Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #535017 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 544 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780618088256
• Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
• Notes:
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From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. King's leadership of the Civil Rights movement catalyzed a revolution in public consciousness that Johnson's matchless political skills cemented in the landmark voting and civil rights laws of the 1960s. In this engrossing narrative history, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Kotz (A Passion for Equality) follows their tense but fruitful working relationship from Johnson's assumption of the presidency in 1963 to King's assassination five years later. Theirs was a wary partnership, uneasy when they joined forces against Jim Crow in the wake of Kennedy's assassination, strained by King's opposition to the Vietnam War and continually undermined by FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover, who bombarded Johnson with reports of King's links to Communists and of his sexual indiscretions. In Kotz's sympathetic but complex and critical assessment, the Machiavellian politician and the visionary activist become almost brothers under the skin—both genuine idealists and cool-headed, at times even ruthless political strategists, both plagued by inner demons that threatened to undo their agenda. Employing newly available telephone conversations and FBI wiretap logs, among other sources, Kotz's detailed and gripping account takes readers into the bloody trenches of the Civil Rights movement and the bitter congressional floor battles to get legislation past the segregationist bloc. It is a fascinating portrait of two leaders working at a time when the low skullduggery of politics really was infused with the highest moral values. Photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Bookmarks Magazine
Critics agree that the strength of Judgment Days lies in its new approach to an old story. One detractor found the account stale at times, complaining that the section on Vietnam seemed like a rehash. Most readers, however, focused less on the familiarity of Kotz’s source material and more on the remarkable insight he brings to a tense relationship. Judgment Days is not an exposé, but rather a personal and psychological approach to an oft-analyzed political moment. Kotz deserves particular praise for his deep examination of Johnson, who emerges from Judgment Days as a man of serious flaws but monumental courage.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

From Booklist
Johnson and King were southerners from similar roots but worlds apart--one white, one black; one a president, the other a minister. Their lives merged with the events that led to the passage of the transformative civil rights acts of 1964 and 1965. Kotz traces the synergy of nonviolent civil disobedience with keen political acumen that produced the epic of the civil rights movement. Johnson embraced the critical analysis by black citizens concerning the gap between American practices and its principles on equity and freedom. Kotz covers the rising tension of the era that led to what King referred to as the second emancipation. Despite their shared achievement, tensions between King and Johnson grew as King became more active in protesting the war and advocating on behalf of poor Americans. Johnson's decision not to run for president and King's assassination-- both in 1968--again tied these men together at the high and low ends of a fateful period. Vernon Ford
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Riveting History
Judgment Days is riveting history and journalism--a real page turner about two fascinating, larger-than-life characters that come to life as in no other book I've read about Lyndon Johnson or Martin Luther King, Jr. Best of all, you'll hate J. Edgar Hoover more than you ever did and like Johnson and King better than you ever did.

LBJ, MLK Jr and J. Edgar Hoover
This is an extraordinary re-creation of a particularly important time in American history. For those of you who lived through that era, this book offers significant new information as well as provides a vital context for understanding the interaction of legislation and civil rights activities. Both President Johnson and Rev. King emerge as sympathetic and complex and conflicted--yes, real people. Hovering over the book is the evil and vicious J. Edgar Hoover--and at times the book reads like a thriller with a tangled web of relationships among the three actors. For those of you for whom this era is ancient history, there is much to learn here about federal civil rights legislation and the civil rights movement. It may lead you to read more about the 1960's, and Kotz provides an extensive bibliography of some of the best books on a broad range of subjects. In any event, this is a great read which will get you thinking and perhaps even motivate you to action to promote equal rights.

Excellent and Very Readable History
Though Kotz is writing about oft-covered material, this book comes across as a fresh and vital examination of the relationship of two of the most important figures of the previous century. He spends a lot of time going over well known facts but also highlights the personalities of these two men. The portraits that emerge are quite interesting. MLK comes across as a man committed to change and--despite minor flaws--as the hero he was.

More surprising is Kotz take on LBJ, who comes across as equally committed to change and righting wrongs. Kotz argues that LBJ always displayed a commitment to improving the lot of the poor. Though he does not explain LBJ's early votes against civil rights, he argues that his eventual support of major civil rights legislation had its roots in his desire to help the disadvantaged, like those he grew up with in the Hill Country of Texas.

While stressing that both men were brilliant leaders, Kotz does not shy away from their flaws--of which LBJ had many. Most interesting is his take that both hoped to accomplish significantly more in the realm of abolishing poverty when their efforts were cut short--LBJ's by the morass of Vietnam and MLK's by a bullet. Ultimately this was a great read and should serve to hold those readers over who are eagerly awaiting the years-away release of Robert Caro's next LBJ volume.