THE JOHNSON ECLIPSE

In his Note on Sources, the author (a Washington correspondent since 1958) reports the significant fact that Bill D. Moyers, White House press secretary, refused to see him or discuss the text while this book was in preparation. Therefore these sources are the published material about Lyndon Johnson, senator, majority leader, vice president, and others in and out of government who did give him interviews. This adds up to a clarifying, sometimes repetitious, account of Johnson's strengths and weaknesses in his several roles. Often he seems a disappointed man, who had envisioned himself as confidante to President Kennedy, although Baker shows that Kennedy treated him with loyalty while Johnson accepted the lesser role with dignity. He also traces some of Johnson's major disappointments: the post in the Nuclear Power Space Council proved more or less of a sinecure; the worldwide trips in which only the mileage counted--he was rarely called upon to give evidence of what he had seen or learned. One single exception was the West Berlin trip, an immense personal success. What he learned during the months of ""eclipse"" has now become apparent in his role as President. In a sense, one likes Johnson better for the spirit in which he took all this.... An opinion book, but one that adds dimension.