LBJ: 'Well, what the hell's the presidency for?'

[WI_DEM]

Quote of the Day
"Well, what the hell's the presidency for?"

-- Lyndon Johnson, quoted in Robert Caro's Passage of Power just four days after becoming president, pushing back against advice from "wise, practical people" who said a president should not spend time on lost causes, no matter how worthy.

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2012/05/01/quote_of_the_day.html

Significant Great Society Legislation:

Civil Rights Act of 1964
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Civil Rights Act of 1968 banned housing discrimination and extended constitutional protections to Native Americans on reservations.
Fair Labor Standards Act
Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 (launching the War on Poverty)
Job Corps
Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA
Community Action Program
Head Start
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
Higher Education Act of 1965
The Bilingual Education Act of 1968
Medicare
In 1966 welfare recipients of all ages received medical care through the Medicaid program
the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities Act
The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967
Department of Transportation.
The Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964
National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966
Highway Safety Act of 1966 were enacted, largely as a result of Ralph Nader's book Unsafe at Any Speed.
The Fair Packaging and Labeling Act
Child Safety Act of 1966
The Wholesome Meat Act of 1967
Clear Air, Water Quality and Clean Water Restoration Acts and Amendments
Wilderness Act of 1964
Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966
National Trails System Act of 1968
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968
Land and Water Conservation Act of 1965
Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965
Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Control Act of 1965
National Historic Preservation Act of 1966
Aircraft Noise Abatement Act of 1968
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969

[Bluenorthwest]

1. In July a new play about the first year of LBJ's Presidency debuts from the Pulitzer Prize

winning author of 'The Kentuky Cycle' at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. It is called 'All The Way'. I am looking forward to it with great anticipation and I recommend others who can to see it, along with some of the other politically themed plays there this season, such as 'Party People'.
http://www.osfashland.org/browse/production.aspx?prod=238

http://www.osfashland.org/browse/production.aspx?prod=241

[WI_DEM]

2. Interesting. Had not the tragedy of Vietnam LBJ would certainly be considered one of the

greatest presidents of all-time. Certainly his domestic record is among the best and most progressive--perhaps the most progressive of any president.

[hootinholler]

7. I've recently held the notion that LBJ traded Nam for the great society.

I have nothing to support that at all, but it kind of makes sense. The MIC gets their war and in return the people get help.

[Egalitarian Thug]

8. That would certainly fit his style. Our politicians used to understand that, even in a sausage

factory, you demand a lot of good in order to give some bad. He was a very adept politician and I believe he knew full well that this deal would cost him the rest of his Presidency, and he did it anyway. That's what a leader does.

[hifiguy]

9. Within days of succeeding to the Presidency,

Johnson said, according to many, many books and memoirs, that he was revoking JFK's plan to withdraw all US personnel from SVN after the 1964 election. "Now they can have their damned war" was his exact language.

I have little doubt that the Vietnam war was extracted from Johnson as the MIC's price for the Great Society. Though LBJ was certainly more favorably inclined to it than JFK, who though a SE Asian war would be madness.

[valerief]

13. Yep. It's the ONLY thing that makes sense. nt

[tularetom]

3. Jesus, what a record

And yet it was all overshadowed by one terrible tragic mistake.

And this guy who could have been remembered as one of the great American presidents will always be known as the president responsible for the biggest fucked up war in the country's history.

Until then that is.

[hifiguy]

4. Were it not for Vietnam, LBJ would be regarded as

the equal to FDR. Admittedly, that is a bit like the famous question about how Mrs. Lincoln liked the play, but the true extent of LBJ's domestic policies has been dimmed by the passage of time and its minimalization by presidents both Democratic and Republican ever since the man left office.

[AnneD]

21. For all his faults....

I have thought highly of Johnson. I am from Texas so there is a natural affinity. He taught in one of the poorest school districts-and he never forgot what poverty did to children. And Ladybird...she is considered a saint down here.

Viet Nam killed him. Unlike the modern politicians that send our fellow countryman to war without a second thought...it kept Johnson up at nights. He developed heart problems

I'll never forget, when Hurricane Betsy hit New Orleans, more than one resident was shocked to see him wading through the flood water at night asking if they needed anything. Yes, I saw George Bush in New Orleans after Katrina.

He was a wheeler and dealer, but he did it for the right reasons. Politicians can't fill his boots, let alone carry them. He was a true Texan, not a faux Texan, like GWB.

[xchrom]

5. du rec. nt

[JohnnyLib2]

6. Rec, great list

I just visited the LBJ Library in Austin (under renovation). Listening to his words--again--and reviewing all those accomplishments was
uplifting. If only.......

[lapislzi]

10. Very glad to rec this thread

I have long been an admirer of LBJ and his progressive agenda. However, over the years I've learned to keep my comments about the Great Society to myself because I'm either shouted down by cries of "Vietnam!" or "socialism!" It was the Thing to hate on LBJ from both sides.

Vietnam was a tragedy. The Great Society was a triumph.

And yes, LBJ understood the political process very well. His long years in the Senate taught him how to play The Game, and he played it to win.

[FailureToCommunicate]

11. Growing up poor in Texas shaped his empathy for

Last edited Tue May 1, 2012, 01:49 PM - Edit history (1)

struggling Americans.

Biographer Robert Caro talked about LBJ's roots recently:

http://www.npr.org/2012/04/30/151523678/caros-passage-of-power-lbjs-political-genius

[northoftheborder]

15. LBJ grew up poor in central Texas, west of Austin, in the Hill Country.

[FailureToCommunicate]

16. fixed. Thanks

[Odin2005]

12. LBJ was kick-ass!

If only he hadn't gotten us stuck in Vietnam he would be considered one of out greatest presidents, he was amazing.

[redgreenandblue]

20. Huh? I believe you described yourself as an "interventionist" in another thread.

The interventionists were the people who supported the Vietnam war. The NVA was comitting atrocities and all that...

[Uncle Joe]

14. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, WI_DEM.

[longship]

17. Glad to R&K

[ProSense]

18. The LIST!!!

Cool!

[craigmatic]

19. I never understood why we don't celebrate LBJ just as much as JFK.

Besides FDR nobody did more for the people.

[AnneD]

23. The Kennedys....

loathed Johnson as crass and crude. His blood was not blue enough. Johnson was a far more effective politician though.

[craigmatic]

28. Exactly he did more yet the party leaders act as if he never existed even at conventions.

They at least give President Carter speaking time.

[RainDog]

22. HELL YES. n/t

[marble falls]

24. What RMN did right behind him:

Nixon inherited the war with Vietnam and withdrawals of North Vietnamese and American forces from South Vietnam

Paris Peace Accords were signed in 1973

The National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Air Act of 1970 and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act amendments of 1972 was signed

He established the Consumer Product Safety Commission in 1972

Nixon approved the development of NASA's Space Shuttle program

Nixon approved a five-year cooperative program between NASA and the Soviet space program, culminating in the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, a joint-mission of an American Apollo and a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft in 1975

President Nixon traveled to China to try and encourage peace and more contact between the two nations

First increase in minimum wage in 30 years

Froze prices for the first time since FDR to end a potential panic and inflation spiral.

The guy was fairly progressive even if a bit paranoid. He even lowered the National Debt he inherited from LBJ, the only Republican since Eisenhower to do that.


[link:|

[NYC Liberal]

30. Fairly progressive? The guy was a ultra paranoid, right-wing nut job, and a criminal to boot.

He was racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, and anti-women. He was anti-choice, but was okay with it if the baby was mixed race of course. He opposed women running for office, except in if there was no man who could win. Called gays the enemy of society. Said Mexicans were dishonest thieves.

That's not progressive in the least, a few good bills (passed by a strongly Democratic Congress) notwithstanding.

[patricia92243]

25. I wasn't interested in politics back then and didn't realize how much LBJ had done. Thanks for the

post.

[bvar22]

26. "Hey, Hey, LBJ....

...How many kids did you kill today?"

I hated him with a Purple Passion during The Vietnam War,
and am guilty of chanting the above on more than one occasion.

Never, EVER did I realize that this man would be the most Liberal Democratic President of the last 1/2 CENTURY,
by FAR!

"Johnson was the catalyst, the cajoler in chief. History records him as the nation's greatest legislative politician. In a great piece on the Daily Beast website, LBJ aide Tom Johnson, writes about how his old boss would have gotten a health care reform bill through the current congress. It's worth reading to understand the full impact of the "Johnson treatment" and how effective LBJ could be in winning votes for his legislation."

http://thejohnsonpost.blogspot.com/2009/08/johnson-treatment.html

gawd I miss THAT Democratic Party today!


[font color=firebrick size=3][center]"If we don't fight hard enough for the things we stand for,
at some point we have to recognize that we don't really stand for them."
--- Paul Wellstone[/font][/center]
[center][/font]
[font size=1]photo by bvar22 at the Labor Day Picnic in St Paul,
Shortly before Sen Wellstone was killed[/center][/font]



[font size=5 color=firebrick]Solidarity![/font]

[girl gone mad]

27. Our last good Democratic President.

[treestar]

29. Those photos make him look quite obnoxious

He should get out of those people's faces.

[AnneD]

31. And that my dear friend....

is what is wrong with the Democratic Party today....We DON'T get in the GOP faces (and some DEMS). Some where after Johnson, the DEMS lost their spine AND balls.

My fav Johnson story is how he passed the Civil Rights bill. It was right after Kennedy's death that he went around all the GOP and DEM leaders. He would put his huge arm around their shoulders and start talking about how it was a shame Kennedy got killed and what a legacy it would be to Kennedy's presidency to pass the civil right's bill. He guilted them into doing what was right, even knowing it would lose the DEM party the South for over a generation. That my friend is a real US President; someone that does what is best for the country, not what is good for the party.

[bvar22]

33. Yes!!!

It would have been better to just give up on stuff like the Civil Rights Act, Desegregation of Southern Universities, and Medicare than to be thought of by some as rude.

He should have politely sought Bi-Partisan Consensus & Approval.
We wouldn't want the Republicans to get all upset or have their feelings hurt.

Can you imagine if Joe Lieberman had stood up on his hind legs, stamped his little foot, and told LBJ,
"No! I'm NOT going to support your plan for Medicare?"


We would still be finding little pieces of Joe Lieberman's ass spread all the way from Washington to Texas.

[hifiguy]

34. LBJ would have neutered Moldy Joe on the spot.

He didn't take that kind of petulant shit from anyone.

[treestar]

35. You seem to like bullies

That's what it took to get those wonderful things passed? People had to be threatened? I don't think so. Those things passed in spite of LBJ then.

[bvar22]

36. Listen, mister,

I will Go to WAR to advance that values of the Democratic Party of FDR & LBJ,
as did my father and my grandfather over Working Class Rights.

In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established [font size=3]for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.[/font]

Among these are:

*The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;

*The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

*The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

*The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

*The right of every family to a decent home;

*The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

*The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

*The right to a good education.

All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.

America's own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for all our citizens." ---FDR, 1944

AFIC, these "rights" are non-negotiable,
and NOT Bargaining Chips.
"Compromise" that involves surrendering these RIGHTS is NOT acceptable.
This is NOT some High School game.
People's lives and livelihoods are at stake.

Appeasing fanatics and Playing Nice with people who would just as soon see you die on the street has not worked out so well, has it?

Harry Truman had it right:
[font size=3]"I don't give them hell.
I just tell the truth, and they think its HELL!"[/font]
Old Harry wasn't afraid that somebody would think he was being rude.

I guess I'm lucky I'm old,
and can remember when Democratic presidents actually FOUGHT for the above values.




You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their excuses.
[font size=5 color=green]Solidarity99![/font][font size=2 color=green]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/center]

[Brickbat]

32. Love, love, LOVE those "Johnson Treatment" pics. THAT's what the "bully pulpit" looks like.