For you history buffs, today would have been Lyndon Baines Johnson's 99th birthday today. While his presidency was a rollercoaster affair, due largely to his increasingly unpopular support of the Vietnam War (maybe it is a Texas politician thing...), however, he continues to be admired for the the Great Society and his efforts to continue the legacy of John F. Kennedy. He was responsible for designing his Great Society, comprising liberal legislation including civil rights laws, Medicare (health care for the elderly), Medicaid (health care for the poor), aid to education, and a major "War on Poverty".
Johnson eloquently said, "I am concerned about the whole man. I am concerned about what the people, using their government as an instrument and a tool, can do toward building the whole man, which will mean a better society and a better world."
He also said these prophetic words, "We live in a world that has narrowed into a neighborhood before it has broadened into a brotherhood."
Like all presidencies, his was a mixed bag. however, with the distance that time allows, his lasting legacy is still shaping the US politics today.
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