Isolated by much of the world for its conduct of the war in Vietnam, the United States saw British support as a key component of its efforts to sway public opinion. This is the first serious examination of the impact of the Vietnam War on the Anglo-American "special relationship" during the years of the Johnson presidency. Using recently released government papers, oral interviews, and transcripts of presidential phone conversations, Ellis discusses the discord between the United Kingdom and the United States over the war in Southeast Asia. She focuses on the pressures placed on Prime Minister Harold Wilson's Labor Government to provide material aid to the war and to remain squarely behind the U.S. war effort in public. Britain's refusal to send troops to Vietnam and Wilson's insistence on trying to mediate the conflict were both sources of tension between the allies. This study explores the extent to which the United Kingdom was pressured to send troops to the combat zone, the part that the personal relationship between Wilson and Johnson played in the tensions, and the evidence that a deal was done to link the maintenance of British defenses East of Suez with U.S. support for the pound sterling. It concludes that Wilson managed to walk a political tightrope on Vietnam, providing just enough diplomatic support for the Americans to keep Washington satisfied and putting just enough limits on that support to keep an increasingly vociferous domestic anti-war movement at bay.

What do we remember about US Presidents, and how do we come to commemorate their legacies? Few personalities loom larger than the President of the United States. Their accomplishments and failures are forensically documented, and their personal lives are under constant scrutiny from the media. But how does a president's legacy emerge, and how to do we come to commemorate it? In Constructing Presidential Legacy, world-leading experts take a multi-disciplinary approach to explore how presidents are remembered. They look at multiple presidents, including Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, the Roosevelts, Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Eisenhower, Reagan, Obama and Trump. Discover how presidential legacies are constructed during and after a President's time in the Whitehouse, and how they are portrayed in media such as film, museums, public art, political invocations, pop culture, literature and evolving technological advancements.

What do we remember about US Presidents, and how do we come to commemorate their legacies? Few personalities loom larger than the President of the United States. Their accomplishments and failures are forensically documented, and their personal lives are under constant scrutiny from the media. But how does a president's legacy emerge, and how to do we come to commemorate it? In Constructing Presidential Legacy, world-leading experts take a multi-disciplinary approach to explore how presidents are remembered. They look at multiple presidents, including Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, the Roosevelts, Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Eisenhower, Reagan, Obama and Trump. Discover how presidential legacies are constructed during and after a President's time in the Whitehouse, and how they are portrayed in media such as film, museums, public art, political invocations, pop culture, literature and evolving technological advancements.

"Ellis paints a portrait of a politician who, like many other politicians, often publicly sailed with the prevailing political winds of the day but who, in private, constantly exhibited a fundamental commitment to fairness and justice. Freedom's Pragmatist is a provocative and indispensable volume for students, teachers, researchers, and the general public alike in rethinking Johnson's lifelong relationship with the struggle for African American freedom and equality."--John A. Kirk, editor of Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement"This comprehensive and balanced study of Lyndon Johnson and civil rights is a major contribution to the field of recent U.S. history. Ellis argues convincingly that Johnson's moral vision and practical political skills were absolutely crucial to the passage of major legislation advancing the legal rights of African Americans. A splendid analysis."?Anthony Edmunds, Ball State University Lyndon B. Johnson made several major contributions to the black freedom struggle during his time in the White House. He provided much-needed moral leadership on racial equality; secured the passage of landmark civil rights acts that ended legal segregation and ensured voting rights for blacks; pushed for affirmative action; introduced antipoverty, education, and health programs that benefited all; and made important and symbolic appointments of African Americans to key political positions. This examination of Johnson's life from childhood through his lengthy career in politics argues that place, historical context, and personal ambition are the keys to understanding his stance on civil rights. Johnson's viewpoint, in turn, is essential to understanding the history of civil rights in the United States.