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Perhaps, no President is harder to categorize than Johnson.
On the positive side, he obtained passage in Congress of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (which gave minorities access to public facilities and accommodations), the Voting Rights Act of 1965 ( which enfranchised literally millions of African Americans precluded from voting by artifices in individual states such as literacy tests and poll taxes), the Fair Housing Act of 1968, the act establishing Medicare as a health insurance program for the elderly, student loan programs, Headstart, the Job Corps, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the act establishing community health centers. I am unaware of any other President, besides Franklin D. Roosevelt who has anything resembling that record for getting legislation passed and signed into law.
Johnson had first entered Congress by means of a special election in 1936 in which he won a seat in the US House of Representatives. He was an ardent supporter of FDR's "New Deal" and he stated at least once that he wanted to finish the mission that Roosevelt had begun.
The major negative that Johnson has to contend with is that while other Presidents began our involvement in Vietnam, Johnson took it to a new level and increased US manpower to a troop strength of 540,000. Ultimately, the USA lost approximately 58,000 soldiers fighting in this war. And, of course, all this was for naught. The government we backed collapsed in 1975 and the communist forces in the north won the war. The other negative that is often cited about Johnson is that he bears much of the responsibility for creating expensive "welfare state" programs like Medicare which may ultimately not be sustainable.
I personally think after considering the pros and cons that Johnson was on the whole good for this country. Although, I would place him outside the top 10 Presidents this country has had.
Perhaps, no President is harder to categorize than Johnson.
On the positive side, he obtained passage in Congress of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (which gave minorities access to public facilities and accommodations), the Voting Rights Act of 1965 ( which enfranchised literally millions of African Americans precluded from voting by artifices in individual states such as literacy tests and poll taxes), the Fair Housing Act of 1968, the act establishing Medicare as a health insurance program for the elderly, student loan programs, Headstart, the Job Corps, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the act establishing community health centers. I am unaware of any other President, besides Franklin D. Roosevelt who has anything resembling that record for getting legislation passed and signed into law.
Johnson had first entered Congress by means of a special election in 1936 in which he won a seat in the US House of Representatives. He was an ardent supporter of FDR's "New Deal" and he stated at least once that he wanted to finish the mission that Roosevelt had begun.
The major negative that Johnson has to contend with is that while other Presidents began our involvement in Vietnam, Johnson took it to a new level and increased US manpower to a troop strength of 540,000. Ultimately, the USA lost approximately 58,000 soldiers fighting in this war. And, of course, all this was for naught. The government we backed collapsed in 1975 and the communist forces in the north won the war. The other negative that is often cited about Johnson is that he bears much of the responsibility for creating expensive "welfare state" programs like Medicare which may ultimately not be sustainable.
I personally think after considering the pros and cons that Johnson was on the whole good for this country. Although, I would place him outside the top 10 Presidents this country has had.
See, I would characterize LBJ as a corrupt buffoon who produced two achievements, The Civil Rights and Voting Rights acts, and then did a great deal of damage with his Great Society programs and the Vietnam War. Medicare and Medicaid have proved to be grotesquely complicated economic fiascoes that have contributed to the spiraling costs of healthcare in this country, rather than ease them. Before those two programs were implemented, healthcare was approximately 5% of the GDP. Today, it's closer to 20%, with no end in sight to the upward spiral, a classic case of Hayek's Law of Unintended Consequences if ever I've seen one. The gutting of the inner cities due to failed public housing policy, the metastasizing federal government, the modern welfare state, and a host of other ills can be laid at LBJ's doorstep.
The Vietnam War was poorly conceived, escalated under dubious circumstances, and fought in an incremental way that practically guaranteed a quagmire. I've read about LBJ's decision making in that regard. All military moves were designed to send messages to the North Vietnamese, as if he were dealing with a recalcitrant ward heel, rather than make decisions based on strategy. And of course, the fact that the man told bald-faced lies to the American people about troop levels, progress, etc. etc., were why he ultimately could not run for a second term.
What's more, the man was utterly corrupt. Here is a man who spend his entire working life on the public payroll and somehow wound up being worth close to $100 million dollars. Now, apologists and whitewash artists would say that Lady Bird Johnson's family contributed to this, but it's public knowledge that LBJ strongarmed deals such as FCC permits to radio stations that would eventually be owned by his wife, contracts to Brown & Root, and the list goes on and on.
Do yourself a favor and read Robert Caro's meticulously-researched Path To Power series. He came under fire for the ultimate negative verdict on LBJ by the usual suspects, but nobody has been able to fault the biographer's command of facts.
I consider Johnson to be a tragic figure in American history. He had the potential to be a truly great president, with such great accomplishments as the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act, and the many successful War on Poverty programs. If it had not been for the war his legacy would have been an unmitigated success. As it is, it's hard to say that he did more good than bad.
Well, the fact that both Democrats and Republicans now agree that Welfare Reform in 1996 was a highly positive step for the country shows how bankrupt many of Johnson's policy decisions were. What's more, Medicare and Medicaid are also both runaway demographic nightmares that are causing this country serious economic troubles.
the great society........yeah that worked out fine didn't it,the family structure was abolished everyone got food,lodging and health care....why work LBJ will take care of us....cradle to grave!
One of our worst presidents, IMHO. The so-called "Great Society" has ended up institutionalizing welfare and encouraging illegitimacy. Compare black (and white) out of wedlock births in 1960 vs. today.
He and the heinous Robert McNamara micro-managed the Vietnam War to the nth degree, causing untold needless casualties, and prolonging the war.
A classic political hack who through strong armed his way to the top. The damage inflicted by him is still being paid for today.
LBJ did something very noble which is try to eradicate or greatly diminish poverty in the United States. He didn't succeed and some of his measures may have been misguided. Some say he went too far, others say he didn't go far enough. But at least it was a serious attempt to address poverty - something not many presidents had the courage to take on.
What he did for civil rights is of course invaluable. All the work done by Martin Luther King and co might have been for naught had it not been for LBJ and his courage to take on the Dixiecrats.
The Vietnam war was a mistake. Does it erase all the good things LBJ has done? IMO no.
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