"I do not want to be the President who built empires,
or sought grandeur, or extended dominion. I want to be the President who
educated young children... who helped to feed the hungry... who helped the poor
to find their own way and who protected the right of every citizen to vote in
every election." - LBJ1
Lyndon B. Johnson, the Senate Majority Leader whom I
mentioned last week, is now the President in 1963 after the tragic assassination
of JFK. After losing Wallace and now JFK, it would seem from the quote above, that
the United States might have had another great progressive hope that could
vastly alter the landscape of U.S. politics. However, the soul of the nation
would again be trumped by empire when Johnson became obsessed with Communism
abroad. The Great Society would take a backseat to a 'Great Blunder' of
Vietnam.
I found these two pictures to be very representative of the soft and hard aspects of Johnson's presidency Often portrayed as a hardliner, it is important that the Great Society does not go unnoticed. Both are courtesy of the LBJ Library.
While having to deal with a complicated situation inherited
by decades of CIA Intervention and foreign policy making built on Domino Theory, LBJ
sought to promote his 'vision' for the soul of America, "The great society
rest on abundance and liberty for all. It demands an end to poverty and racial
injustice, to which we are totally committed to in our time."2 This
vision included the war on poverty, civil rights and other domestic issues such
as alcoholism. Some of the pieces of legislation that were passed under Johnson
that continue to affect our lives today such as, the Civil Rights Act of 1964
and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and 1968, The Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 and The Social Security Act of 1965. These sweeping changes
can only be a grim reminder of what could have been had the war in Vietnam not crushed
funding for domestic programs, but also the mind, body and spirit of Johnson himself.
It is depressing to think what could have been if this great line of
progressive outlook starting with Wallace would have not been replaced by the
American quest to suppress threats to its hegemony around the world. LBJ would
eventually choose to not run for a second term in office and his resignation
and flawed American policy making would lead the U.S. down a path which would include
fatal mistakes made by Nixon, Reagan and eventually the blow-back related to
their actions.
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| LBJ calls it quits: LBJ Library |
"Losing the Great Society was a terrible thought, but
no so terrible as the thought of being responsible for America's losing a war
to the Communist. Nothing could possibly be worse than that." - LBJ3
1. Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick, The Untold History of The United States (New York: Gallery Books, 2012), 326
2. http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/04/jan-4-1965-lyndon-johnson-outlines-great-society-plans/
3. Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick, The Untold History of The United States (New York: Gallery Books, 2012), 354
