President Kennedy gave two speeches, on June 10 and June 11, 1963 that changed the course of American history, says historian Andrew Cohen, author of “Two Days in June.” Cohen explained what JFK wrought in a recent interview with CBC TV host Peter Mansbridge.
The movie chronicles LBJ’s private fears, questions, and ideological splits with Kennedy before the rivals became running mates—and how JFK’s assassination changed LBJ’s politics. “He did adopt a big swath of JFK’s policies so it would be hard to not see it that way,” said Harrelson. “I’m not sure how much of it was motivated by his depth of emotion or by what he considered to be politically expedient. It’s really hard to read him. He’s a fascinating character.”
According to historian David Kaiser, writing in TIME, “the portrayal of Lyndon Johnson and his role in the passage of the Voting Rights Act [in the movie “Selma”] could hardly be more wrong. And this is important not merely for the sake of fidelity to the past, but because of continuing implications for how we see our racial problems and how they could be solved.”
But, according to author Philip Nelson, Selma gets LBJ dead right. Writing in Op-Ed News, Nelson and right-wing political consultant Roger Stone assert: