Tom Johnson

An insider’s account of the convergences of twentieth-century American politics and journalism, from Vietnam and the civil rights movement to CNN and the twenty-four-hour news cycle.

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.

Tom Johnson served as chief executive officer of two of America’s most respected news organizations, the Los Angeles Times and CNN. Part of the first White House Fellows class, he eventually became assistant press secretary under Bill Moyers, then assistant to President Lyndon B. Johnson, following LBJ back to Texas after he left office. He is a recipient of several awards, including the Horatio Alger Award, Ten Outstanding Young Americans, the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism, and the Paul White Award. In 2006, he also received the John Gardner Legacy of Leadership Award by the White House Fellows for lifetime achievement in public service. A native of Macon, Georgia, and graduate of the University of Georgia and Harvard Business School, Johnson lives in Atlanta with his wife, Edwina.