Presidency of LBJ

Robert Caro, Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer of President Johnson delivers the keynote address in the Kennedy Library's ongoing examination of 20th century presidents. He is joined by Jack Valenti, who served as Special Advisor to President Johnson; Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times writer Anthony Lewis; and Boston University historian Bruce Schulman to discuss President Lyndon Baines Johnson's legacy. Harvard University historian Lizabeth Cohen moderates the discussion.

[@MBBurchette]

I’m not sure what’s more impressive: Caro’s meticulous research, or the vibrancy of his prose. He truly brings history alive. This talk was given sometime early in GWB’s 2nd term (‘04-06). His prediction regarding how momentous the changing of Senate rules would be is proving prophetic in 2020.

[@vernpascal1531]

His books on LBJ have gotten progressively worse. His whitewashing LBJ on The Warren Commission, and supporting Oswald Acting Alone is absurd, and extremely dishonest.

[@Prof_Tickles92]

@@vernpascal1531You don’t know more about LBJ than the man whose spent 40+ years writing about him. The man who has one a Pulitzer for one of his volumes

[@jimmycricket5366]

​@@vernpascal1531That's disappointing. It is so obvious that if LBJ didn't spearhead the JFK event, then he at least cooperated in it.

[@IsiahBradley]

He uses both opening jokes in this one! LOL!

[@roccorubino6288]

Mr. Caro's legacy will be one that he is remembered as being the greatest historian of our time. His LBJ bio is the gold standard for all historical research. Truly a giant among mere men

[@MrSteveblue824]

Very interesting perspectives by the different speakers on a number of topics!

[@891156]

The opening joke is great !

[@wally1452]

At least you got something from this guy, trying to make one our most crooked and evil leaders into a great figure. B.S.. I did not get anything but how this book will indoctrinate many who seldom know how to seek out the (few) and most truthful and corroborated volumes. Caro spent his life sadly...4 fat volumes of his hero LBJ. I wonder how many read it.

[@evanarroyo1384]

@@wally1452 his books are spectacular. Also his books aren’t one sided. They show his flaws. The books literally paint him as a vicious bully, what do you mean?

[@DavidMFChapman]

@@wally1452 your characterization of Caro is way off the mark. Have you read any of his books?

[@jimmycricket5366]

I didn't bother to listen, was it Johnson displaying his pennis to reporters or bragging about its size, or was it about the name he told everyone he gave it; "Jumbo".

[@gmont5082]

Naturally talented people rise early... But Im realizing more n more that most people dont find their calling till they reach their mid to late 30s and early 40s....

[@buckchesterfield8886]

Hope you’re right!

[@winifredatwell3982]

Anthony Lewis - one of the most clear sighted and significant journalists in modern commentary

[@davidlevine7738]

A self hating Israel bashing Democ-rat Party hack! One of the lowest forms of life in the 20th century.

[@tatuloa]

For the behemoth influences of America s Defence industry within the Senate .. He traded green lights in Vietnam , for support and passage of his civil action bills . The war was America's first multiracial military and slaughter anyways , a fair enough horse trade ... LBJ was never lead anywhere by any military type ... that would be absurd , considering what we know now ... what a Guy ..

[@bt10ant]

This talk is circa 2006.

[@TheJohnnyCalifornia]

The basic model of the American government follows principles of the Roman Senator and Consul Marcus Tullius Cicero who laid out the flaws of each form of government of his time. The Monarch (rule by one sovereign person) could devolve into brutal Tyranny. An Aristocracy (rule by elite nobles) could devolve into avaricious and oppressive Oligarchy (rule by and for the wealthy). Democracy could devolve into Mob Rule. Therefore, he proposed that a republic should have all three so that each one would be checked by the other two. In the American model, the president represents the monarch. That office's power is held in check by a Senate ( representatives of the Aristocracy = the Wealthy in America) and that body is held in check by the House of Representatives (representative of Democracy = the Middle Class). However, throughout history, the indigent have been left out of any real participation in power. That's what motivated Johnson to overcome racism. He knew that any legislation to help African Americans or Mexicans would also help poor whites as well even if the poor whites didn't want it.

[@joeyfotofr]

Proper analysis of Cicero of the Founders and the motivation of LBJ to fix America where she fails. Were it not for the folly of Viet Nam, America dould be is a much more democratic and functional place today, Spot on...jt

[@2000Betelgeuse]

I totally identify with this guy's initial opening statements.....I also prefer to almost anything to be researching at a desk somewhere.....

[@RichardWilliamLawson]

@ 22:34 how the Senete is supposed to be seen

[@mybobalu2]

This guy always talks about other subjects than the ones listed. I really wanted to hear more about LBJ.

[@Brother_Jack]

Caro went far too easy on Johnson. I think his politics doesn't permit him to tell the full truth about the monster the man really was.

[@richmont8198]

If you really believe that you’ve either never actually read his books or you’re incredibly dense.

[@RakeeshJ4]

For one thing, he’s not done with Johnson. He’s still got at least one mammoth book left to go, which will concern itself in large part with Vietnam. For another, even before Vietnam he very thoroughly and unflinchingly shows Johnson behaving terribly, spitefully, cruelly, maliciously. From his college blackmail and election theft, to cheating his senatorial win, to his dirty political money, to his destroying political rivals, to his utterly shameless manipulation and groveling, on and on, well… Your point is silly.

[@jimmycricket5366]

Yes he had to 'make nice' for life with the LBJ library whilst perusing millions of documents there for his series of books.

[@johnnash9419]

Domino theory: How would China & SE Asia today be different had we not fought in the war? Was domino theory clearly wrong?

[@lukesmith1818]

Hindsight showed the domino theory incorrect but it must have seemed logical at the time. First China then North Korea turned communist. Plus Korea ended in a ceasefire. I'm sure the pressure was on for lasting peace

[@wally1452]

Of course it was wrong. I saw that when in my 20's while I studied Russian history, read how FDR got us set up in Vietnam in 1945...to make sure our Corporate.CIA and Military run nation kept perpetual wars, costing trillions now-a-days to carry on, and later full throttle with the joyful atomic bomb lover Truman, Ike, etc... JFK was turning that around (in his words, press conferences, several times in 1963, Oct, KZbin...JFK press conferences) and yet the evil who are in power & academia still lie to the not caring public that JFK was going to stay in Vietnam.

[@Professor_Taiga-Vanguard]

The L in LBJ stands for Lowrider. watch 'em wheels spin, dawg.

[@tonym994]

"W" stands for "where was I?"

[@jimmycricket5366]

The B stands for Butcher and the J stands for JFK-assassin.

[@patrickvernon4766]

One of the worst presidents If not the worst

[@TSmithDesign1]

Since Johnson's signature legislation has been in place, improvements have occurred. But would someone please explain, that since Johnson's signature legislation, why have the rates of divorce skyrocketed, births out of wedlock, broken families, the dramatic decline of the public school systems all gone in the wrong direction? I like Robert Caro. He's a good guy. But he formulates his descriptions very carefully to paint the favorable image of a president - a picture Robert Caro has in HIS mind - in order to convince others to marvel at that same 'picture'.

[@joeyfotofr]

Right wing analysis of social change pretends that right-wingers have a solution to social problems. It is as foolish & unrealistic as your absurd analysis of Robert Caro when your description of his work makes it absolutely clear that you have NEVER read one of his books.

[@brotherb5747]

Caro sold out to Lady Bird in return for full access to the library. Johnson was the only man on the planet with the means, motivation and opportunity to green light the assassination - then be in position to cover it up. He was controlled by the Texas oil & military Industrialists who subsidized his political career.

[@queenvrook]

We've known for centuries that the fact that B follows A, doesn't mean that A caused B. The changes you describe were already under way before Johnson became President. Divorce rates were already rising; please remember that Ronald Reagan himself was a divorcee, from Jane Wyman, already in the 1940's. And she was the one who filed for divorce. Divorce rates began rising, because years of women working in the factories of WWII created a permanent shift in the expectations of women, first that they would be able to make their own money, then that they could have careers other than teacher / nurse / secretary. Nothing Johnson ever did was intended to open up economic opportunity for women, but once they had alternatives to putting up with an unpleasant man, they started divorcing. Finally, if you say Caro paints an overly favorable view of Johnson in his books, you just revealed that you've never read them.

[@HeydenHarvey]

Probably because you couldn't divorce back then, married the wrong guy? Unlucky, deal with it, it's not your choice the leave the relationship. Too bad both parties have embraced neoliberalism too, unions? Capitalism is the companies game, workers are just tools, not people. Wonder why leftist economic policies such as keynesian economics and unionization went down as soon as a lot of modern problems we see today?

[@mikelezcurra810]

LBJ made generations of Americans permanently dependent on government. Thomas Sowell talks at length about the diminishing rates of poverty, illiteracy and criminality in black communities, which sharply reversed in the 1960s. Too many people forget that LBJ had spent decades opposing civil rights legislation proposed by republicans. By the way, a higher percentage of republicans voted for the 1964 civil rights bill than democrats.

[@joeyfotofr]

Crackpot corporate nonsense to feed the racism of white people, who have never missed a meal in their lives. This is the argmument of those who approve of the obscene wealth inequality in America at the same time the snivel about a minimum wage and condemn labor unions as "communism." This is economics for fools who can't do math. The power of these arguments are the reason wages have not risen while wealth has - because fools vote for politicians who give tax cuts for the rich while they let America's infrastructure rot.

[@christianmartens3578]

Yeah but in those days there where liberals in the republican party ....those don't exist anymore today

[@Beastmode73060]

Yes around that time most blacks were republicans and had conservative views. Even before being able to vote they lived a traditional lifestyle. Lbj literally said by doing this we will exclusively have the black vote for the next 100 years and that has proven true so far.

[@nightowl5475]

Yes, Johnson created an entire block of needy, lazy and crime ridden Americans that demanded reparations for an injustice that occurred a century before their time. Before Johnson, the black family was intact and strong. Civil rights doesn’t mean special rights. And thanks to people like Johnson, the black community still haven’t recovered to this day.

[@linjicakonikon7666]

LBJ assisted in the assassination of JFK according to Roger Stone. I agree with Stone.

[@REMONSTER]

Valenti needs to go gentle into that good night...soon,

[@70galaxie]

Every president since LBJ has done great good, a bit of evil and been brought down by a small thing

[@ripred42]

Uhhh, no. Just to start out with, the bad far outweighed the good in Bushs administration.

[@buckchesterfield8886]

Well that’s just a totally empty statement.

[@jeffhubbard4688]

ha, that sounds like a Trump quote. There's nothing in it but words. Here's a word - Watergate.

[@jimmycricket5366]

​@@jeffhubbard4688Watergate was a tiny offence, a joke.

[@davidlevine7738]

Caro loves the filibuster when it comes to preventing conservative legislation and judges from getting through the Senate but hates it when it prevents liberal legislation. He's two faced

[@jeviosoorishas181]

I guess liberal legislation consists of Civil Rights eh?

[@mikelezcurra810]

@@jeviosoorishas181 Which democrats had opposed for nearly a century

[@joeyfotofr]

Then everybody is "two-faced." How many exceptions has the GOP made to the filibuster rule. I believe there should be an exception to the filibuster when it comes to voting rights. Frankly, I believe those who oppose the equal right to vote are traitors to America as are those who lie about an election the the liar Trump lost in 2020, after having had over 50 chances to prove it in court yet have NEVER presented any evidence that stood up to light.

[@lukewarme9121]

Which is why one should read history books keeping in mind the author’s political bias. Caro is an example of this.

[@lmtb1234]

You’re really over simplifying the fact that the liberal legislation that the filibuster was preventing millions of people of color from participating in US democracy in a meaningful way. Or maybe you just don’t see that as important which shows a lot about you.