Presidents in Parody: LBJ in Path to War
During his presidency, Lyndon Baines Johnson was repeatedly attacked by critics and protesters for involving the United States in the Vietnam War. In 2002, the HBO network dramatized Johnson's struggles in a made for TV movie called Path to War. The movie is about President Lyndon Johnson and his trials and tribulations as the Vietnam War became out of control on his watch. The movie starred the prominent British actor Sir Michael Gambon as President Johnson.
The movie shows the Johnson presidency beginning with the high point of its popularity through its spiraling descent as the Vietnam War becomes a quagmire. Johnson must make strategic decisions amid the often conflicting advice from his Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara and other advisers. It shows how Johnson found his domestic policy agenda for the Great Society overtaken by an ever demanding commitment to ending the war. It also portrays Johnson's political skills as he battles with his political foes such as Robert F. Kennedy and Governor George Wallace. Despite support and encouragement from stalwart friends such as Clark Clifford, Johnson realizes his management of the war no longer has the confidence of the American people the movie culminates with Johnson's announcement that he will not seek the nomination of the Democratic party for the the 1968.
Besides Gambon, the cast includes Donald Sutherland as Clark Clifford, Alec Baldwin as Robert McNamara, Bruce McGill as George Ball, James Frain as speech writer Richard N. Goodwin, Felicity Huffman as Lady Bird Johnson, John Aylward as Dean Rusk, Philip Baker Hall as Senator Everett Dirksen, Gary Sinise as George Wallace (in a role that he had starred in a full length movie of in 1997), Tom Skerritt as General William Westmoreland, Sarah Paulson as Luci Baines Johnson and Curtis L. McClarin as Martin Luther King, Jr. The part of Special Assistant to the President Jack Valenti was played by the character's son, John Valenti, in the latter's first acting role.
This is one of my favorite movies about a President. I've watched it several times and always enjoy it. The movie is two hours and forty-five minutes long, but it doesn't seem like it. I recommend this movie, especially for anyone old enough to remember the Vietnam War.
Following is an excerpt from the movie, in which Johnson discusses the war with Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and Security Advisor MacGeorge Bundy:
and here is another clip of Johnson's speech announcing his decision not to seek re-election:
The movie shows the Johnson presidency beginning with the high point of its popularity through its spiraling descent as the Vietnam War becomes a quagmire. Johnson must make strategic decisions amid the often conflicting advice from his Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara and other advisers. It shows how Johnson found his domestic policy agenda for the Great Society overtaken by an ever demanding commitment to ending the war. It also portrays Johnson's political skills as he battles with his political foes such as Robert F. Kennedy and Governor George Wallace. Despite support and encouragement from stalwart friends such as Clark Clifford, Johnson realizes his management of the war no longer has the confidence of the American people the movie culminates with Johnson's announcement that he will not seek the nomination of the Democratic party for the the 1968.
Besides Gambon, the cast includes Donald Sutherland as Clark Clifford, Alec Baldwin as Robert McNamara, Bruce McGill as George Ball, James Frain as speech writer Richard N. Goodwin, Felicity Huffman as Lady Bird Johnson, John Aylward as Dean Rusk, Philip Baker Hall as Senator Everett Dirksen, Gary Sinise as George Wallace (in a role that he had starred in a full length movie of in 1997), Tom Skerritt as General William Westmoreland, Sarah Paulson as Luci Baines Johnson and Curtis L. McClarin as Martin Luther King, Jr. The part of Special Assistant to the President Jack Valenti was played by the character's son, John Valenti, in the latter's first acting role.
This is one of my favorite movies about a President. I've watched it several times and always enjoy it. The movie is two hours and forty-five minutes long, but it doesn't seem like it. I recommend this movie, especially for anyone old enough to remember the Vietnam War.
Following is an excerpt from the movie, in which Johnson discusses the war with Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and Security Advisor MacGeorge Bundy:
and here is another clip of Johnson's speech announcing his decision not to seek re-election: