He came to power in 1963 as a result of a shocking, tragic assassination. He left power in 1968 amidst similar circumstances. In those five years, however, no President attempted more than LBJ except, perhaps, FDR and Abraham Lincoln. Although he lacked Kennedy’s charisma, he
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carried forth JFKs ideals by putting an end (at least legally) to discrimination and waging a war on poverty heretofore not seen. His Achilles heal, of course, was Viet Nam. His landslide victory over Goldwater in 1964 signaled to boomer teens that he would be THE man to confront the difficult issues of our time. And whether one agrees or not that he was successful or a good President, LBJ certainly was at the center of controversy during the height of the 60s. Caught between his own party’s left wing who wanted the U.S. out of Viet Nam altogether, and the right wing who wanted to use nuclear weapons and end the war, LBJ dropped out of a second elected term and called it quits.
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