The Thirty-first of March: An Intimate Portrait of Lyndon Johnson's Final Days in Office

by Horace Busby, Hugh Sidey (Introduction), Scott Busby (Preface)

"I have made up my mind. I can’t get peace in Vietnam and be President too.” So begins this posthumously discovered account of Lyndon Johnson’s final days in office. The Thirty-First of March is an indelible portrait of a president and a presidency at a time of crisis, and spans twenty years of a close working and personal relationship between Johnson and Horace Busby.
It was Busby’s job to “put a little Churchill” into Johnson’s orations, and his skill earned him a position of trust on LBJ’s staff from the earliest days of his career as a congressman in Texas to the twilight of his presidency. From the aftermath of the Kennedy assassination, when Busby was asked by the newly sworn-in president to sit by his bedside during his first troubled nights in office, to the concerns that defined the Great Society, Busby not only articulated and refined Johnson’s political thinking, he helped shape the most ambitious, far-reaching legislative agenda since FDR’s New Deal.
Here is Johnson the politician, Johnson the schemer, Johnson who advised against JFK riding in an open limousine that fateful day in Dallas, and Johnson the father, sickened by the men fighting and dying in Vietnam on his behalf. The Thirty-First of March is a rare glimpse into the inner sanctum of Johnson’s presidency.

Genres: History, Biography, Politics

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

A terrific read that the author, one of LBJ's closest aides, never really intended to have published. It was a personal memoir found in his effects by his kids after he died. Really great insight into LBJ, whom you'll like a lot better after you finish it.

[David Zoschnick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gives a lot of good insight into LBJs presidency, and decision to not seek a second term.

[Kareem · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is almost always riveting reading anything about a famous figure written by someone 'inside', a confidant, a relative, etc. The author details his complex relationship with Lyndon Johnson, beginning when he arrived in Washington DC in the late 1940s when the future president was a Congressman. Through the years reading and watching material on LBJ, I have always wondered why he decided not to run for another term as President; was it ONLY because of the Vietman War? Here I was able to see that there were many more, less obvious reasons why and why that was such a burden off his shoulders after he announced that.
This is yet another book I 'stumbled' across while in the public library. Thank heavens for those!

[David Corleto-Bales]

Horace Busby was a close aide and speechwriter for Lyndon Johnson from 1948 to 1969, and this memoir was not published during Busby's lifetime but found by his children in his personal papers. If he had included all of his personal dealings with LBJ, the book would have been 8,000 pages long, that careful and beautiful is his writing. The book starts in 1948, when Busby, then a young (24 years old) newspaperman goes to Washington to work for Congressman Johnson, then making a run for the U.S. Senate. Johnson admires Busby's writing and wants him to "Churchill" up his speeches. The book then jumps to 1960, and LBJ's campaign with Kennedy, all of Johnson's fears and suspicions of not being as good as the Ivy Leaguers laid bare. Busby was in and out of Johnson's White House over the five years from 1963 to 1968. Only the stoutest aide could have survived LBJ's 24 hour a day service requirement. Busby was there during much of the drafting of the Great Society and Civil Rights legislation, (sadly left out of the book because it was possibly never written) and there on Nov. 22nd, 1963. The book's title comes from the date in 1968 when LBJ stunned the country by withdrawing from the presidential race. Busby largely wrote the speech and supported the withdrawal, and was cheered by the ebullient and excitement it caused. A few days later, the brief week of good feelings ended with the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Busby again was there. It's a great book, very personal and honest, and a gem of history.

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure that I had ever heard of Horace Busby before running across this book, but I'm glad I read it. Not a biography, "The Thirty-First of March" details Busby's relationship with LBJ, from his hiring as a sort of speechwriter in 1948 to LBJ's shocking announcement on March 31, 1968, that he would not be a candidate for re-election that year. This book presents a side of Johnson most people never saw, and for that it is a valuable contribution to political literature.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting read about my favourite President by one of his closest advisors and confidantes. This is less a book about Lyndon Johnson than it is a telling of a number of personal stories that detail the relationship between LBJ and the author. A really well written book that I'm very glad Horace Busby's children chose to publish after they found it among their late father's possessions.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it but surprised it didn’t cover the assassination of Robert Kennedy.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging first person historical account of LBJ. It definitely was biased towards him a little, but that is to be expected from someone who worked for him for so long.

[Chip Rickard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn't the definitive biography of LBJ but that's not what Busby was going for. Still he walked right up to the 1948 election and then skips right past it to 1960. That's somewhat like writing about Babe Ruth, going up to when he was traded to the Yankees and then skipping to his retirement. Also, in the book, LBJ kept saying he wasn't in the pockets of the oilmen and utilities but that's not true since he used the oil companies to raise funds for other Democratic candidates.

It was great insight into LBJ's state of mind when he decided not to run again. It gave a good idea of the conflict between LBJ's desire to step down and his staff and family's hope that he would run.

[Martha Hanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read about LBJ's decision not to run for re-election. Funny stories about an interesting guy.

[Chris Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting account from someone in the inner circle. Busby goes back to explain their history which gives the reader an understanding of the man and ultimately the reason for his decisions.