LANDSLIDE LYNDON
SYNOPSIS & SONGS
LANDSLIDE LYNDON
By The Dinkin Brothers
On the night of March 30, 1968, President Lyndon Johnson faces the most agonizing decision of his life. The Vietnam War is exploding across America’s television screens. Riots are tearing the country apart. The news from the Pentagon grows steadily worse. Should he admit defeat and become the first American president to lose a war—or dig in and send thousands more American boys to die in Southeast Asia?
Johnson remains one of the great paradoxes of 20th-century America: a bully and a braggart, but also a passionate warrior for civil rights and economic reform. After opposing civil rights legislation for much of his congressional career, he became the president who pushed through the most consequential civil rights laws in generations—and created Medicare, Medicaid, Head Start, and the War on Poverty.
ACT ONE: THE TOWER
Alone in the Oval Office, Zephyr Wright, the Johnson family’s longtime cook, recalls the day LBJ gave her a pen he used to sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“The Pen”). Then 1968 explodes onto the stage, revealing an America torn apart by war (“How Many Kids?”).
Zephyr accompanies Johnson and his political rival Robert F. Kennedy through a long night of soul-searching as they revisit the pivotal events of LBJ’s turbulent life:
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His impoverished Texas childhood and determination to succeed where his father had failed (“Landslide Lyndon,” “Daddy’s Dreams”)
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His meteoric political rise (“Tower of Power,” “Professional Son”), fueled by corrupt money and election fraud (“Dark Money,” “The Bigger the Lie,” “Box 13”)
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His love for Lady Bird (“Ornithology”), his infidelities (“Watercolors in the Rain”), and their lifelong partnership (“Where We Fly”)
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His years in Congress (“Kingpin of the Senate”) and as vice president, including the Cuban Missile Crisis (“13 Days to Armageddon”) and the assassination of JFK (“Landslide Lyndon II: Dealey Plaza”)
ACT TWO: THE THRONE
America is shattered by Kennedy’s assassination (“Shards”). Johnson assumes the mantle of power on his own terms (“On the Throne”), using the presidency to build the Great Society (“What the Hell Is the Presidency For?”) and fight for civil rights (“The Bridge”).
But even as he transforms the country at home, Vietnam begins to destroy him (“Imminent Threat,” “The Offensive on Tet”). Desperate to reunite the nation, Johnson makes the ultimate political sacrifice (“Sometimes You Gotta Lose to Win the War”) and reaches an emotional reconciliation with RFK that comes tragically too late (“Sorry Bobby”).
The long night ends with an announcement that stuns the nation and sends Johnson back to his Texas ranch—leaving behind a legacy of extraordinary achievement, devastating failure, and enduring contradiction.