LBJ and Mexican Americans: The Paradox of Power

by Julie Leininger Pycior

Overview

T. R. Fehrenbach Award, 1997

As he worked to build his Great Society, Lyndon Johnson often harkened back to his teaching days in the segregated "Mexican" school at Cotulla, Texas. Recalling the poverty and prejudice that blighted his students' lives, Johnson declared, "It never occurred to me in my fondest dreams that I might have the chance to help the sons and daughters of those students and to help people like them all over this country. But now I do have that chance—and I'll let you in on a secret—I mean to use it."

This book explores the complex and sometimes contradictory relations between LBJ and Mexican Americans. Julie Pycior shows that Johnson's genuine desire to help Mexican Americans—and reap the political dividends—did not prevent him from allying himself with individuals and groups intent on thwarting Mexican Americans' organizing efforts. Not surprisingly, these actions elicited a wide range of response, from grateful loyalty to, in some cases, outright opposition. Mexican Americans' complicated relationship with LBJ influenced both their political development and his career with consequences that reverberated in society at large.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780292765788
Publisher:	University of Texas Press
Publication date:	08/01/1997
Edition description:	Univ of Texas PR ed.
Pages:	361
Sales rank:	315,826
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.81(d)

About the Author

Julie Leininger Pycior is Associate Professor of History at Manhattan College.

Table of Contents

• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Part One. The Texas Scene
  • One. The Ladder of Success
  • Two. The New Deal
  • Three. The “Last Hurrah” for Boss Politics
  • Four. The Politics of Progress
  • Five. Democrats of Texas
• Part Two. The National Scene
  • Six. Viva Kennedy!
  • Seven. Launching the Great Society
  • Eight. Problems with the Great Society
  • Nine. Climax
  • Ten. 1968
  • Eleven. Denouement
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index

What People are Saying About This

Mario T. García

This is a masterfully researched study which explores every conceivable aspect of LBJ's contact and association with Mexican Americans.... There is no book like this either in the field of LBJ literature or in the field of Chicano history. It is a major and unique contribution.

Mario T. García

This is a masterfully researched study which explores every conceivable aspect of LBJ's contact and association with Mexican Americans.... There is no book like this either in the field of LBJ literature or in the field of Chicano history. It is a major and unique contribution.
— Mario T. García, author of Mexican Americans: Leadership, Ideology, and Identity, 1930-1960