All the Way

We're talking the movie, not the Frank Sinatra song.  Bryan Cranston played LBJ in the movie, All the Way, and he did one hell of a job.  Nailed it!

"All the Way With LBJ" was the slogan when Lyndon B Johnson ran for president in 1964.  He was already president, not elected but elevated to the number one slot when JFK was assassinated in November, 1963.  LBJ won the '64 election, then orchestrated the passing of the Civil Rights Act and the Voters' Rights Act that gave black folks the vote - 100+ years after they were 'emancipated.'

 LBJ was one rude, crude dude but a consummate politician.  He was instrumental in passing several other pieces of legislation, medicare among them.  He was a hard guy to work for and a hard guy to live with but that shrewd, good 'ol Texas boy knew how to get stuff done.

If you're 65 or older, this flick will bring back vivid memories of those turbulent times.  It especially did for me - on several levels.  The day JFK was shot.  The 3 student civil rights workers who were murdered in Mississippi in June of '64.  The attempted murder of 3 of my friends and me in Arkansas in early 1966.  My military service as an infantry officer and combat advisor in Vietnam in 68-69.

It's an awesome flick.