>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.