Tom Johnson shares triumphs, struggles in new book

Tom Johnson may not recall every Christmas Day of his life, but he remembers where he was and who he was with on December 25, 1991.

He was in a room at the Kremlin in Moscow, a few feet away from Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and at the threshold of history.

Johnson, who was then-president of CNN, watched as Gorbachev was about to dissolve the Soviet Union. With the stroke of a pen, he was transferring power of the government to a new leader, Boris Yeltsin.

As Gorbachev was poised to sign the documents, his pen would not write. It was moments before the television cameras were set to broadcast the historic event around the world.

The last leader of the Soviet Union asked his press secretary to quickly find another writing instrument.

Johnson reacted by reaching for the Mont Blanc pen his wife, Edwina, had given him for their 25th wedding anniversary in 1988.

“He (Gorbachev) asked me if it was American,’’ Johnson said. “I told him it was either French or German. He said in that case he would use it. The idea of signing away all of that with an American-made pen was more than he could handle.’’

After the signing, Gorbachev stuck the pen in his pocket. But Johnson, realizing the historical (and sentimental) significance of it, quickly asked for it back. (The pen was later displayed at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.)

Fast forward 10 years to the summer of 2001. Johnson sat alone in a restaurant on Riverside Drive in his hometown of Macon. There were crayons on the table and paper tablecloths for children to draw on.

The man with the famous Mont Blanc pen picked up a green crayon.

He was contemplating retirement. He had been working since the days of helping his father sell watermelons out of the back of a truck and stocking shelves and pumping gas at Hoy’s Grocery in Macon.

At the top of the paper tablecloth, Johnson scribbled the date: July 20, 2001. He listed the pros and cons of any possible decision.

Twelve days later, he retired. He was 60.

It was only fitting he picked up that crayon in the same city where he uttered his first words as a child and earned his first byline as a high school sports stringer for The Macon Telegraph newspaper in the late 1950s.

He went on to become one of 15 White House Fellows in the inaugural class of 1965. He later became deputy press secretary and a top aide for President Lyndon Johnson. He was named publisher of the Dallas Times Herald and Los Angeles Times, and served as president at CNN, where he was a pioneer in the development of 24-hour cable news coverage.

Johnson had a front-row seat to historic events. On April 4, 1968, he delivered the message to LBJ that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. had been shot in Memphis. When LBJ died of a heart attack at his Texas ranch on January 22, 1973, it was Johnson who notified Walter Cronkite. Cronkite was eight minutes into his broadcast of the CBS Evening News when the network cut away from a pre-recorded segment on the Vietnam peace talks for Cronkite to take the call. Johnson stayed on the line as Cronkite reported the news of LBJ’s death to the nation.

At age 84, Johnson has written his autobiography,  “Driven: A Life in Public Service and Journalism from LBJ to CNN.” The 368-page memoir was published by University of Georgia Press.

After beginning his book tour on September 30 in Washington, D.C., Johnson recently held book events in Austin, Texas, and Atlanta, where he now lives.

Johnson will be in Macon on Wednesday, Nov. 5 for a book signing in the President’s Dining Room at Mercer’s University Center. There will be a reception at 5:30 p.m., and Johnson will discuss the book with Ed Grisamore, a columnist with The Macon Melody beginning at 6 p.m. 

A book signing will follow, with a limited number of books available for purchase. Registration is encouraged but not required. The event is co-sponsored by the Historic Macon Foundation, Peyton Anderson Foundation, the Knight Foundation and Mercer University.

For the past seven years, Johnson’s home office in Buckhead has been filled with a lifetime accumulation of folders, photographs and yellow legal pads.

Edwina Johnson encouraged her husband to write his memoirs.

“I picked up some of the photos he had from the LBJ years and said, ‘Tom, this means nothing to me. I know some of the people, but there is a story here,’ ’’ she said. “You should tell the story of what’s happening. Your grandchildren would like to know one day.’’

She said her first idea was a book of photos with captions. She didn’t expect the reading audience to extend much beyond family and a few close friends.

It wasn’t long before the book project was revised and expanded.

Johnson jumped in with both hands, writing about his formative years in Macon. He paid tribute to the strong influence of his mother and the lessons he learned and friendships he made at Lanier High School for Boys. He talked about his tutelage as a young reporter at the Telegraph and the father-like influence of publisher Peyton Anderson, who paid to send him to journalism school at the  University of Georgia and Harvard Business School.

The book chronologically follows Johnson’s years as a White House Fellow and his work with veteran Bill Moyers in the office of the press secretary.  His duties included taking detailed notes at high level cabinet meetings and the President’s visits with dignitaries and foreign leaders.

Johnson gives readers an inside view of his years as publisher of both the Dallas Times Herald and Los Angeles Times, as well as his long friendship with CNN founder Ted Turner, who hired him as president of the cable news network.

Johnson asked veteran broadcast journalist and longtime friend Judy Woodruff to moderate his first book event five weeks ago in Washington. She also wrote the book’s foreword, where she described him as “a larger-than-life personality who stood at the intersection of politics and the news media.”

Johnson said writing about himself was a challenge, especially considering the depth and breadth of his career. 

“It was difficult trying to decide what to include and exclude,’’ he said.

He writes at length about his working relationship with LBJ, who considered him the son he never had, and the inner circle of the White House. Johnson watched the 36th President deal with the Vietnam War and Civil Rights movement. He devoted an entire chapter to the turbulence of 1968, the year LBJ decided not to seek re-election and one of the most divisive years in American history.

He also included sub chapters on Vietnam (Fracture Jaw) and national security (Furtherance). He worked tirelessly to have the notes he took during that time declassified.

Public figures who write their autobiographies are often advised not to make them confessionals. They are encouraged to leave out some of the sad and painful parts of their life. There is no need for full disclosure.

But Johnson openly talked about his ongoing struggles with depression, his wife’s cancer journey and his 58-year-old daughter’s diagnosis with Alzheimer’s. He also shares his thoughts on today’s political environment, the First Amendment and the future of journalism.

“Everybody told me not to, but I wanted this book to be brutally honest,’’ he said. “I’ve had successes in life. I also wanted to talk about my failures. One of my great regrets was that I did not build a stronger relationship with my dad. My greatest regret was that I was an absentee father. I was out the door early and home late. …  I know I could have been a better father and husband.’’

There were roads not taken, too. When he was a college student at Georgia, Johnson attended a summer ROTC camp at Fort Benning. He was injured during a jumping exercise from a tower and medically discharged.

“That’s the best piece of bad luck I ever had,’’ he said. “I would have been commissioned and most likely been a young 2nd lieutenant headed to Vietnam.’’

‘Driven’ is also a cautionary tale about finding the balance between a strong work ethic and being a workaholic. 

Johnson said he was aware, but not deterred, that there were a number of books on the market with “Driven” as part of the title.

“That title is absolutely me,’’ he said. “Bill Moyers wanted me to call it ‘The Note Taker.’ I told him, ‘Bill, that’s only a part of my life.’ I had a list of other titles, but ‘Driven’ is so right.’’