History Theatre / AllTheWay

* EnemyMine: As in real life, Johnson reaches out to Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen to secure Republican votes for the Civil Rights Act, allowing a bypass of the Dixiecrats' filibuster.

''All the Way'' is a drama play written by UsefulNotes/PulitzerPrize-winning playwright Richard Schenkkan. It covers the first year in the Presidency of UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson, as he is thrust into power following the assassination of UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy and struggles to solidify his legitimacy and ensure reelection. This means maintaining the Vietnam War, and most importantly, passing the Civil Rights Act. To do so, we see him charming, threatening, and manipulating such figures as J. Edgar Hoover, Martin Luther King, Jr., George Wallace, and HubertHumphrey. The play has been praised as an engaging and ambitious look at the toll being in politics can take on one's soul.

* NiceToTheWaiter: Richard Russell, Jr., is always polite to the black wait staff even though he's fighting to keep them segregated.

** Russell constantly preaches about etiquette and principles, but he constantly talks about depriving black people of rights [[StandingRightHere while they are performing tasks for him]], such as serving him dinner and shining his shoes.

** Russell constantly preaches about etiquette and principles, but he constantly talks about depriving black people of rights while they are performing tasks for him, such as serving him dinner and shining his shoes.

''All the Way'' is a drama play written by UsefulNotes/PulitzerPrize-winning playwright Richard Schenkkan. It covers the first year in the Presidency of UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson, as he is thrust into power following the assassination of UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy and struggles to solidify his legitimacy and ensure reelection. This means maintaining the Vietnam War, and most importantly, passing the Civil Rights Act. To do so, we see him charming, threatening, and manipulating such figures as J. Edgar Hoover, Martin Luther King, Jr., George Wallace, and Hubert Humphrey. The play has been praised as an engaging and ambitious look at the toll being in politics can take on one's soul.

* TrailersAlwaysLie: The trailer for the HBO film presents a triangular battle over the Civil Rights bill between Johnson, King, and segregationist Richard Russell. In the film, things do become very strained between Johnson and Russell, but they return to friendly terms later.

Creator/StevenSpielberg has obtained the rights to produce a film adaptation of ''All the Way'', which will air on HBO in 2016 with Bryan Cranston reprising the lead role, Creator/AnthonyMackie playing Martin Luther King, and Melissa Leo as Lady Bird Johnson, with [[Film/GameChange Jay Roach]] directing.

* RefugeInAudacity: Johnson's personal habits are outrageous to the point where they really could ''not'' be made up in fiction. Examples include terrifying the daylights out of Humphrey by pretending to lose control of the car and drive into a lake (it's an amphibicar) and then having a meeting while ''sitting on the toilet''.
* TrailersAlwaysLie: The trailer for the HBO film presents a triangular battle over the Civil Rights bill between Johnson, King, and segregationist Richard Russell. In the film, things do become very strained between Johnson and Russell, but they do return to friendly terms later.
* WeAreStrugglingTogether: An issue in the different organizations that make up the civil rights movement. Some of them are wary of taking open actions that will bring down violence from the police, while [=SNCC=] believes it's necessary to draw attention to just how bad things are, and that the sight of white volunteers being brutalized will probably increase public outrage. King mediates and moderates between them.

** Hubert H Humphrey vehemently protests Johnson's decision to use military force in response to the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Tonkin_incident Tonkin incident]] when it wasn't clear if the ''Maddox'' had even been hit.
** Ladybird is appalled at her husband for completely abandoning longtime aide Walter Jenkins after Jenkins' arrest for homosexual behavior.

** Hoover picks up the sounds of King sleeping with a woman who isn't his wife. Johnson waves off Hoover's disgust by saying that all Southern preachers do it.

* NiceGuy:
** Hubert Humphrey, LBJ's strongest ally in the Senate and eventual Vice Presidential candidate, often serving as a peacemaker and mediator between the President and the people he angers.
** Martin Luther King serves much the same purpose with the Civil Rights movement, having to ease out the differences between the more conservative and radical factions.

''All the Way'' is a drama play written by UsefulNotes/PulitzerPrize-winning playwright Richard Schenkkan. It covers the first year in the Presidency of UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson, as he is thrust into power following the assassination of UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy and struggles to solidify his legitimacy and ensure reelection. This means maintaining the Vietnam War, and most importantly, passing the Civl Rights Act. To do so, we see him charming, threatening, and manipulating such figures as J. Edgar Hoover, Martin Luther King, Jr., George Wallace, and Hubert Humphrey. The play has been praised as an engaging and ambitious look at the toll being in politics can take on one's soul.

** Martin Luther King serves much the same purpose with the Civil Rights movement, having to ease out the differences between the more conservative and radical factions.
* TheVietnamWar: Mostly plays out in the background, with a report about the Gulf of Tonkin incident making for a very tense moment. The implication is that LBJ was so focused on the Civil Rights Bill and other domestic policies during his first year in office that he never paid much attention to Vietnam.

* ActingForTwo: Due to the large number of characters in the play, most of the cast is required to double or triple up on parts. According to the stage notes, only the actors playing LBJ and Martin Luther King are exempt from this.

-->''"What's the point of being President if you can't do what you know is right?"''

-->"What's the point of being President if you can't do what you know is right?"

A follow-up, ''The Great Society'' (covering the Johnson presidency from 1964-1968), opened at the 2014 Oregon Shakespeare festival, again directed by Rauch and starring Jack Willis. Creator/StevenSpielberg has obtained the rights to produce a TV miniseries based on the play(s), which will run on HBO with Bryan Cranston reprising the lead role, Creator/AnthonyMackie as Martin Luther King, and Melissa Leo as Lady Bird Johnson, with [[Film/GameChange Jay Roach]] directing.

''All the Way'' is a drama play written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Richard Schenkkan. It covers the first year in the Presidency of UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson, as he is thrust into power following the assassination of UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy and struggles to solidify his legitimacy and ensure reelection. This means maintaining the Vietnam War, and most importantly, passing the Civl Rights Act. To do so, we see him charming, threatening, and manipulating such figures as J. Edgar Hoover, Martin Luther King, Jr., George Wallace, and Hubert Humphrey. The play has been praised as an engaging and ambitious look at the toll being in politics can take on one's soul.

A follow-up, ''The Great Society'' (covering the Johnson presidency from 1964-1968), opened at the 2014 Oregon Shakespeare festival, again directed by Rauch and starring Jack Willis. Creator/StevenSpielberg has obtained the rights to produce a TV miniseries based on the play(s), which will run on HBO with Bryan Cranston reprising the lead role and [[Film/GameChange Jay Roach]] directing.

A follow-up, ''The Great Society'' (covering the Johnson presidency from 1964-1968), opened at the 2014 Oregon Shakespeare festival, again directed by Rauch and starring Jack Willis. Creator/StevenSpielberg has obtained the rights to produce a TV miniseries based on the play(s), which will run on HBO with Bryan Cranston reprising the lead role.

* ActingForTwo: Many actors play more than one character

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: There are more than 40 characters in the play.

''All the Way'' is a drama play written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Richard Schenkman. It covers the first year in the Presidency of UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson, as he is thrust into power following the assassination of UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy and struggles to solidify his legitimacy and ensure reelection. This means maintaining the Vietnam War, and most importantly, passing the Civl Rights Act. To do so, we see him charming, threatening, and manipulating such figures as J. Edgar Hoover, Martin Luther King, Jr., George Wallace, and Hubert Humphrey. The play has been praised as an engaging and ambitious look at the toll being in politics can take on one's soul.

''All the Way'' is a drama play written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Richard Schenkman. It covers the first year in the Presidency of UsefulNotes/LyndonBainesJohnson, as he is thrust into power following the assassination of UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy and struggles to solidify his legitimacy and ensure reelection. This means maintaining the Vietnam War, and most importantly, passing the Civl Rights Act. To do so, we see him charming, threatening, and manipulating such figures as J. Edgar Hoover, Martin Luther King, Jr., George Wallace, and Hubert Humphrey. The play has been praised as an engaging and ambitious look at the toll being in politics can take on one's soul.