The result was a tax cut that is
largely credited with ushering in an
era of high growth and, of course,
the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Had
Johnson stuck to inside baseball, he
would have struck out twice.
Barack Obama could have
learned something from LBJ. As
a candidate Obama promised to
change the way Washington works
and he rode a wave of global support into the White House. His
first two years in office have repeatedly been compared to the
New Deal under Franklin Roosevelt
and the Great Society under Johnson, with historic achievements on
health care, Wall Street reform and
other domestic priorities.
But Obama’s first term has also
left many of his supporters won-
HUFFINGTON 09.09.12
until the election the next year. A
critical tax cut, meanwhile, was
bogged down in the Senate, where
the Finance Committee chairman
was holding it hostage.
Johnson surveyed the legislative landscape and knew he had to
shake things up.
Rather than negotiate with Congress, Johnson turned the goodwill of the nation into a force with
which to bludgeon the GOP and expand what was politically possible.
He took his case to the American
people, reminding them that the
GOP was the “Party of Lincoln,” and
flooded Washington with religious
leaders who lobbied Congress.
THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION
MANDEL NGAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
President
Obama speaks
during a daily
economic
meeting in
2009 in the
Cabinet Room
of the White
House.