Mar 31, 2016
The search for the funniest president continues! When presenting himself to the public, Lyndon Johnson tried to be the stiff, serious model of a president. But as a politician, LBJ had a remarkable gift for humor. Many of his friends (and foes) remember him as the ultimate storyteller. Armed with an endless supply of folksy anecdotes and colorful expressions, Johnson could use comedy to control a situation, whenever it seemed necessary.
Our guest is the great playwright Robert Schenkkan, the man behind "All the Way." That play -- which won several Tony awards in 2014 -- dramatizes the first year of Johnson's presidency, when he was fighting for both passage of the Civil Rights Act and his election in 1964. Robert has produced a remarkable character study of LBJ, and he tells us how LBJ's sense of humor fits into that portrait.
Music: "Hail Columbia," "Under a Texas Moon" by Guy Lombardo, "Texas Shuffle" by Count Basie and his Orchestra