President Lyndon B. Johnson addresses the Nation, announcing a bombing halt in Vietnam and his intention not to run for re-election.

President Lyndon B. Johnson addresses the Nation, announcing a bombing halt in Vietnam and his intention not to run for re-election. / White House Photo Office

As you certainly know, this has been an extraordinary election year; and our team of political insiders has been working hard to bring you the best perspectives on what’s happening. And so, we decided that we should give them a chance to relax on this long Memorial Day weekend. But they will be back for our live show next week.

In place of our usual panel conversation we’re sharing with you a conversation I had last month at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library with Randall Woods, Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Arkansas.

Woods has been a long time chronicler of the life and career of Lyndon Johnson. In his new book, “Prisoners of Hope; Lyndon B. Johnson, the Great Society and the Limits of Liberalism,” Woods tells the story of the brilliant political strategies and unrelenting bullying tactics President Johnson employed to pass his sweeping package of legislative reforms that gave us Medicare and Medicaid, federal funding for schools, immigration reform and much, much more. Woods praises Johnson’s exceptional vision for a better America, but also delineates how the legislation triggered a conservative backlash that not only hurt some of the very people Johnson was trying to help, but continues as a major force in politics today.

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