Media Management in the Age of Lyndon B. Johnson : Selling Guns and Butter

This book looks broadly at how the contentious relationships between the media and US President Lyndon B. Johnson affected the national consciousness during the turbulent period of his leadership. Johnson had to deal with a particularly difficult and divisive period in American history and his relationship with the press undoubtedly contributed to an atmosphere of friction within the United States. A more specific purpose of this research monograph is ultimately to shine a light on the trials and tribulations that Johnson faced as a president dealing with new forms of communication in the 1960s. It aims to show the difficulties that he had in adapting a very personal style of leadership - which had served him well in the Senate - in the role he undertook as leader of a nation. Further to this, it builds on this foundation to argue that Johnson developed a reactive, passive stance to dealing with the media, one that ultimately contributed to a loss in popularity and status as leader - a blow he never recovered from during his time in office. Benjamin Quail teaches various courses in American and European history at the University of Strathclyde, UK Acknowledgements Contents Chapter 1: Introduction Aims Methodology Chapter 2: Thematic Review Introduction Propaganda The Media The Media, Press Secretary and the Presidency The Media and the Johnson Presidency Opinion Polls Polling and the Johnson Presidency Lyndon B. Johnson: The President Vietnam The Great Society Conclusion Chapter 3: 1963–1964: Assuming and Consolidating Power, Campaigning for Election Chapter 4: 1965: Guns vs. Butter—Escalation in Vietnam and the March of the Great Society Chapter 5: 1966: Widening Credibility Gap and Sliding Popularity Chapter 6: 1967: Pacification, Charm Offensives and Further Undermined Credibility Chapter 7: 1968: Tet, Plummeting Popularity and the Ultimate Failure of the Johnsonian Press Strategy Chapter 8: Conclusion Reactive Strategy The Johnson Personality New Technology, External Interference and Balancing Domestic and Foreign Policy Summary Bibliography 1. Lyndon Baines Johnson Library, Austin, Texas (i) Papers of Lyndon B Johnson (ii) National Security Files (iii) White House Central Files—By Name of Aide (iv) Meeting Notes Files 2. Oral History Interviews—Courtesy of the Online Archives of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library, Austin, Texas 3. Newspapers and Published Polls 4. Foreign Relations of the United States Series Johnson Administration 5. Books 6. Articles and Chapters 7. Other Sources Index