photographer, really didn't have much access at all. it's not what nixon wanted. it's all about your relationship with the president. i thought about that.di i thought what am i going to sao if he asks me. am i i said, two things i would like, one is total access to all meetings all the time and to work for you directly not for the white house chief of staff or the press secretary. he was puffing on his pipe and f he looked at me and said, you don't want air force one on the weekends?th it started well.l. it started well and it never let up.espectfu i was so respectful and loved ts those guys.me a tre they gave me a tremendous opportunity and i'm a pro. i worked 16 hours a day they let me into their life and i 6 hour respected that to this day. i really am blessed to have been able to do that. >> alita black was talking able earlier about the fact that we just get lucky sometimes in american history.just i think we were extraordinarily