LBJ and Forrest Gump

A week or two ago I watched a biography on Ronald Reagan on PBS's American Experience series. It was very insightful and piqued my interest in learning more about our past presidents - mostly because it helped me to realize how much I didn't know about Ronald Reagan (besides, of course, the famous "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" moment that I learned about in my public speaking class at BYU). Later, while at Costco, I saw that they are selling a box set that contains the "complete" American Experience series of presidential biographies (it leaves out a few, but I think it's a work in progress). Seeing as I didn't have $90 to drop right then and there I decided to turn to my trusty friend the library.

I picked up the program on LBJ and watched all 3 1/2 of it between yesterday and today. It was so interesting. Here are a couple of things I learned:

- LBJ had his appendix out and couldn't resist showing off his scar to anyone and everyone. I put two and two together and realized that the scene in Forrest Gump where Forrest shows LBJ his bullet scar was probably an homage to that little piece of history.

LBJ showing off his sweet surgery scar

- Do you know the reason why the Vietnam war was "never declared"? It was basically because LBJ pushed Congress to pass a bill called the Tonkin Gulf Resolution based on questionable reports of two North Vietnamese attacks on an American naval vessel in the Tonkin Gulf in an effort to appear tough on Communism before the upcoming 1964 election. The bill was designed so that it basically gave LBJ a "blank check" and free reign to do whatever he wanted, including use the military, to protect US interests in South Vietnam. It passed the house with 100% "Yes" vote, and the Senate with a 98% "Yes" vote. After that he never had to ask Congress for a formal declaration of war or account to them much at all regarding the conduct of the war. Nice.

An artist's depiction of the "Tonkin Gulf Incident"

- LBJ was Senate Majority Leader and was competing with JFK for the Democratic nomination in 1960. He was devastated that a) he lost the nomination to the younger, less-experienced Kennedy and b) that he was then asked to be Vice President, "the worst job in Washington." He also had a tremendous inferiority-complex toward the Kennedys with their Ivy-league educations and posh upbringing. He also hated RFK and RFK hated him. He also hated that he was an "accidental president" and felt like an impostor on the Kennedy throne after his assassination. He felt tremendous pressure to win an election himself and did so in 1964. However, when the 1968 drew closer and RFK announced his intention to run for the presidency, LBJ dreaded the idea that he would be remembered (primarily due to the war in Vietnam) as "the mistake between the Kennedys.

- LBJ won the Texas election that sent him to the US Senate by 84 votes which it was found were likely stolen for him (likely without his approval or direction) by supporters. This doubt about his legitimacy as an elected Senator followed him throughout his career as people called him "Landslide Lyndon."

Precinct 13, the voting box that contained the deciding 84 votes; miraculously, 100% of them were for Johnson

- LBJ was a committed "New Deal" liberal and idolized FDR. In the spirit of the New Deal, LBJ declared a "War on Poverty" and his goal to establish a "Great Society" in which everyone would have the right to medical care (he gave us MediCare), the elderly would be cared for and protected (he expanded Social Security), and that every American had the right to a college education. However, the war in Vietnam, as it progressed and deepened, eclipsed his high ideals as it drew the resources and public eye away from his war on poverty. He hated the war in Vietnam but did not want to be the first American president to lose a war or to embolden Communist aggressors throughout the world. The war lasted another seven years after he left office and officially ended five days after his death. (Watching the history of Vietnam and how it consumed and destroyed this man made it feel freshly tragic.)

- LBJ passed the most significant Civil Rights legislation since Abraham Lincoln. He passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that officially ended legal segregation and the "separate but equal" standard. Then, in 1965, he passed another act that cleared away many of the obstacles placed by Southern States to keep African Americans from voting. However, some Civil Rights activists felt it was "too little, too late" and violent race-riots broke out across the country, from Watts, CA to Detroit, MI. In Detroit alone 34 people were killed as a result of the rioting and arson. LBJ felt very betrayed by these violent activists that undermined his Presidency after he fought so hard for their rights.

Race Riots in Detroit - 1967

Anyway, I've picked up a few more of these videos from the library and am looking forward to learning more about the history of our Presidents (cue the cries of "Nerd!"). One more thing, watching these videos also reinforces in my mind the idea that people have a "my life" bias in evaluating the significance of events occurring now, in their lifetime, compared to those that occurred in the past. After watching the biographies on Reagan, LBJ, and part of Nixon, I have really gained some perspective on just how significant/insignificant many of the events of today are. It's a nice reality-check.