President Lyndon Baines Johnson

http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/lj36.html

 Research Questions

1-Was there a Greek tragedy in regard to LBJ's need to win in Vietnam?

2- Did he not know of France's failure there in 1954?

3- Did LBJ have a fatal flaw that prevented him from seeing the solution in Vietnam?

4-Was Johnson obsessed with trying to duplicate his mentor (FDR's) successes as well ?

5- Was Johnson's desire to not seek re-election an olive branch to the peace movement?

6-Did Johnson blame the American people for not supporting the war in Vietnam?

7- Did Johnson blame President Kennedy for getting him into Vietnam?

 Mr. Newman's Lecture Notes:

           Lyndon Johnson grew up in the dry Texas hill country of Blanco County near Austin. His great-grandfather had been a pioneer, his grandfather a cowboy and his father a businessman who served 5 terms in the Texas legislature. Lyndon entered politics in 1937 when he won a special election to fill a seat in the U. S. House of Representatives. Johnson styled himself as a New Dealer. His energetic politicking caught the eye of President Roosevelt who took Johnson under his wing. Roosevelt helped the freshman congressman secure key committee assignments in Congress. Johnson in turn idolized FDR, and imitated his leadership style. Johnson proved himself a master of party politics and behind-the-scenes maneuvering, and he rose to the position of Senate majority leader in 1955. It was through Johnson's deft handling of Congress that the nation passed the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Johnson's knack for achieving legislative results captured John F. Kennedy's attention too. Kennedy asked Johnson to be his running mate in 11960. Johnson's presence on the ticket helped Kennedy win key states in the South, especially Texas. Johnson assumed the Presidency on November 22, 1963.

             When it comes to analyzing and evaluating Lyndon B. Johnson, we can't help but feel that his motivation was to try and recreate the success of his hero Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt was successful in accomplishing a domestic success (lifting America out of the Great Depression) and a global success (winning World War II).                                                                                                                                                                                                            Johnson's domestic issue was the war on poverty and civil rights issues and conflicts (re: segregation and integration ). His global issue was the war in Vietnam. Johnson was relatively successful facing his domestic challenge, he created the Great Society, but the whirlwind of Vietnam took precious resources from his war on poverty and sunk his re-election bid in 1968. When LBJ announced that he would not seek re-election on March 31, 1968, he formally abandoned his pursuit for greatness and was perceived as a broken and defeated President.  

Connections:  Students need to look at Johnson's roots to see why he cared so much about people (He was a teacher in Texas.) His decisions about Vietnam and the need to finish this war were made on the basis of not running away from a job and trying to imitate F. D. R. who finished his task of defeating Hitler and the Nazis.