The Great Society

Playing shadow to Mr. Celebrity president for two and a half years, Lyndon Johnson knew he would have to establish an iconic administration all his own after Kennedy’s unforgettable assassination. Following up such a man as Kennedy would not be easy, as he was adored by the public. Johnson got the presidency by default, as opposed to by the people’s vote. Johnson had never possessed the charisma or media-friendly personality that Kennedy had been known for. Yet, Johnson was determined to wield his power over America, which had so long been stifled by his background position during Kennedy’s fruitful years in office. Although he lacked Kennedy’s silver-screen looks and personality, Johnson was a master at wheedle his position, whether by flattery, persuasion, or threats.

Johnson both urged for passage of legislation that had been proposed by Kennedy’s administration and for much grander proposals of his own, concentrating namely on three domestic issues: tax cutting, civil rights, and economic inequality. It turned out that Kennedy’s death was very beneficial to Johnson in some regards. Johnson pressed congress to respect Kennedy’s last wishes by passing the legislation he had fought for in the last months of his life. By 1964, Johnson obtained the Civil Rights Act of 1964, in July 1964. Although, the act surely would have been passed eventually, the emotional pressure placed on the congress by Johnson quickly made up their minds on the case. Not only this, but between 1964 and 1965, nearly 200 new laws were passed. Although he used Kennedy’s assassination as sure-footed leverage, Johnson also made clear that it was time to close the New Frontier. He forged a new policy and called it the Great Society. He said that it was time for America, “to build a great society, a place where the meaning of man's life matches the marvels of man's labor." Johnson wanted a society where things were “fair” and where no person was very poor, and so he pushed for welfare. Johnson also cared a lot about the image of the nation. Poor people were distasteful; they made a nation look bad. Similarly, the conflict of the Civil Rights Movement made America look divided and unorganized, and so he pushed for Civil Rights. On the other hand, Johnson believed that tax cuts would promote huge growth in the economy, and so he pushed for tax cuts. Many of Johnson’s policies, such as Medicaid, Medicare, and social security reflected his need to control America’s image as an unrelentingly anti-communist, economically unprecedented world power. However, the measures Johnson took to do this went awfully far. 

When Johnson took office immediately after Kennedy’s assassination, he was hesitant to get highly involved in the war in Southeast Asia, but he feared that his associates might find him a pushover towards communism. This was one thing he couldn’t have, so when Johnson gained the presidency, he sought to deepen the U.S. involvement in Vietnam. This was a step into quicksand, and getting out would take America twenty-five years. The war stretched on, yet even after Johnson felt sure that the U.S. would not be able to preserve an anti-communist in South Vietnam, he was torn over the consequences that would occur from a U.S. pullout and hestitated. This epoch would brought the death of over 58,000 Americans and two million Vietnamese. All this for one man’s reputation.

The Vietnam War was both our longest and our most controversial war. If you ask most people today why we fought the war, they will shake their heads in confusion. We lost millions of lives for absolutely no reason. Lyndon Johnson once said, “Any jackass can kick down a barn but it takes a good carpenter to build one.” What he didn’t realize is that this is exactly what he did in Vietnam—he kicked down a barn. Because of the Vietnam War, Johnson lost lives, resources, and the trust of his people. He couldn’t even face another presidency and determined not to run again in 1968. It seems that Johnson’s idea of a “Great Society” turned against him, for America was far from this ideal at the end of the Vietnam War. Truly, it was not a Great Society.