on earth. Leftism castigates Westernnimperialism for having destroyed whatnit sees as viable alternatives to Westernncivilization, though a longer view ofnhistory reveals that what leftists hatenmost about America (“the myth ofncompetition and the glory and excitementnof victory,” in Richard Barnett’snwords) is common to all successfulnsocieties since the dawn of time, part ofna pattern that characterizes the militarynand commercial struggles betweennstates as well as the more generalntechnological triumphs of man overnnature. Yet, under the guise of multiculturalism,nthe search continues tonidenhfy (or completely fabricate) alternativencultures capable of supplantingnthose of America and of the Westn(preferably, cultures that have not lostntheir moral superiority by accomplishingnvery much).nRadicals have no authentic feelingnfor the blood and soil of true communities.nOn the basis of a few slogansnshouted to a mob in an alien tongue bynsome demagogue seen only on television,nthey will shift their allegiancenfrom neighbors and co-workers, familiesnand friends to complete strangersnhalfway around the world. They havenno tangible homeland, only an incoherentnideology. They cross the linenbetween dissent and treason to becomenthe “anti-Americans.”nWilliam R. Hawkins writes fromnKnoxville, Tennessee.nThe InsatiablenPresidencynby William B. MurchisonnThe Triumph & Tragedy ofnLyndon Johnson: The WhitenHouse Yearsnby Joseph A. Califano, Jr.nNew York: Simon & Schuster;n398 pp., $25.00nSuddenly everybody is writing aboutnLyndon Johnson — Robert Caro,nRobert Dallek, Joseph Califano: holdingnthe late President’s lanky carcass upnto the light, prodding and poking to seenwhat the man was made ofnThe political pathologists differnamong themselves. Caro, in two volumes,nwith two more due, has virtuallynnothing good to say about his protagonist.nDallek takes a more spacious view:nthe late President, for all his faults,nattempted or achieved much that wasngood. And Califano, who was Johnson’snchief domestic policy adviser and anprincipal architect of the Creat Society?nYou might be surprised. As first-personnaccounts go, this one scores high forndetachment. Califano sought “to givenfirsthand testimony on the man andnPresident I saw, ‘with the bark off,’ as henused to say when he wanted me to tellnhim something cold with no punchesnpulled.”nHow else is it possible to talk usefullynabout Lyndon Johnson and his times (annecessary enterprise given the longnshadow LBJ casts from the grave)? Henmust have been one of the three or fournmost maddening public figures whonever lived—shifty, conniving, bullying,nbut almost supematurally good at whatnhe did; “brave and brutal,” as Califanonputs it, “compassionate and cruel, incrediblynintelligent and infuriatingly insensitive,nwith a shrewd and uncannyninstinct for the jugular of his allies andnadversaries. He could be altruistic andnpetty, caring and crude, generous andnpetulant, bluntly honest and calculatinglyndevious—all within the same fewnminutes.” His whole administration wasnin some sense a paradox. He soughtnradical change at home while fightingn— half fighting, really — a foreign war;nconcerning which he tried to deceiventhe American people, who turned onnhim. He overreached. This was hisntragedy.nLyndon Johnson cries out for anShakespeare to give him life. Well,ncharacter delineation is not what JoenCalifano got into politics for. But withinnthe constraints imposed by ideologicalnattachment to, and personal intimacynwith, the subject, he performs withndistinction. This is an honest book.nThat is no light compliment, given thensubject matter.nThe graphic personal details we havencome to expect in any account ofnLyndon Johnson are here: the nation’snchief magistrate displaying a boil on hisnrump, brushing his teeth while bucknaked,nfuming when the hired helpnwandered out of phone range. All ofnwhich is interesting, even though it’s notnnnthe thing we need most to know aboutnJohnson. The thing we need most tonknow is what Johnson thought he wasndoing when he revolutionized Americannlife without the voting public’snhaving invited him specifically to do so.nCalifano doesn’t provide all the answers,nbut he demonstrates in detail thencompulsiveness of the Johnson politicalnstyle.nLBJ was an inveterate and consummatenmeddler. Everything was his, andnthe federal government’s, business. Hisnsolution for a perceived problem was anlaw or program. “There will never benenough for this man,” Califano describesnhimself as musing in those days;n”he adopts programs the way a childneats rich chocolate-chip cookies.”nEver wonder how we got saddlednwith those child-proof caps on aspirinnbottles? Califano tells the story. “[M]ynson Joe had swallowed a bottle of aspirinsnand I had rushed him to SibleynMemorial Hospital,” where the Presidentntracked down his counselor. “Afternoffering to help, Johnson said he’dnalways worried about children gettingninto medicine bottles and hurting themselves.n’There ought to be safety caps onnthose bottles so kids like little Joe can’tnopen them.’ That prompted the proposalnfor the Child Safety Act, whichnCongress eventually passed in 1970.”nThe second session of the 89th Congress,nwhich adjourned in Octobern1966, passed 97 of the 113 majornmeasures the President had requested.nJohnson had a song written to celebratenits achievement: “We salute you. Congress,nfor a job well done / Making ournSociety a Creater one.”n”At times,” Califano comments,nJohnson “lost sight of the fact that lawsnwere not an end in themselves.” Smallnwonder, because Johnson was bent onn”social and economic revolution, nothingnless.” This candid observation raisesna correlative question Califano doesn’tnreally answer: how much of all thisnpolitical hyperactivity, this revolutionarynenterprising, stemmed from genuinensocial commitment, and how much of itnfrom little-boy longing for approval?nThe question is central to any appreciationnof what America became throughnthe whirlwind ministrations of LyndonnJohnson. Califano underscores the fervornwith which Johnson proposed andnworked for his goals. But there are holesnin the account. Johnson’s supposed at-nAPRIL 1992/37n