Lyndon B. Johnson and American Liberalism : A Brief Biography with Documents

by Bruce J. Schulman

• ISBN13: 9780312083519
• ISBN10: 0312083513
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 1994-11-15
• Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's

Summary

Whether admired or reviled, Lyndon B. Johnson and his tumultuous administration embodied the principles and contradictions of his era. Taking advantage of newly released evidence, this revised, second edition incorporates a selection of fresh documents, including transcripts of Johnson' s phone conversations and conservative reactions to his leadership, to examine the issues and controversies that grew out of Johnson's presidency and have renewed importance today.

Table of Contents

Foreword	v	(2)
Preface	vii
PART ONE Lyndon B. Johnson and American Liberalism	1	(166)
1. "The Perfect Roosevelt Man": Young Lyndon Johnson, 1908-1948	5	(29)
From the Hill Country to Capitol Hill	6	(6)
The New Deal	12	(8)
The Best Congressman a District Ever Had	20	(3)
Money and Politics, Texas-Sized	23	(11)
2. Democratic Leader: Senator Johnson, 1948-1960	34	(23)
Shifting Right: Cold War Liberalism	36	(6)
"E = LBJ": The Senate Leader	42	(4)
Becoming a National Figure: The Leader and the Issues	46	(11)
3. "Let Us Continue": LBJ and the Kennedy Legacy, 1960-1964	57	(24)
The Vice President	59	(3)
Years of Frustration: JFK and the Liberal Agenda	62	(3)
"Let Us Continue": The Transition	65	(10)
President in His Own Right	75	(6)
4. The Great Society	81	(23)
Johnsonian Liberalism	82	(5)
Chief Legislator	87	(7)
The Not-So-Great Society: Implementing LBJ's Program	94	(5)
Assessing the Great Society	99	(5)
5. Shall We Overcome? LBJ and the Civil Rights Revolution	104	(21)
"We Shall Overcome": The Voting Rights Act of 1965	107	(4)
Fire in the Streets	111	(3)
A New and Bewildering Stage: Toward Affirmative Action	114	(7)
LBJ and Civil Rights	121	(4)
6. "That Bitch of a War": LBJ and Vietnam	125	(30)
"A Fat, Juicy Worm": The United States and Vietnam, 1945-1963	128	(5)
Americanizing the War, 1963-1965	133	(5)
"Lyndon Johnson's War"	138	(5)
The Credibility Gap and the Home Front	143	(6)
"No More Vietnams"	149	(6)
7. Dumping Johnson: The Decline and Fall of American Liberalism	155	(12)
Guns, Butter, and Stagflation	156	(3)
The End of the Johnson Era	159	(8)
PART TWO The Documents	167	(80)
8. Perspectives on the Great Society	169	(23)
1. "Let Us Continue": LBJ's First Speech as President	169	(4)
Lyndon B. Johnson
Address before a Joint Session of the Congress, November 27, 1963	169	(4)
2. Launching the Great Society	173	(4)
Lyndon B. Johnson
Remarks at the University of Michigan, May 22, 1964	174	(3)
3. A Poverty Warrior Defends the Great Society	177	(8)
Joseph A. Califano, Jr.
How Great Was the Great Society?	178	(7)
4. A Historian Critiques the Great Society	185	(4)
Allen J. Matusow
From The Great Society: A Twenty-Year Critique	185	(4)
5. Poverty: The Statistical Record, 1960-1990	189	(3)
Census Bureau Table: Persons Below Poverty Level	190	(2)
9. Racial Conflict and the Civil Rights Revolution	192	(21)
6. "We Shall Overcome": The Voting Rights Speech	192	(6)
Lyndon B. Johnson
The American Promise: Special Message to the Congress, March 15, 1965	193	(5)
7. A New Militance in Black America	198	(2)
James Farmer
"We Must Be in a Position of Power": Address before the CORE National Convention, July 1, 1965	199	(1)
8. From Civil Rights to Affirmative Action	200	(8)
Lyndon B. Johnson
"To Fulfill These Rights": Address at Howard University, June 4, 1965	201	(7)
9. War at Home and Abroad: Martin Luther King, Jr., Opposes the Vietnam War	208	(5)
Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Beyond Vietnam": Speech at Riverside Church Meeting, April 4, 1967	208	(5)
10. Vietnam	213	(20)
10. LBJ Outlines His War Aims	213	(7)
Lyndon B. Johnson
"Peace Without Conquest": Address at Johns Hopkins University, April 7, 1965	213	(7)
11. The Decision to Escalate--1965	220	(6)
Jack Valenti
From A Very Human President, July 1965	221	(5)
12. We Can Win in Vietnam: Hawks Criticize LBJ's Strategy	226	(2)
James Burnham
"What Is the President Waiting for?" June 28, 1966	226	(2)
13. The Student Left Opposes LBJ	228	(5)
Paul Potter
"The Incredible War": Speech at the Washington Antiwar March, April 17, 1965	229	(4)
11. The End of Liberalism	233	(14)
14. LBJ Insists on Guns and Butter	233	(2)
Lyndon B. Johnson
Annual Message to the Congress on the State of the Union, January 12, 1966	234	(1)
15. The Liberal Coalition Breaks Up	235	(12)
Peter Schrag
The Forgotten American, August 1969	235	(12)
APPENDICES	247	(12)
An LBJ Chronology (1908-1975)	247	(6)
Suggestions for Further Reading	253	(6)
Index	259