LBJ and Tolstoy
Since I have already quoted from Robert Caro's The Years of Lyndon Johnson: Master of the Senate and from War and Peace today, why not close the loop? This is from p. 59 of The Years of Lyndon Johnson: Means of Ascent:
Even at Longlea [the Virginia estate of Charles Marsh, patron of LBJ, and his wife Alice Glass, mistress of LBJ, unbeknownst to Marsh], there were hints - although the Longlea "regulars" didn't notice them. She [Lady Bird Johnson] seemed always to be reading. One summer was to become enshrined in Longlea lore as "the summer that Lady Bird read War and Peace"; the scintillating Longlea regulars snickered because the quiet little woman carried the big book with her everywhere - even though, by the end of summer, she had finished it. When, during the loud arguments to which she sat silently listening, a book would be cited, Lady Bird would, on her return to Washington, check it out of the public library. One was Mein Kampf, which Charles Marsh had read, and to which he was continually referring. She read it, and while she never talked about the book at Longlea, when Hitler's theories were discussed thereafter, she was aware that, while Marsh knew what he was talking about, no one else in the room did - except her.
Even at Longlea [the Virginia estate of Charles Marsh, patron of LBJ, and his wife Alice Glass, mistress of LBJ, unbeknownst to Marsh], there were hints - although the Longlea "regulars" didn't notice them. She [Lady Bird Johnson] seemed always to be reading. One summer was to become enshrined in Longlea lore as "the summer that Lady Bird read War and Peace"; the scintillating Longlea regulars snickered because the quiet little woman carried the big book with her everywhere - even though, by the end of summer, she had finished it. When, during the loud arguments to which she sat silently listening, a book would be cited, Lady Bird would, on her return to Washington, check it out of the public library. One was Mein Kampf, which Charles Marsh had read, and to which he was continually referring. She read it, and while she never talked about the book at Longlea, when Hitler's theories were discussed thereafter, she was aware that, while Marsh knew what he was talking about, no one else in the room did - except her.
posted by James | 2:49 PM
5 Comments:
If my biography contains such an aside -- "Charles Marsh, patron of LBJ, and his wife Alice Glass, mistress of LBJ, unbeknownst to Marsh" -- I will have died a happy man.
Sorry Tolstoy, I better read up on Marsh.
Don't forget about Mein Kampf.
Oh, he's all set with that -- assuming he did my Admin reading.
The aside was inserted by me, but yes, I gleaned the information from Caro's books.
Yes, what matters is that the important points were not lost on me.
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