Lyndon Johnson - Remarks on Decision to not seek Reelection

You can view the full speech here:
millercenter.org/scripps/archi...
Johnson restates his offer to the North Vietnamese to begin talks for making peace, and he discusses the economic problems and solutions in the United States. After urging both Congress and Americans to end their divisions, the President announces his decision not to seek reelection so that he may focus on executing his presidential duties instead of partisan politics.

[@richardpaull6526]

Admit it. You all know why you clicked on this video today.

[@TheCD5150]

Yes.

[@nhmooytis7058]

I’m 68. Watched this live. I was 15: My dad, a hardcore Goldwater Republican, was so angry he sent LBJ a telegram telling him he was WRONG to quit because the media, who he loathed more than any Democrat (a man ahead of his time), had hounded LBJ to quit. He got a thank you from the White House he kept til he died a decade and a half later.

[@nhmooytis7058]

Mitchell D now a disagreement like ours would destroy a family. My dad and I would argue then play Scrabble.

[@joshuawillis602]

Mitchell D you sound like a communist

[@casario2808]

Nice story. Though I dont see LBJ as a man who would give in to the media. The war was unwinnable and he knew it. He and his crew got themselves into it on good intentions but wrong assumptions, and realizing this I think he just decided he was just gonna try and preserve his legacy around poverty and civil rights. Your dad was ahead of his time in mis-trusting media, but it is still quite different today...today an entire political party can have its platform controlled by a single news agency. Its more than just being hounded by them.

[@nhmooytis7058]

@@casario2808 or they took LBJ in a dark room and showed him the Zapruder film.

[@californiaslastgasp6847]

@@casario2808 he literally decided to quite because Cronkite started saying that Vietnam was a lost cause.

[@spb7883]

It's fascinating to consider the political instability of the presidency from the years 1960 - 1980. During that 20 year period, no single president successfully or willingly fulfilled two terms: JFK was killed, Johnson didn't seek reelection, Nixon resigned, Ford never was elected then lost in his election bid, and Carter wasn't reelected. There were 5 presidents during that 20 year period. Compare that to the 60 year period from 1900 - 1960, during which there were 10 presidents, and (as of 2016) the past 36 years during which there have been 5. (In particular, this instability helps to explain the otherwise baffling appeal of Reagan in 1980).

[@spb7883]

***** Not baffling, perhaps. But telling?

[@christiangainey1223]

You're using coincidences to justify your dislike for a popular president who won the presidency for reasons other than what you just described.

[@spb7883]

+Christian Gainey My dislike is a subjective judgement, to be sure. But I believe that regardless of one's opinion of Reagan, the events I've outlined I would argue contributed to his appeal.

[@spb7883]

That's certainly a popular understanding, but to my mind America was finally given permission to be itself again after the war ended. Take that as you will, but for me it means a violent, stupid, and intolerant America. Vietnam was the blip on the radar that made many Americans say "wait a second: what's going on here? what have we become as a nation? what is our status in the world?" then reagan comes along in the 80s and says "to hell with all of these questions: let's bomb a small country somewhere!"

[@landochabod7]

donald johnson Reagan also survived an attempt at his life, though it had nothing to do with politics.

[@coconutologist]

4:54 what I came here for

[@Eighty8percent]

hi im here to make outlandish statements and not provide any evidence to support to my argument. have i come to the right place?

[@mariahsia2282]

Eighty8percent 😀

[@Albertanator]

Yep...this is place to spout all sorts of ignorance and conspiracy nonsense!

[@sunrise8263]

Yes. Pull up a toilet and sit down.

[@jaywunder13242]

LBJ was on the grassy knoll. He was doing the bidding of the Illuminati

[@zacharytk72]

Would be one of the greatest presidents if not for that horrible, horrible war.

[@Semonyacob]

I agree 100%

[@sergeantawesome8959]

Agreed too.

[@nickinky]

And the fact that he killed Kennedy...

[@FreeSociety1]

He was a participant in the Kennedy Assassination, and created the fraudulent Warren Commission (with Fired CIA Dir Allen Dulles running it) to cover up the murder. He not only presided over and created the Vietnam fiasco, but participated in the "Gulf of Tonken" LIE (with the CIA) to trick Congress and the public into supporting it. Very Corrupt Man! No Hero at all.

[@markharrison2544]

Johnson was a racist.

[@daviddavenport1485]

We all know why we're here

[@timdaugherty4014]

I can see Biden doing this before 2024.

[@michaelclentworth1283]

NEVER gonna happen, my 'friend'.

[@matthewnikitas8905]

We can only hope so

[@Koopalingfan]

I hope so.

[@wex8801]

Shut up 😒

[@user-gt8bs5ly2b]

Idiot

[@jamesp8569]

Path to War is a great TV film and sets a lot of the context with tjis closing speech .LBJ was a bare knuckle politician. Literally deadly to his opponents but he was also realistic and in some respects honourable ,in that you jump before you're pushed. How I wish in 2023 we had politicians like him. If you think 63-69 was bad, 2016 onwards has been a calamity for US society.

[@RoseMaddison]

I have some sympathy for Lyndon Johnson. It's easier to look back now and know something was a bad decision. At the time the President and Cabinet did what they thought would be the best, even if was, by 1968, a bad decision. Also, LBJ did not start the Vietnam War. He just escalated it.

[@matthewnikitas8905]

He escalated United States involvement in the war by an unprecedented level when he became president, even though he knew the war was practically un winnable. That is unforgivable.

[@AnthonyJPiccione]

We know why we’re here lol

[@nujac321]

The escalation of the war in Vietnam was not a situation out of nowhere. It was started by LBJ when he exploited the Bay of Tonkin incident so he could run to the Right of Barry Goldwater and win in 1964.

[@njd2342]

It was JFK who sent the troops in. LBJ was left with the mess JFK started.

[@laopang91362]

He knew he screwed up. Now we need Biden to give the same speech.

[@applesandgrapesfordinner4626]

We got our wish at least.

[@jaysonbiggs8979]

I still remember this speech. When he said, "I shall not seek..." I immediately thought to myself, they did it. The anti war movement was the force that made him not to seek reelection.

[@TheJMascis666]

jayson biggs Hanoi had it easy with so many agents working within US society.

[@casario2808]

No it wasnt the anti-war movement, it was the impossible status of the unwinnable war itself. And its distraction from his agenda on poverty and the "just society". Cant blame him for wanting to avoid that quagmire that awaited a sustained campaign for re-election, and for wanting to preserve his legacy and what mattered most to him.

[@jaysonbiggs8979]

@@casario2808 It WAS the antiwar movt. In which I later became active in as a teen. The commentators after his speech all said that he was dropping out because he could not step foot on a college campus and could barely leave the WH without facing antiwar protests. The people in the movt. knew that it was because of the protests that he decided not to run. Throughout history wars overshadow all other politics. That was the case with LBJ also

[@ebone1988]

See, but it's all hindsight now. He wanted to get out of Vietnam, but didn't want to look soft on communism or be the first president to "lose" a war. His advisers were telling him how it would compromise the US position in southeast Asia if we left. So he trusted his advisers against his better judgment, and it got him where he is now in history.

[@dpm12]

I hate reading all these negative comments about LBJ. Yes, Vietnam was bullshit and we should not have been involved any further, and the man rightly deserves criticism for that. But, he did the most since FDR to help the poor and disenfranchised in this country. He would be one of the greats, if not for Vietnam.

[@curtisoblong69]

+TheDaveMaybe civil rights. kennedy was reluctant, Johnson used his influence upon becoming president to make sure it went through. he's gotta be commended for that.

[@sergeantawesome8959]

Agreed +TheDaveMaybe He did a great job.

[@frederickglasser5617]

And that's like saying the Titanic was a beautiful ocean liner, if not for the fact that it hit the iceberg. His lies to us about Viet Nam, when he knew there was no valid reason for it, forever scars his legacy.

[@jerryboggs3474]

Vietnam cannot be just brushed aside as an error! I was 18 in '68, got a personal letter from LBJ...gave me 30 days to clean up & bring my body & blood in to beat "them Viet Congs"!!! 🤔👎🤮

[@TruthorDare21]

Reserach him a little deeper and see how much love you and develop for him.. He was smart and got his way one way of another though

[@2000Betelgeuse]

I Cannot avoid but feel for this man....you can see he is suffering...he did more for the common folk than most people will bring themself's to acknowledge

[@TrainFan_95]

+2000Betelgeuse Such an underappreciated President. Compared to the clowns we've had/ we have running for the Presidency in 2016, he looks like a saint. So statesmanlike (as shown in this speech and in other decisions he made), and yet, that didn't stop him from playing politics when necessary in order to get things done (i.e. The Johnson Treatment). As a result he did far more positive things for America than Clinton or Obama.

[@tomgibson6801]

jack pretty sure that was reagan who did that

[@PKMNFan4664]

@@TrainFan_95 I definitely consider Johnson one of our best presidents (aside from the Vietnam debacle), but I do also think Bill Clinton and Barack Obama did good jobs, too, as far as the Democrats that have held the White House since. I can't give Jimmy Carter high marks, unfortunately, however.

[@zachbarker5354]

His policies toward the Vietnam war made him a terrible president.

[@mindspring57]

@whitebread8381 He died of a third heart attack in January 1973. In July 1955, while he was Senate Majority Leader, he suffered a near fatal heart attack. He quit smoking in 1955, but started up again in 1969 after he left the White House. He had a second heart attack in 1972, and then the fatal one in 1973. In addition to being a smoker, he had poor dietary habits and was under a lot of stress. One of the reasons he was so hyper as President is that he felt his days were limited.

[@TruthorDare21]

he was dieing and could not take the heat anymore.. His heart was giving up he wasnt that old..

[@2_rl_762]

"There is division in our house now"-golden words

[@adamdorgant9454]

True!!!!

[@MarkHarrison733]

Johnson could never have won the nomination anyway in 1968.

[@MrLandonweber]

"I don't think it's a war fighting for, and I don't think we can get out." -Lyndon Johnson Speaking of Vietnam.

[@SiVlog1989]

I know that Richard Nixon is officially the only President to resign, but in a way I think of this address as a kind of resignation speech in itself

[@pancholopez8829]

The way I see it with some extra context, LBJ assume he would have won the war on Vietnam and continued his own dream project back home, the Great Society. Which was his War on Poverty. Sadly Vietnam took a lot of the money from from his dream project. Among other things. Like how this was during the height of the Vietnam and I believe during the Tet Offensive. A very pyrrhic victory for the US. Showing that VC and NVA were willing to do to the last man if it meant reuniting Vietnam. Now I know that rabbit hole is deeper than that, but I won't go to many details here. I recommend to research that even South Vietnam made it worse with the prosecutions on Buddhism, among other things like corruption and wasting money for the wealthy than economic restructuring. Add this to the Draft and the Counterculture movement, LBJ really couldn't handle such stress. Maybe he made the right choice by choosing to NOT run for president. And seeing what happened with Watergate and the Pentagon Papers, he dodge the bullet and Nixon made it worse. But that is something I dont who made it worse.

[@jonnybravo4328]

The War on Poverty was just as big of a failure compared to War on Drugs.

[@pancholopez8829]

@@jonnybravo4328 two years later and more knowledge in hindsight, you're right on that.

[@gaguy1967]

the economy was pretty good in 1968, with like 3% unemployment. But socially the year 1968 was the worst since 1865

[@Skyline25]

1919*

[@gaguy1967]

@@Skyline25 that was bad

[@mindspring57]

@whitebread8381 Another factor to consider is that, in LBJ's family, the men, including his father, tended to die at young ages. LBJ died in January, 1973, at the age of 64. Thus, even if he had run in 1968, and had been re-elected, he might not have lived out his term.

[@adamdorgant9454]

You’re right about that!!!

[@chrismcevoy2503]

I'm sure he did the best he could as President of the United States.

[@JarOfRats]

+Chris Mc Evoy He set up generations upon generations of families trapped in the welfare state. And always remember- LBJ started America's involvement in the Vietnam war... and Nixon ended it.

[@TrainFan_95]

+JarOfRats What's worse, being "trapped" in the welfare state or enslaved by poverty? People are not truly free unless they have all their needs met and have a decent education.

[@JarOfRats]

TrainFan 95 Guess what- stay in school, study hard, work a few jobs and earn your success. If "all your needs are met", you didn't EARN shit. You're a slave to the democrats.

[@davidblackwelder6473]

A great Speech by a GREAT President. "Whatever the cost, Whatever the Burden and "Sac-ra-fiss" - Outstanding!

[@shihyuchu6753]

One of the most evil people ever

[@haskellbob]

Wouldn't that be : "sacraFass"? Not sure.

[@91117182035]

The current so-called "leaders" of both parties should be forced to watch this speech daily.

[@bronzebuck64]

This man did more for Black folks than Clinton and Obama combined. For that I am truly grateful to him.

[@helen8152]

moodmuzik President Johnson never said that. I don't know where you're getting your information. His father was a congressman and fought the KKK in his time. President Johnson made sure that congress voted for the civil rights bill. He called the northern rethuglicans and the southern democrats into the oval office and twisted their arms and made sure that they voted for it so that he could sign it. If President Kennedy had not been assassinated, I don't believe that he could have got it done. President Kennedy was a good president, but he could not have made the southern, racist democrats vote for the civil rights bill. President Johnson cared about the rights of all Americans. I remember those times. You were probably not even a twinkle in your parents eyes.

[@helen8152]

moodmuzik This is a quote of President Johnson"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man,he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pocket for you." Not politically correct because nobody is better than anybody else, but you get the jist of what he is saying. These teabaggers are against President Obama because he is African American. President Obama is trying to make this country better for the middle class, working class and poor people. The teabaggers or racist idiots who are cutting off their nose to spite their face......stupid idiots.

[@accatt2204]

He executed it though in the 64 Civil Rights act, 68’ Civil Rights Act, Medicare and Medicaid passes and a decent economy. Honestly he probably thought Vietnam was the right thing as Truman had intervened in korea, but Vietnam’s guerrila warfare and desires by their people to accept communism. In Korea, it was trench and WW2, warfare with unanimous passing by the UNSC to, “all nations render all possible military aid and assistance to South Korea to assist them”, to defend and deter “Hitler like”, behavior. It was sad, 37,000 died but it did stop the invasion. You also had a generation the people too young to fight WW2 and many DID WANT to fight WW2 and were upset they couldn’t, Korea was supported. Vietnam was a generational change and failure to account for the desires of South Vietnamese people’s opinions, as well as tactics etc. so, he was a great domestic president, bad foreign policy president which is the same imo as Obama was similar. Kennedy, Nixon, Reagan, Bush Sr.???ehhh, Clinton were the last presidents good with foreign policy and moving the US forward internationally. Many times you have presidents great at domestic issues, terrible at foreign ones. That or bad like G.W.Bush at almost everything except uniting a nation after 9/11. Obama was great domestically, foreign policy unfortunately I think you have two reasons Trumps here, one racist who feel scared, vulnerable and fearful and are flat out stupid. White people arent decresing at least since 2011, the population has increased and minority populations has decreased, emigration too. It’s factually statistically actually bad that we are now, in the third year of a national population decline, we are now loosing people and for a third world nation it helps, a first world one though...it can destroy everything. When international monetary funds, banks, nations etc. lend to the US even with our debt, they don’t cut us off because they calculate our capability to pay it back (taxes, cuts, favors etc) but if they go, “dude, America, you DONT HAVE enough people to even pay this debt back. I mean statistically you can’t do it? We can’t lend you money.” We default go bankrupt and our economy and nation has to start all over. So, the opioid crisis, prevention of immigration, higher emigration, decline in birth rates and I had to say it natural born Americans and add cold water with the sexual harassment/misconduct suits (which I support a law prohibiting sexual ABUSE, and support, by good things can have consequences, winning the lottery is great, but if your a drug addict....it’s suicide: idk how his country can possible continue with population decline....it can’t unless we cut social security, Medicare, military spending, Medicaid etc. so, they better make another, “free love” policy and encourage immigration as t takes BOTH to reverse such a seriously bad trend. Johnson wasn’t bad and his willingness to not grab power, and do the right thing is in stark contrast to Trump.

[@theanswerisinthebackofyourhead]

I READ YOUR LONG PARAGRAPH UNLIKE MANY WHO WONT BUT I DID AND I HAVE TO AGREE WITH YOUR ANALYSIS OF LBJ, AND MOST OF THE OTHER STUFF IN IT WHICH SOUNDS RESEARCHED VERY THOROUGHLY AND BY THE WAY I AM 53 AND NOT A KID BUT HOWEVER I DISAGREE WITH YOUR STAND ON OBAMA, HE WAS A DISASTER AND DID MORE TO UNDERMINE THE WHITE MALE, AND MANY OF THE FOUNDING DOCUMENTS THE COUNTRY WAS FOUNDED ON WHILE AT THE SAME TIME EMPOWERING IMMIGRANTS, LEGAL AND ILLEGAL, CRIMINALS AND SO CALLED DISRUPTORS WHICH IS WHAT NANCY PELOSI ADDRESSED THEM AS, HE DID NOT DO MUCH FOR THE BLACK COMMUNITY EXCEPT STEAM THEM UP AT RALLIES TO RISE UP AGAINST WHITES, TO RIOT, LOOT AND BURN ( FERGUSON, BALTIMORE, BERKLEY, SAN JOSE AND SO ON) HIS WIFE ESPECIALLY WAS THE BIGGEST RACE BAITER I HAD EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE WHO TALKED AS THOUGH SHE WAS A POOR MINORITY AND VICTIM WHICH SO WAS NOT THE CASE AND NEVER WILL BE, AND HE HIMSELF WAS INFLUENCED AT A VERY YOUNG AGE AND I AM TALKING ABOUT HIS ADOLCESENCE TO HATE AMERICA AND ITS FOUNDINGS AND THAT CAME FROM A MAN NAMED FRANK MARSHALL DAVIS. HE IS THE ONLY POLITICIAN THAT I KNOW FOR A FACT WHOS CAREER STARTED IN THE LIVING ROOM OF A DOMESTIC TERRORISTS WHO WERE A COUPLE KNOWN AS BILL AYRES AND BERNADINE DORN, WHO SUPPORTED A VIOLENT UPRISING IN THE STREETS OF AMERICA AND IF THAT DOES NOT BOTHER YOU THEN YOU NEED A GUT CHECK. AS FAR AS TRUMP IS CONCERNED, HE HAS GOTTEN OFF TO A SLOW START AND HAS NOT LIVED COMPLETELY UP TO MY EXPECTATIONS BUT HERE IS A LIST OF THINGS YOU CAN CREDIT TRUMP FOR AND IF YOU CANT SEE IT THEN YOU SHOULD OPEN YOUR EYES OR STOP LISTENING TO LEFT WING PROPOGANDA LIKE CNN, MSNBC, NBC, CBS, JAKE TAPPER, WOLF BLITZER, RACHEL MADCOW, AND OTHERS IN THE TRUMP HATING CAMP WHO HAVE NOTHING BUT HATE AND NO FACTS ABOUT NOTHING ELSE, AND I HONESTLY DO NOT KNOW WHICH IT IS SO I THREW SOME GUESSES OUT THERE BUT HERE ARE SOME RESEARCHED FACTS ABOUT TRUMP THAT I AM HAPPY ABOUT AND WHICH KEEPS ME ON BOARD THE TRUMP TRAIN, PLS LOOK THEM OVER, I DO NOT EXPECT YOU TO AGREE OR LIKE BUT I DO HOPE YOU READ THIS Trump didn't steal your money • Trump didn't raise your taxes • Trump did not quadruple the price of food • Trump did not stir a race war • Trump did not conduct a war on police • Trump did not leave your soldiers in Bengasi to be slaughtered and desecrated by Muslims • Trump did not send the US navy to fight for Syria and Al-Qaeda • Trump did not arm Isis and systematically exterminate Christians throughout the middle east • Trump did not bring in Muslims • Trump did not betray Israel • Trump did not provide financing and technology for Iran's nuclear weapons program • Trump did not give our military secrets to China • Trump did not remove our nuclear missile shield in Poland at the request of Russia • Trump did not shrivel our military • Trump did not betray our veterans • Trump did not cripple our economy • Trump did not increase our debt to 20 trillion dollars • Trump did not ruin our credit ... twice • Trump did not double African American unemployment • Trump did not increase welfare to a record level for 8 years • Trump did not sign a law making it legal to execute and imprison Americans • Trump did not set free all the terrorists in Guantanamo Bay • Trump did not steal your rights • Trump did not violate the US constitutional law or commit treason hundreds of times It's Barry Hussein Obama and Hillary Clinton and the rotten establishment known as the democrat party who have occupied our government ... That's who... trump did put a travel ban on muslim countries who sponsor terrorism trump has lowered taxes trump has ended chain migration trump truly loves america trump has restored the military trump wants to see us as a superpower again trump has been doing things to make the economy better trump is deporting illegal alien gang members trump might start deporting illegal aliens who are already in prison trump should build the border wall with mexico trump should end the anchor babys law if trump supports daca it will be the equivalent of tammany hall which was extremely corrupt and about immigration back in the late 19th century and early 20th century and will be the end of the republican party for at least 20 yrs or longer, all of this is fact and researched, if you disagree then you are at will to do so.....................................................................................................

[@troyalexander8228]

He was president when my dad came here from Cuba. He did such great things, domestically. I suppose it's easy to say 50 years later, but I can't figure why he committed us to Vietnam on that scale 550 K troops. The HBO movie with Bryan Cranston brought me here. "Leave some room for my nutsack."

[@anthonyr5869]

He set us up because he was a war hawk

[@DarkFilmDirector]

It's because Harry Truman and the Democrats who ran high on prestige for defeating fascism in WWII then in quick succession suffered a series of setbacks and defeats against communism. First China, then Korea which was a massive disaster. Because of this, it led to Dwight Eisenhower's election and the big Republican comeback for the first time since before the Great Depression. Then Cuba, parts of Latin America, and the middle east were turning pro-communist. In southeast Asia, the US got dragged in primarily due to its alliance with the France whom were clinging to a rapidly dying empire. The Viet Minh actually requested the US aid them against the French as the US did against Japan, but the US was fearful of France exiting a defensive alliance against the Soviets. Plus, it was thought that a symbolic victory would turn the tide against the spread of communism and act as a unifier for domestic policy. Everything that was assumed, predicted, or advised was utterly playing right into the hands of them, as radical political extremists like communists and fascists always benefit from getting to play the victim. The consequences of the war not just in terms of immense human and environmental cost, but also utterly destroyed the psyche of the nation and it will never be as was prior to the year 1965.

[@Gguy061]

"You guys got mad at me for starting a war for no reason, I don't wanna play anymore! "

[@mkl62]

LBJ is the reason that this country is in the shape that it's in today. He is an American Judas if their ever was one.

[@JACOBSHLTR]

"If I lost (Walter) Cronkite, i've lost middle america" reaction on Cronkite's vietnam stalemate editorial (was this the reason why he wont run a 2nd term?)

[@deanbritt9131]

He knew he couldn't beat Bobby Kennedy that's why he quit.

[@ectomy1235]

i think it was the Vietnam war which made him quit, that war broke him

[@robertsvorinich890]

@@ectomy1235 How could he live with himself, knowing how much death and destruction he caused? He was a liberal who passed civil right legislation not to mention Medicare and Medicaid. He was a complicated man.

[@katc2345]

@@robertsvorinich890 I'll bet you you're fucking using it too. Dimwit! Wtf is wrong with that? Yiu enjoying social security yet hypocrite? Thank thexDems for it. Yku sorry fuck!

[@MrLandonweber]

My point is Johnson is not the main cause of Vietnam, rather that it was a war he inherited unofficially from Kennedy and Eisenhower, whom were the first presidents to put diplomatic advisers in South Vietnam while turning a blind eye to Diem's authoritarian (Capitalist/right wing) regime. Quoting my college textbook, "The president who wanted to make his mark on domestic policy was compelled to deal with commitments his predecessors had made in Vietnam" (Pg 978 The American Promise). Analyzing LBJ's Great Society, The American Promise Authors state "Measured by statistics, the reduction in poverty in the 1960's was considerable. The number of poor Americans fell from more than 20 Percent of the population in 1959, to 13 percent in 1968. Those who according to Johnson's words "live on the outskirts of hope" gained more control over their circumstances and a sense of a right to a fairer share of America's bounty." The great societies failure in elimination poverty was not due to its "effect" of releasing people from poverty and trapping them in welfare ( Oh NO! :) ). It failed by not redistributing wealth (which is not socialism, but what a progressive taxation system is designed for/ Socialism is the government taking over the VAST Majority of business sectors and claiming the means of production for its own use). Again quoting from the textbook, "great society programs did invest more heavily in the public sector, but they were funded from economic growth rather than from new taxes on the rich or the middle class. There was no significant redistribution of income, despite increases in subsidies for food stamps, housing, medical care, and AFDC. Economic prosperity allowed increased spending for the poor to rise and improve the lives of millions, but that spending never approched the levels necessary to claim victory in the was on poverty." I also want to address the lie that minorities are "trapped by welfare". The great society introduced programs such as increased welfare spending and Pell Grants which have continued to help hard working Americans out of poverty. Minorities are trapped by de jure segregation created by white people, like my upper class snotty relatives whom "didn't want their wonderful white children in the suburbs of Detroit to be bussed and integrated with blacks." Which is why " Integration propelled white flight to the suburbs (The American Promise Pg. 1008)." I don't see why we (minorities and whites like myself) should live in the richest nation in the world where people are trapped by poverty or in low paying jobs for the benefit of those with power and wealth to hold onto it, whether they earned it or not (low inheritance tax of 20%). Furthermore, lower and middle class kids going to college or Technical Schools should be focused on bettering themselves, not on how they are going to pay for their college to ACTUALLY ESCAPE poverty, which is why the Great Society didn't go far enough. After all, the only way such vast amounts of wealth can be created is by the hard works of all those involved, not just the very wealthiest of us at the top whom do the least work when proportionally examining their pay. For instance, the CEO of Sears for instance is driving that company into the ground and is being paid millions of dollars a year. Ruining that company is the only thing he is "working hard" to achieve. Just by reading peoples posts on this page I can see why America is in decline, we are losing the educatio battle badly because America has moved to the right of ALL other westernized nations, and this is a threat to our democracy. I truly fear for the future of this country, but hope for the best. For all those spewing hatred, buy a college level history textbook and read it with an open mind, PLEASE.

[@Mrpastry909]

LBJ did escalate Vietnam. Think of it this way: George W. Bush inherited a military that was taking action against Iraq. His father began the no-fly zones on Iraq, and Clinton maintained them. Yet it was George W. Bush who decided to send combat troops to Iraq. Would you blame Clinton for the Iraq War? I'm a Democrat but I can't stand LBJ. What he did in Vietnam is unforgivable.

[@Mrpastry909]

Also, speaking as a university history major, simply buying and reading a college level textbook does not make one educated.

[@mikefallopian3191]

Mrpastry909 Bad analogy. There were about 20 thousand military personnel in Vietnam when Kennedy died. That's far beyond maintaining a no fly zone.

[@Mrpastry909]

Even if what you say is true, that doesn't excuse LBJ. He put us past the point of no return. We could have gotten out of Vietnam quietly under JFK. JFK is an enigma and it's a miracle he's seen as a good president. His first few years were disastrous (Bay of Pigs) but I think after the Cuban Missile Crisis, his attitude changed and he began to focus more on détente. JFK '63 was not JFK '61. Tragically, a now wiser Kennedy was assassinated by Oswald. LBJ brought us back to MAD and our foreign policy had to wait to be rescued by Nixon.

[@mikefallopian3191]

Mrpastry909 Well, there's no if...it is true. But I have no intention of 'excusing' Johnson OR Kennedy for Vietnam. Both continually escalated American involvement in the war throughout their terms.

[@airdriver]

By this point in his presidency, Johnson was probably regretting running back in 1964. If he just would have served out Kennedy's first term and retired, history would certainly have judged him better.

[@mindspring57]

@whitebread8381 We should not have been in Vietnam in the first place, but once there, we should have made an all-out effort. That was not done. During the WWII, there was a sense of national unity, sacrifice, and commitment that was totally lacking during Vietnam. Instead, LBJ thought he could fight the war and have the Great Society at home. It did not work out. We should never get involved in a war in which there is no national interest at stake or plan by which to achieve it.

[@notthebannerboys]

Consider also... 1. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 which did not allow discrimination in employment or in the use of public facilities. 2. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 which outlawed discriminatory practice that kept blacks from voting. 3. The Civil Rights Act of 1968 which outlawed discrimination for housing. 4. the Immigration Act of 1965. 5. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965.

[@AssinnippiJack]

The bigger they were the harder they fell. LBJ's ambitions both personal & political knew no bounds. A New Dealer who felt ordained to take it to the next level. I read everything I can on this complex man & never can conclude as to what he really was. Almost 50 years later & it may be yet too soon to see if his legacy has truly damaged this nation beyond repair.

[@jeffking3693]

Quite thought provoking considering the current occupants descent into madness as I write this.

[@JedediahSmith1]

Wow, this brings back memories..I was 18 in my last semester of high school..we were watching on my family's new (we got in 67) color TV..after he said he wouldn;t run I turned to my Dad and said....What did he say???. I graduated from school in may 1968, went to Nam..came back...his efforts to stop communism were worthy....his attempts to impose socialism and the welfare state were disastrous

[@unknownkingdom]

Here for a preview of Biden's speech in the next few days or weeks. Didnt think hebwas going to step aside but after the news tdoay that he is discussing it, I think it is a sign of whays to come.

[@Senkino5o]

well thank you sir its mighty fine t'see some recognition erry now and then ;)

[@erics2881]

Just compare this to what we have in 2020. Johnson was my favorite President, but when he knew he had lost the country, he bowed out.

[@lw3646]

He achieved a lot domestically on poverty and equality but was undone by Vietnam.

[@egjohnson7939]

​@@lw3646He achieved the beginning of mammoth debt... forcing his successors (of both parties) to have to attempt to deflect, tap dance, and mop up. Detaching the dollar from gold. Reacting to the oil embargo. Inflation. We are still suffering from Lyndon's terrible decisions. Welfare and War, with no concern for the price (price measured in lives and in dollars).

[@former5-otrustjesuschristo817]

You must be a clown.. like Johnson your favorite president.. Listen to his released tapes… what a clown, talking about his bung hole, burbing like a clown..

[@RedDwagg]

LBJ is our own version of a Greek tragedy. He was president during one of the toughest times in American history and he himself became a causality of the era. When the pain and anger over Vietnam dissipates and the wounds of war starts to heal, I predict his stock will rise

[@curtisjones400]

despite World War 2 ending the depression FDR did to a lot of things to help rebuild America-You can't deny that he was a man of vision

[@chevynut71570]

I couldnt agree more. If there is a hell, he is there.

[@JobberBud]

@kahetel13 Actually I read that he died while partying with Hugh Hefner at the Playboy Mansion, surrounded by young chicks. Of course I read that on Wikipedia, so I can't say it's true. But LBJ was one of the biggest heart throbs in America, next to Randy Quaid and Abe Vigoda.

[@ebone1988]

Even if that was his intention, he still passed the most comprehensive civil rights laws in history.

[@matt2fresh84]

Had LBJ not been so war crazy & got us into vietnam(officially) he would have ranked as an actuall good president imo

[@jeannemariet3803]

I just loved it. The Summer of Love. 1967. When I got the the Haight, I noticed that there was a "Curves Ahead" sign right by a ladies' underwear store. With all kinds of "old fashioned underwear" for full figured gals. Right there on the corners with hippies under it. The sign and also hippies outside of the "fancy ladies underwear store." During the Summer of Love. I was there! I saved my pennies all year long almost. I was between second and third grade and I took a taxi cab from 3909 Churchill Road, Charlotte, North Carolina 28211 to the bus station downtown for the Summer of Love. I told the cab driver that I needed to be at Charlotte Memorial Hospital and then showed him some scribbles that I had made on a paper that said that I needed to meet my Aunt at the bus station and then go to the hospital. The cabbie waited around and there actually was a bus arriving from Chicago...without any of my relatives. So I told the cabbie where I was going and then I took off. My little homely suitcase was stolen my first day in San Francisco at the old Trailways/Greyhound bus station. Then a drug addict ripped off the almost seventy dollars that I had saved up for food and accommodations. So what did I do? I danced and I tripped out on the U.S. government supplied L.S.D. That is right. With the Hell's Angels, no less. And I was dancing and got to meet John Lennon at the amphitheater. He was fighting with George and Yoko and Ringo wanted them to make up. I told him--and the Angels agreed--that I could understand that a band "had its politics." But I added that if he was British--and he told me that I did a pretty good imitation of a British accent when I told him this--that the U.S. had its "political politics too!" I actually tried to give him some lyrics right on the spot for a song about that. I just said that the Summer of Love shouldn't be "hogged by the Beatles' politics, political or otherwise." He asked me what that meant. I said, "Well, if this is the Summer of Love, doesn't Love have a politics too or as well?" He said, "Well said" and gave me a high five. I had never gotten one before and had to be lifted up by a body guard to catch his "hand jive." He actually had some Black Muslims as body guards. That freaked the Hell's Angels out. And they asked me, or one did, "Did you say "hogged" to him because I drive a Harley or because I am an Angel? Because I will kill you if that is the case!." I told him that "hogged" was a word used in the South for taking too much of something. Like attention, which is what I told him that John Lennon wasn't doing any more, but that he seemed to be doing...The Angel with the handlebar mustache, that is. I even visited the limousines of the dignitaries from abroad who had come to see the action....I had already been carted around by the Rockefellers as a baby Native American indigena. Yoko wanted her own indigeno or indigena. Did she get some bad indigence instead? I would say so. Why? Because before the concert in the concrete amphitheater with Black Panthers not allowed in from Oakland, but with the Beatles' and the Queen's own brand of Black Jamaican Muslims coming in from abroad, some of the Rolling Stones showed up and wondered how the heroin was going to be dropped in...For them...And for others? Hmmm. In any case, they did drop lysergic acid or LSD from jets and from helicopters on the crowds not too far from the business district in San Francisco. Years later--the Fall of 1979, to be precise--I read Joan Didion's account of the Summer of Love in the re-release of The White Album. I actually was with Jim Morrison and some of the Doors when she barged in and wanted a press account of what they had to say about the Summer of Love...I was in a basement wondering why all of these good looking people were disappearing in the basement near where I had been going to wash up since the drug addict had stolen my money right when I got to San Francisco not too long before...Did she actually have a leather skirt on and also a leotard as she wrote in The White Album that day? Sort of. There were a few F.B.I. "journalists" there wondering what so many rock stars were up to...A Mick Jagger was down there in the loo. Did I say: "There goes the neighborhood"? No. Somebody else did. I agreed. Because I needed a place to wash! In any case, when the government dropped L.S.D./LSD/lysergic acid onto the crowd, I didn't feel anything right away. So one of the Hell's Angels made sure that I got some of his. And I started to see things as if I had "kaleidoscope eyes." I really did. I asked the Angel if "that stuff..That L stuff..Can it give you binocular eyes? I mean, I think that I can see things like I have a binocular in my head. And then I thought that I could see a grasshopper across the park...And there was one. And I thought that I could see some ladybugs. And some freckles on a black man's face...These people were pretty far away. And I also kept seeing three people in particular as if the binocular in my brain had turned into a kaleidoscope...Did I tell John and Yoko that? No. I hope that the Angels did...I had to take a plane back to North Carolina on the ninth day. I wanted to stay for the whole thing! I heard that the rain came in hard and that it got "hairy" when I left...What a summer! Back to Harriet Bobbitt at the East House Book Store at the Cotswold Shopping Center in the Fall of 1979. I mentioned that if Joan Didion were such an important journalist, that she would surely have covered the 1968 Chicago Convention, which is what they called the fiasco in the Summer of 1968 when the "Old Mayor Daly or Daley" let the Democrats hold their convention in Chicago. Did she? No. How do I know? Because I know. It was pretty wild. I was in the press box at the "old convention hall" and seeing that the Democrats were stupid enough to let Henry Kissinger in. And to have all of the Lady Bird Johnsons and the Lyndon B. and Lyndon and the Lindon Johnsons all in one place. All in one building. During an army coup, no less. I am not kidding. I had to be with Lyndon B. Johnson in an Oklahoma "bunker," which was no bunker at all--it was just as concrete and available as an open target as was the concrete amphitheater during the Summer of Love in 1967--waiting for the U.S. Army to take President Johnson captive. He announced on the radio for all to hear before he "finally gave up" that "our way of life has been renounced." "Our way of life has been frittered away." He announced that fascism was the final "rule of the day." He actually did. Before he was carted away by the Army and taken away in a helicopter.

[@navillus15]

That was a resignation announcement if there ever was one. So, Nixon’s really wasn’t the sole presidential resignation .

[@fluffydanny]

@sandythebear You are so right. Nice to know that there are bright people out there.

[@whitebread8381]

this speech made me respect lbj he didnt want to put up with it anymore

[@mindspring57]

Take a look at the pictures of him before he became President, and you will see how the office aged him. It must be a terrible strain.

[@TruthorDare21]

No, we know he was the one who sent 50,000 troops over to Vietnam, but he was also the one who didnt see an end to the war and no need for the US to keep fighting a war that was not ours. So he was committed to pull all US troops out of Vietnam by the end of 1965..( "it is thir war they are the ones who have to win or lose it JFK 1963" )

[@curtisjones400]

I agree it would be difficult to win in Vietnam with Soviet and China backing but LBJ felt that we could at least try-You have to remember back then the United States believed in "No Surrender No Retreat" Johnson did what he thought was right-and by 1968 he realized that it was a mistake-the man is only human

[@ChrisDutch]

Well, no that's not quite what he said. He said ultimately it was the Vietnamese who would decide to fight the war. Keep in mind at the time the US footprint consisted of advisors only,albeit an increasing presence. Kennedy signed off on the order to start the withdrawal of advisors from Vietnam AFTER Diem was assassinated. That took place after his interview with Cronkite.

[@notthebannerboys]

I think a case can be made that Johnson's was a revolutionary presidency in light of the massive changes his legislative agenda brought to the US society. His "War on Poverty" was actually amazingly successful. During Johnson's years in office, national poverty declined significantly, with the percentage of Americans living below the poverty line dropping from 23% to 12%.

[@twofiveb]

Amazing speech in how he articulated the divisive climate in the country at that time without pointing fingers and insulting people that disagreed with him. Healing the divisions in America was more important to him than being right and taking personal credit. He humbly stepped aside and let Americans choose a different path for the country without him being in the way. Personally I have doubts that it is even possible to have the kind of humble leadership that LBJ displayed in this speech that day in today’s political discourse.

[@JamesRichards-mj9kw]

Johnson was unelectable by 1968.

[@barbsterry5466]

Accordingly, I shall not seek and I will not accept a relationship with a women.

[@sugarlanskee8]

Subject gentleman entered politics with $2,000---departed with $16,000,000---over $200,000,000 in today's money. Left a trail of unecessary deaths only exceeded by the War of Northern Aggression.

[@gazork123]

Let's not forget, either, that Johnson himself said that if it wasn't for help from Republicans, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would never have become law.

[@DeedsResearcher]

@SatchmoSings ...and Clinton perfected the art of being dishonorable while in the office!

[@achoiusa]

A house divided cannot stand... LBJ would be rolling in his grave if he knew about today's political scene

[@kissitnow898]

His "great society" was an epic fail

[@jeffking3693]

Look at the smile and the weight lifted off his shoulders right after he says he is not going to run at about 5:07

[@advisory0401]

thank u.

[@wilsonfisk6626]

Johnson made it so obvious that he was reading from a teleprompter, constantly pausing.

[@2_rl_762]

Every president read from teleprompter.The only exception was Richard Nixon,he read from paper, he probably didn't learn to read from teleprompter 🤷

[@ebone1988]

You conveniently left out the part where he wrote and passed the 1964, 1965 and 1968 bills...not to mention how he never "blocked" the 1957 act, as it was still passed. Make sure you actually read a real book about it next time.

[@Bklyn93]

@durblepurpjewglooble His last public speech was at a symposium for Civil Rights--a discussion of how it had come and where it would go, in December 1972. Among the attendees were Earl Warren and Barbara Jordan. He came despite having a heart attack that April and despite experiencing heavy chest pain. He can be seen popping nitroglycerin tablets during the speech. His last interview was with Cronkite ten days before he died and the sole subject was Civil Rights.

[@SSJRanulf]

A fantastic, progressive, and heroic president. Johnson stood for and fought for the poor, weak, and oppressed in America. The Vietnam war is a dark stain on his legacy, but it should not define him alone. Lyndon Johnson is one of the absolute greatest presidents in United States history, certainly since WWII, while at the same time having a failure in his ability to understand and handle Vietnam properly.

[@loyaldude10]

+SSJRanulf LBJ was too complex to state that.

[@SugarloafMountainFilms]

+SSJRanulf Idiot. LBJ killed Kennedy.

[@LonelyAtTheTop79]

+SSJRanulf Considering that Vietnam set the course for modern American foreign policy, I think it should absolutely define him. The Democrats and nation as a whole are still recovering from the damage LBJ did with his recklessness and refusal to listen to the American people. Without his massive failure, we would not have had Nixon, or Reagan, or the Bushes. He had good intentions and did some good things but overall he was one of the worst Presidents ever and literally ruined the country over his own ego.

[@DoubleJ1203]

SSJRanulf Apparently you have no clue who Hubert Humphrey was or what he did.... He was the chief architect for most of "LBJ's" domestic accomplishments, and was the real, true champion of the black man, the poor man and the working man.... His shot at the Presidency was ruined because of LBJ and his association with LBJ.... Johnson was a power hungry war monger and a horrible human being.

[@dannyd1572]

He was a great President overshadowed by a war that was not his own. Stared by Eisenhower..ended by Ford. Should be noted that the entire time LBJ was trying to put an end to it, it was stalled by Nixon and Kissinger. This was later found out to be true later on.

[@nujac321]

"He was also one of the most racist men who ever lived." Ever heard of Roger Wilkins? He was Assistant Attorney General under Johnson, one of the highest-ranking blacks ever to serve in the executive branch up to that time.

[@dmoneytron]

One of the best president's of the US in terms of domestic policies in the second half of the 20th century. If it wasn't for Vietnam he would have been remembered as fondly as FDR. RIP.

[@youngarchivest9092]

I agree.

[@Mark-sj3xb]

FDR ‘s presidency was an abject failure until the war happened. The war is what saved his presidency.

[@curtisjones400]

AMEN TO THAT-VERY GOOD POINT

[@QCMAN44]

I think both JFK and LBJ did things that helped America. I just hope we as a nation will learn from our mistakes in the past and continue to be" a stronger nation and a more just society" . Remember, we shall overcome.

[@salvadorealiberto]

I agree that he botched Vietnam. But, we really need the spirit of this speech. Today.

[@nujac321]

"And a huge racist." I bet not has huge as George Washington.

[@sfcbjs1]

that Great Society is the cause of many problems we suffer with today.

[@curtisjones400]

I think Kennedy made the right choice in calling thier bluff (Soviet Union) and wait and see if they really would plant missiles in Cuba-If he had acted before they placed the missiles in Cuba-if could have started a WW-3-like you said there was never any real danger so Kennedy called thier bluff and played the wait and see game

[@tarom123]

He did it today

[@mindspring57]

@whitebread8381 I am fine, thanks. Glad you found the information useful.

[@douglaz74]

LBJ treated Hubert Humphrey like trash. When Humphrey made suggestions about Vietnam LBJ shut him out for about two years. He told some one that he had Humphrey's body part in his hands.

[@TheJMascis666]

Doug Characky I suggest you read the state department report from the 3rd April 1968. It kinda makes your comment look dumb.

[@trainguy7276]

I thought he had like a deep voice.

[@tekaha7152]

Is this the dude who lost Vietnam war?

[@Woozler554]

You could say that. He bungled it up very badly.

[@clarkclifford2927]

The US had no right to be occupying South Vietnam in the first place.

[@matt2fresh84]

valid points you made, however with that being said LBJ was already popular in washington and with the american people because of his domestic policies & the way he ran the show. im sure now in hindsight he perhaps would been one of the best ever to be president had he NOT gone to war. That war was defining in terms of the number of overall deaths and drugs being introduced & etc.

[@cripplehawk]

"Johnson told someone that the Great Society was his beautiful lady and the Vietnam War was the ugly bitch." He had his misgivings on the Vietnam War since 1964. When he called Senator Richard Russell and talked about it

[@Mrpastry909]

LBJ did a lot of good and a lot of bad. He nailed the final nail in the coffin of racial injustice. However, he started Medicare and Medicaid, not knowing the disastrous consequences they would have on future generations. As for Vietnam, he was unlucky. We won in Korea, and Korea is regarded as a good decision. Vietnam, if successful, would've been taught as a war of liberation. Sadly, his combination of shortsightedness and bad luck brought him down.

[@dpludwig]

and not to mention... he suffered a major heart attack years before assuming the presidency three in his lifetime i think

[@eternalbadluckcharm]

Yeah, that Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 really harmed African Americans. Seriously, your comment deserves nothing but mockery.

[@harveycarter9627]

Is that why he blocked the 1957 Civil Right Act?

[@archbishopnicholasacresocr429]

His heart was bad

[@SatchmoSings]

@MrMoneyclip8565 That's precisely the point. While the times that Johnson was in office were times of challenging authority (the sexual revolution is one example) Johnson was the man who clearly brought the office into disrepute; prior to his being in office, most people never would have said "Fuck The President." Indeed, Eisenhower and Kennedy would never be referred to in such terms. Johnson, however was and with good reason; read the books on him by Robert Caro.

[@muaddib878]

No, our involvment started with Truman.. Johnson pushed for and got approved the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution; which authorized the use of military force

[@BeefDurka]

he was the most important president in the history of civil rights aside from lincoln

[@ebone1988]

He NEVER blocked it. It passed. It may have been watered down, but it passed. The first civil rights bill passed since Reconstruction.

[@katherinesparkes6860]

Imagine trying to shut down the government during LBJ presidency because a senator did not like his legislation.