Our mission statement as a country tells us we are a government of laws, and not of men.  Yet without great men, including Adams, who said this, we would not have the laws that have provided the framework for our greatness.

Today, the laws that shape our contemporary society, civil rights, the environment, the social safety net, head start, and college loans, were in large measure the result of the Great Society and Lyndon Johnson.  

Hundreds of thousands of words have been written about Johnson.  Recently the movie Selma reignited the debate about Johnson’s role in Civil Rights legislation.  

But Johnson, like all Presidents, was a flesh and blood human being.  While we may understand and/or debate the history of his Presidency,   Joseph Califano Jr. in his book The Triumph & Tragedy of Lyndon Johnson: The White House Years, gives us a look inside the man himself.

My conversation with Joseph Califano: