In History's Shadow; An American Odyssey
Todd Johnson (Front of Jacket photograph) New York: Hyperion, 1993. First Edition [Stated], First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. 23 cm. x, 386 pages. Illustrations. Bibliography. Index. DJ has slight wear and soiling. John Bowden Connally Jr. (February 27, 1917 – June 15, 1993) was an American politician. He served as the 39th Governor of Texas and as the 61st United States Secretary of the Treasury. He began his career as a Democrat and later became a Republican in 1973. Born in Floresville, Texas, Connally pursued a legal career after graduating from the University of Texas at Austin. During World War II, he served on the staff of James Forrestal and Dwight D. Eisenhower before transferring to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater. After the war, he became an aide to Senator Lyndon B. Johnson. When Johnson assumed the vice presidency in 1961, he convinced President John F. Kennedy to appoint Connally to the position of United States Secretary of the Navy. Connally left the Kennedy Administration in December 1961 to run for Governor of Texas, and he held that position from 1963 to 1969. In 1963, Connally was riding in the presidential limousine when Kennedy was assassinated, and was seriously wounded. During his governorship, he was a conservative Democrat. In 1971, Republican President Nixon appointed Connally as his Treasury Secretary. Connally presided over the removal of the U.S. dollar from the gold standard, an event known as the Nixon shock. Connally stepped down from the Cabinet in 1972 to lead the Democrats for Nixon organization, which campaigned for Nixon's re-election. He sought the Republican nomination for president in the 1980 election, but withdrew from the race after the first set of primaries. In History's Shadow, finished right before Connally's death, is the story of his life in politics, told with an unmistakable Texas twang. It was a life of almost Shakespearean range, marked by great triumphs as well as personal tragedy and heartbreak. He wanted to be President, but that is the only ambition that eluded him. He lived under thirteen Presidents and served under Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. He knew American government--and the men who ran it--as intimately as anyone in his time. In History's Shadow is a true epic of the American Century. Derived from a Kirkus review: In a crowded life, Connally was aide and confidant to Lyndon Johnson, businessman, secretary of the navy, governor of Texas, secretary of the treasury under Nixon, and presidential candidate. But he understood that he would be `identified forever as the man who was wounded by the gun that killed John Kennedy,' as he acknowledges matter-of-factly in this memoir. Two chapters here recount Connally's version of November 22, 1963, as he takes up arms against conspiracy theorists for `renewing the nation's most haunting ordeal'. But even aside from the `six seconds in Dallas,' the rest of Connally's life still would be enough to merit his reminiscences—which, besides his stints in public office, cover his 1973 switch from the Democratic to the Republican Party; his 1974 indictment and acquittal on bribery charges in connection with the Watergate-era `milk fund'; and his 1987 bankruptcy. The best chapters detail the author's relationship with LBJ, whom Connally characterizes with affectionate exasperation as a kind of political older brother—impossible to work for but desperately craving to be liked. Like two other rangy Texans, Sam Houston and LBJ, Connally became a major controversial national figure by transforming his state. Bristling with self-confidence and energy, his memoir tells about his Texas beliefs. Condition: Very good / Very good.
Keywords: John F. Kennedy, JFK Assassination, George Bush, Lyndon B. Johnson, Jacqueline Kennedy, Richard M. Nixon, WWII, Texas, Governors, Politicians, Elections, Sid Richardson
ISBN: 156282791X
[Book #32456]
Price: $45.00