Part 4 Chapter 27 Summary

During the 1955 session, LBJ workdays grew longer than ever, meeting his colleagues' urgent requests, racing between commitments, spinning the press. He often arrived home late at night, ashen-faced with fatigue, sleeping fitfully and often awakening to attend to details that came into his mind. Alcohol and nicotine got him through. He drank, smoked and talked through social dinners, but consumed heavy southern-style dinners at home "like a starving dog." His weight had risen from 185 pounds to 225 at his last full check-up at the Mayo Clinic.

Health crises had coincided with past career crises for LBJ. In 1937, he campaigned with stomach cramps that proved to be appendicitis. In 1948 he campaigned despite an agonizing infected kidney stone, then resumed campaigning after a three-day hospitalization, ignoring doctors' advice that he rest for six weeks.

Fear of a heart attack had been a constant in...