An Evening With Joseph Califano, 6 p.m., Tuesday, April 13, 2004, LBJ Auditorium
"Inside: A Public and Private Life"
Note: This event is free for Friends of the LBJ Library. There are a limited number of seats that may be available to those who are not members. For more information, or if you would like to become a member of the Friends of the LBJ Library, call Larry Reed at (512) 478-7829, ext. 296.
One of Washington's ultimate insiders, a former cabinet member and power-lawyer, who has spurred many major public initiatives, tells his story of a life spent in the corridors of power in his latest book, Inside: A Public and Private Life.
Historian Michael Beschloss writes, "Joseph Califano has lived many fascinating lives, and this important book takes you into each-growing up in hardscrabble Brooklyn, working alongside LBJ and Jimmy Carter, the experiences of a master Washington lawyer. Most inspiring of all is Califano's frank and sensitive account of how, after rising to the top of the American Establishment, he asked himself whether there was something missing in his life and decided to change it."
Joe Califano grew up in a tight-knit, working-class family in Depression-era Brooklyn. From Harvard Law, to high-powered law firms, to Robert McNamara's Pentagon and Lyndon Johnson's White House, Califano was hard-charging, effective, and committed to his causes.
Mr. Califano served as Lyndon B. Johnson's top domestic aide, developing the President's legislative program as well as helping coordinate economic policies. While in this post, The New York Times called him "The Deputy President for Domestic Affairs." In 1977, Mr. Califano became Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, serving in that cabinet post until 1979. From 1980 until 1992, he practiced law.
In 1992 he founded the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. He is Founding Chairman of the Board of the Institute for Social and Economic Policy in the Middle East at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is also the author of several books, including The Triumph and Tragedy of Lyndon Johnson and Governing America.
Mr. Califano will be signing copies of Inside from 5:15 to 5:45 p.m. in the Lobby of the LBJ Auditorium prior to his address. A reception will follow his address in the LBJ Library and Museum's Great Hall.