Go Ahead, And Fear Not. You Will

Lyndon Johnson Is Still The Most Formidable, Fascinating, Frustrating, Irritating Individual I Think I've Ever Known In My Entire Life. He Was Huge, A Huge Character, Not Only Standing Six Feet Four, But When You Talked To Him, He Violated The Normal Human Space Between People. He Was A Great Storyteller. The Problem Was That Half His Stories, I Discovered, Weren't True.

Even Though Lyndon Johnson's Presidency Was In Many Ways Scarred Forever By The War In Vietnam, And Destroyed In A Lot Of Ways, He - As A Character - Was Even Larger Than His Presidency. Being Able To Get To Know Him Well, That Firsthand Relationship With This Large Character, I Think Is What Drew Me To Writing Books About Presidents.

They All Start Competing Against Lincoln As The Greatest President. And The [library] Building Becomes The Symbol, The Memorial To That Dream.

Washington Was A Typical American. Napoleon Was A Typical Frenchman, But Lincoln Was A Humanitarian As Broad As The World. He Was Bigger Than His Country - Bigger Than All The Presidents Together.

It Took Me Five Years On Lyndon Johnson, Ten Years On The Kennedys, Six Years On The Roosevelts. Inevitably, You Get Shaped By The People That You're Thinking About During That Period Of Time.