Driven brings a seasoned perspective to today's conversations about government, media, and the future of truth in the form of a deeply personal and long-awaited autobiography by Tom Johnson, an award-winning journalist who helped shape the twenty-four-hour news media as we know it. Johnson's storied career in public service and journalism that began as a reporter at the Macon Telegraph in Georgia spans the Lyndon B. Johnson administration, where he was an eyewitness to painful negotiations on Vietnam and notified the president that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated, through the executive leadership of the LA Times and, finally, Ted Turner's upstart CNN in Atlanta.
From his perspective "inside the room," Johnson provides eyewitness accounts of LBJ's triumphs and failings as well as an on-the-ground view of the magnificent achievements and significant shortfalls of late twentieth-century American journalism. Johnson is also candid about his lifelong struggle with depression and has actively worked in retirement as a leader in mental health, cancer research, Alzheimer's, and addiction treatment and recovery. With more than eight decades behind him, Driven is not just Johnson's look at the past but a chance for his story to offer guidance about finding balance in an uncertain future.
"I've been waiting for this memoir from Tom Johnson for more than fifty years. Tom knew Lyndon B. Johnson as few others did, and that deep knowledge is on full display in this warm, humorous, and penetrating portrait of this giant figure. And that captivating image of LBJ is matched by insightful writing of the two other larger than life figures that Tom worked for-Otis Chandler at the Los Angeles
Doris Kearns Goodwin
"President Johnson invested more confidence in the young man from Georgia and Harvard than he did anyone else on his White House staff, and it is no coincidence that Tom Johnson wound up writing this insider's account of LBJ's most crucial moments. This is a fascinating and valuable read."
Bill Moyers
"My pal, Tom Johnson, made an indelible mark on CNN while serving as president from 1990 to 2001. He stood for the best of cable news, the best of journalism, and the best of humankind. A treasured and trusted leader and a kind and connected mentor who embodied the journalistic principles of truth, integrity, and quality, Tom helped advance CNN's revolutionary approach to news coverage with a look
