Dan Balz: Johnson's Legacy, Today's Democratic Race
When Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton meet Thursday night for their critically important 90-minute debate, they will do so in an arena not far from the Lyndon B. Johnson presidential library, the marble-sided mausoleum-like structure that houses the documents and memorabilia from the 36th president's tumultuous presidency.
In the Democratic presidential race, Obama has cast himself as a latter-day John F. Kennedy, summoning the energy and glamor of a new generation politician to add luster to his own campaign. Clinton has embraced the Johnson model, if not the Johnson presidency -- effective if not inspirational, master of the system, and perhaps resentful of her younger rival's rhetorical gifts....
Johnson still occupies an uneasy position within the Democratic Party and in the eyes of history. He is revered by many Democrats for his domestic focus on outlawing discrimination and creating the Medicare system. Those Democrats want to see Johnson elevated to what they regard as his rightful status. But he is still reviled by some for his prosecution of the Vietnam War, which tore the country apart during his final years in office and which ultimately drove him out of office.
As Johnson and Kennedy biographer Robert Dallek said Thursday morning, Iraq has reminded anti-war Democrats and others of Vietnam, to the detriment of Johnson's legacy. "Johnson is still dogged by the defeat in Vietnam and leading us into an unwinnable and unpopular war," he said. "The Democrats don't want to go there and embrace him."
But Dallek also noted that the very possibility that Obama could emerge as the Democratic presidential nominee would represent the fulfillment of all that Johnson did to advance the cause of civil rights and racial progress, despite the risk to his own party, during the 1960s.
"In a sense, it's quite fitting that this debate between a woman and an African American should take place next to Lyndon Johnson's library," he said. "In that sense he would be delighted."
Dallek makes another interesting comparison between the old rivalry between Kennedy and Johnson and the current competition between Obama and Clinton. "Johnson assumed in 1960 that his experience, his leadership in the Senate, his ties to all the principal leaders in the Democratic Party would be sufficient to propel him to the nomination," Dallek said. Kennedy instead went out and ran in the primaries -- there were only a handful then -- and persuaded party bosses he should be the nominee.
Clinton began with the same kind of inside connections as Johnson, while Obama had few. Instead, he has sought to prove himself through the primaries and caucuses, running everywhere he can. She has selectively competed, to her detriment, and now finds herself fighting to hold what establishment support she has long enough to demonstrate enough popular appeal to slow Obama's momentum.
It's not likely that LBJ will be much mentioned once Thursday's debate gets going, but it would be useful to hear both Obama and Clinton talk about his presidency and how his experience has influenced their own views of the office. His Great Society was a proud moment in Democratic Party history, only to become a symbol of government's failures and overreaching. ...
Read entire article at WaPo
In the Democratic presidential race, Obama has cast himself as a latter-day John F. Kennedy, summoning the energy and glamor of a new generation politician to add luster to his own campaign. Clinton has embraced the Johnson model, if not the Johnson presidency -- effective if not inspirational, master of the system, and perhaps resentful of her younger rival's rhetorical gifts....
Johnson still occupies an uneasy position within the Democratic Party and in the eyes of history. He is revered by many Democrats for his domestic focus on outlawing discrimination and creating the Medicare system. Those Democrats want to see Johnson elevated to what they regard as his rightful status. But he is still reviled by some for his prosecution of the Vietnam War, which tore the country apart during his final years in office and which ultimately drove him out of office.
As Johnson and Kennedy biographer Robert Dallek said Thursday morning, Iraq has reminded anti-war Democrats and others of Vietnam, to the detriment of Johnson's legacy. "Johnson is still dogged by the defeat in Vietnam and leading us into an unwinnable and unpopular war," he said. "The Democrats don't want to go there and embrace him."
But Dallek also noted that the very possibility that Obama could emerge as the Democratic presidential nominee would represent the fulfillment of all that Johnson did to advance the cause of civil rights and racial progress, despite the risk to his own party, during the 1960s.
"In a sense, it's quite fitting that this debate between a woman and an African American should take place next to Lyndon Johnson's library," he said. "In that sense he would be delighted."
Dallek makes another interesting comparison between the old rivalry between Kennedy and Johnson and the current competition between Obama and Clinton. "Johnson assumed in 1960 that his experience, his leadership in the Senate, his ties to all the principal leaders in the Democratic Party would be sufficient to propel him to the nomination," Dallek said. Kennedy instead went out and ran in the primaries -- there were only a handful then -- and persuaded party bosses he should be the nominee.
Clinton began with the same kind of inside connections as Johnson, while Obama had few. Instead, he has sought to prove himself through the primaries and caucuses, running everywhere he can. She has selectively competed, to her detriment, and now finds herself fighting to hold what establishment support she has long enough to demonstrate enough popular appeal to slow Obama's momentum.
It's not likely that LBJ will be much mentioned once Thursday's debate gets going, but it would be useful to hear both Obama and Clinton talk about his presidency and how his experience has influenced their own views of the office. His Great Society was a proud moment in Democratic Party history, only to become a symbol of government's failures and overreaching. ...