August 4, 1964

The work specifically follows the events of August 4, 1964 during Johnson's presidency, including the Gulf of Tonkin incident and the discovered bodies of three murdered civil rights workers in Neshoba County, Mississippi.

The work explores its narrative from two perspectives: those of the grieving mothers of James Chaney and Andrew Goodman, and those of Johnson and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in the Oval Office.

When Gene sent me his idea for the opening of the libretto – in which the mothers of Chaney and Goodman sing “It was the saddest moment of my life: August 4, 1964, the day they found my son’s body” – I knew not only that I could compose this piece but that I had to!

"[5] Alex Ross of The New Yorker said of the work, "In Stucky’s piece, formidable vocal and instrumental resources are marshalled to evoke, in a virtuosically eclectic style, the passions and flaws of a monumental figure.

He presented the composer with certain problems: some sections based on historical records, while necessary to tell the story, were prosaic and dry (one is rarely called upon to set a presidential agenda or cabinet meeting to music).