Happy Birthday, LBJ

[CMT]

Today would have been Lyndon Johnson's 95th Birthday. He was a complicated man who saw his administration crumble due to a flawed war. Yet in his lifetime and his presidency he did more good than many other men who have held that office.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964
The War on Poverty
Aid to Public Education
Medicare
The Voting Rights Act of 1965
Appointed the first African-American to the Supreme Court (Thurgood Marshall)
Aid to public Transportation
Model Cities
legislation outlawing discrimination in housing

The Civil Rights Leader Roy Wilkins once said, "Lyndon Johnson should be remembered as the Greatest president that the poor and the black man ever had. That as I see it is a great achievement indeed."

[RummyTheDummy]

1. He is truly complicated.

I've gone from love to hate to love to hate with this guy. My dad who was in the service during Vietnam loathes him, understandably. I once brought home a biography of him from my school library and was asked to keep it out of his sight. Very polarizing figure.
I tend to lean toward not liking him based on Nam and whatever he might have had to to with JFK's assisination.

[CMT]

3. I honestly don't think LBJ had a thing to do with JFK's assassination

despite Oliver Stone. Even a biographer such as Robert Caro who has written three "warts and all" biographies of the man has said that any suggestion that Johnson was involved in the assassination is pure fantacy. Now a cover-up? maybe. Especially if Castro was involved and he felt that knowledge of this could have led to a third world war--and thus the Warren Commission white wash.

[GOPisEvil]

2. It's a semi-holiday here in TX

For state employees, we get a day off from work, although we are required to keep a skeleton crew to man the office. Those that work get 8 hours comp leave.

[newyawker99]

4. kick

[FuriousMNDem]

5. Amen.

What a great President Johnson was, despite the war.

[RummyTheDummy]

6. "Despite the war"

Uh, that's a pretty big "despite". I'm not sure we should be marginalizing the deaths of nearly 60,000 men and women over flawed decision making. Just my opinion.