May 22, 2014
Column #1,708
LBJ – The Under-Valued President
By Mike McManus
Fifty years ago this week Lyndon B. Johnson cast a
dream for a “Great Society” that was largely ignored or even sneered at. It was
delivered only a few months after President Kennedy was assassinated, which
elevated him to the White House.
“The challenge of the next half-century is whether we have the wisdom to use
that wealth to enrich and elevate our national life and to advance the quality
of our American civilization…For in your time, we have the opportunity to move
not only toward the rich society and the powerful society but upward to the
Great Society.”
Behind those lofty words was a very ambitious man who knew he had a rare
opportunity to re-shape America. “I never thought I would have this power,” LBJ
told aides Richard Goodwin and Bill Moyers in April, 1964. “I wanted power to
use it. And I’m going to use it.”
In fact, no President had a greater impact on the nation in the 20th Century –
not even Franklin Roosevelt. His New Deal programs created jobs for the
unemployed and Social Security lifting millions of the elderly out of poverty.
However, LBJ’s passage of Medicare for the elderly and Medicaid for the poor was
as important for the safety net as Social Security. His Civil Rights Act of 1964
and Voting Rights Act of 1965 gave blacks an unprecedented ladder of opportunity
which they seized. The Washington Post reports there were only about 300 African
American elected officials before 1965 – but 1,469 by 1970 and more than 10,500
in 2011 – including the President.
LBJ was elected in 1964 in the biggest landslide ever along with huge majorities
of Democrats in the Senate and House. They passed 280 major bills in two years –
the most productive ever.
Major cultural institutions were born - The National Endowment for the Arts, the
National Endowment for the Humanities and the Corporation for Public
Broadcasting. LBJ said the Great Society “serves not only the needs of the body
and the demands of commerce, but the desire for beauty and the hunger for
community.” That’s how we got “Sesame Street,” PBS’ NewsHour and support for a
legion of symphonies and theaters.
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act provided the first federal funding of
public education ever. It was targeted at improving the schools of low income
students. Head Start was launched to give poor kids preschool for a “head
start.” I covered the issue for TIME and regret to say that there was little
evidence that these programs made much difference. More successful were the
first federal grants and loans to college students.
The “War on Poverty” was another ambitious initiative. Results are debated to
this day. The Office of Economic Opportunity funded neighborhood activists who
often fought City Hall, but gave many minorities their first political
experience. It was abolished in 1981. The Food Stamp program remains a major
support of low income people.
The poverty rate is an income of $23,850 for a family of four. Officially, the
number in poverty fell from 19% to 15%. However, that only counts cash income,
not Food Stamps, housing subsidies and the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Malnutrition has disappeared, infant mortality has dropped, and 80% of poor
complete high school and 40% attend or graduate from college. Medicare alone
reduced poverty of the elderly from 35% to 9%.
I was able to interview Johnson in the White House for an hour for a TIME cover
story on John Gardner, who was his Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare
(HEW) assigned the task to implement the Great Society.
It was the most extraordinary interview of my life.
The President said, “I thought for some time we ought to take (Defense Secretary
Robert) McNamara and move him over to HEW, which was a can of worms that needed
management. But then I thought of John Gardner who could manage HEW, but do it
as mama would do.”
I asked him about Dr. James Goddard, who ran HEW’s Food and Drug Administration,
who said many of the drugs being sold were “worthless.” LBJ slapped his knee,
saying “Ain’t that great – going after those fat cat drug companies!”
By 1967 the Vietnam War had escalated, sparking many demonstrations by college
students. Asked about that, he stood up to his full 6’3” height, and said, “I’ve
got these godam generals with their medals hanging off their chests who want to
“Nuke ‘em.” And on the other side, these hippies, with their hair hanging to
their shoulders who say “Bug Out.” He walked a straight line, saying, “I have to
walk between the buggers and the bombers.”
What a man!
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