Remembering President Lyndon Johnson

LBJ, our 36th President, was born August 27th, 1908 in Stonewall, Texas.
I believe he was one of our most significant Presidents.
1) He helped pass the Civil Rights bill of 1964 and the Voting Rights bill of 1965.
2) He helped start programs to assist the poor i.e. HeadStart, food stamps.
3) He was instrumental in getting the Medicare program started to help elderly Americans with healthcare costs.
He made a few mistakes; the escalation of the Vietnam War being one of them. But, I still admire and respect him for what he got right.

 

Whenever I hear LBJ mentioned, I think about our Federal debt, now $21 trillion greater than when LBJ was President.

 

Yes, it is much higher than it was in LBJ's time.

 

Worst president in US history, hands down.

The Immigration Act of 1965 is destroying this country. That alone makes him the worst ever, not counting Vietnam.

 

Maybe he was trying to bring more diversity to the USA.

 

“These Negroes, they're getting pretty uppity these days and that's a problem for us since they've got something now they never had before, the political pull to back up their uppityness. Now we've got to do something about this, we've got to give them a little something, just enough to quiet them down, not enough to make a difference. For if we don't move at all, then their allies will line up against us and there'll be no way of stopping them, we'll lose the filibuster and there'll be no way of putting a brake on all sorts of wild legislation. It'll be Reconstruction all over again."

― Lyndon B. Johnson ​

[Said to Senator Richard Russell, Jr. (D-GA) regarding the Civil Rights Act of 1957]

 

His position was evolving. It happens. I am also sure like every born politician he picks his words for his audience, that being Russell. I can find quotes too. This man had a very complicated history concerning both blacks and Hispanics over the years but it was a dang sight more liberal and less bigotted than most in Texas or the South at the time.

 

As I was serving in SEA during his term in office, I don't have any praises for him, and even less so upon returning to the States.

 

Viet Nam (original spelling -- means South Viet) destroyed LBJ.

LBJ's biggest mistake in Viet Nam was appointing the butt kissing lying Wm. C. Westmoreland as CIC. Creighton Abrams was senior to Westmoreland and available and would have been a better choice. LBJ probably could not stomach what Abrams had to say.

 

Other than Medicare, probably the worst. Yes.

Definitely the most corrupt second only to Nixon.

 

LBJ felt sorry for the "colored peoples" as he called them.

He also called them the N-word on occasion, which is not a crime, just not very cool for a POTUS.

 

I'm sure he wasn't the only President who called Blacks that racial slur. He was on the right side of history as far as the important issues were concerned. So, I will forgive him.

 

I remember growing up in terror of the Viet Nam War.

I also had several friends who died over there and came home in a box. Their names are on The Wall in D.C. I read them the last time I was there.

I will probably benefit from Medicare next year though, so for me it is 50-50 on LBJ.

I'm glad about Medicare. It pays for the hospitalization of all seniors over 65.

But I also still remember the looming terror of Viet Nam.

 

Sorry about your friends who died in Vietnam. My oldest brother received a Purple Heart for wounds he received over there. My other two brothers didn't have to go Vietnam because of the oldest already being there. So, one was in the Air Force and the other in the Army, but nowhere near the war zone.
I still don't know why we were in Vietnam. That was a tragic time.

 

I was in Texas several weeks ago for work and visited the LBJ Library. He was President before my time so it was fascinating to go in and see first hand memories of his Presidency. I was in awe. I walked out feeling incredibly sad because the Libraries of our earlier Presidents do not get the attention they should.

I travel quite a bit so whenever I have to travel to a State that has a Presidential Library I try and make a point to visit and remind myself what these men accomplished and the challenges they faced.

 

That was so nice to be able to visit the LBJ library. I am a history buff, so I would have loved that.
Yes, our Presidents do face great challenges. I respect all of them.

 

The best book to read about Viet Nam is "Rolling Thunder In A Gentle Land".

The conflict itself was born in the 1850's around French colonialization and Catholic proselytizing.

The next stage was Japanese occupation for the rubber plantations there.

Then the return of the French after WW2 much to the displeasure of the local Vietnamese.

Then the Red Scare. Truman, and Kennedy, and Johnson all feared what they called "the domino effect".

That's why we were there.

 

Was probably responsible for the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

 

Hi. I'm picking up "Rolling Thunder in a Gentle Land" from the library today. It's a thick book! I'm sure I'll learn from it. Thank you for recommending it to me.

 

Always wondered why he didn't challenge the Deep State when they ordered him to rubber-stamp the murder of President John F. Kennedy as nothing more than a lone gunman with a satchel of magic bullets...

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

So you are exusing his overt racism in a liberal Democrat. But if a Republican is concerned about bringing in who knows how many people from the middle east or mentions that some people crossing the border are drug dealers or rapists they are some how nazi like?

 

Huh? I don't even know what you are talking about. I have reviewed this old thread, and I can't find squat about republicans concerned about the middle east, or people crossing the boarder anywhere.

Well Johnson certainly was liberal compared to other southern Dems, but even back in those day, EVERYONE knew the difference between Johnson and a real 'liberal' democrat. He picked Hubert Humphrey to balance the ticket and placate liberals, because Johnson really wasn't a 'liberal' democrat, not because he was a liberal democrat. I guess we could call Johnson a liberal on economic justice issues thus his stand on electrification, education and those great society programs,, moderate on social issues including civil rights, with a definite conservative bend on national security/ defense issues.

 

He was a vile racist. He and his party obstructed and FILIBUSTERED the civil rights act for years prior to his passing it. The version he passed was almost verbatim the one Eisenhower penned and was unable to enact due to racist democrats obstruction.

Everything he did, including the things you mention above, was to ultimately make good on his vow: "I'll have those ******s voting democrat for the next 200 years!" ~ LBJ

 

What was evolving was his epiphany that black folks had become a potentially powerful voting bloc, and democrats were losing their ability to continue to oppress and intimidate them as they had for decades prior. He needed a way to win them over and lock them in for democrats forever. Freeshit was the ticket. We see that same strategy being played to this day.

Once the people become dependent on the government for the necessities of life, they are again slaves. Since LBJ, everything the democrats propose is to increase government dependence.

 

Um Partisan crap is flowing out of your ass, again Hotdog. You need an anti-diarrhea medication. Blacks became a potentially large voting block because of his support of civil rights legislation, not in spite of it. Dems just like Johnson had been winning election after election just fine for generations. He did not need any more black votes than he already had gotten. He was already elected to the highest office he could run for. He could promise whatever he liked, and then quietly sabotage the legislation once he was in office . He had had that kind of power, and that kind of legislative chicanery in his repertoire for decades. As for your theory about the 'free stuff' he was in favor of the 'free stuff' long before the 1964 civil rights act. He was a supporter of both Rosevelt's and Truman's social safety net legislative agenda long before civil rights was a glimmer in any southern politician's eye.