Lyndon B. Johnson, A polarizing figure; The “Great Society” besides The Vietnam War
When a president comes into office following the death of the previous President, whether the death was accidental or not; the new elected president finds himself or herself in that shadow of that person. The position of vice-president is not an easy one in American government and politics. The position is one that the vice-president feels second to holder of the office of president. The vice president is part of the cabinet from the essence of the president’s term, yet the political agenda and decisions are ran by the president. John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson are very much different. When Kennedy was running for office, he had a need for southern and
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Kennedy was young, Handsome and filled with Energy. Kennedy’s was a great loss for America. On November 22, 1963, Lyndon Johnson assumed the office of the President of The United States of America. Johnson was not as charismatic as Kennedy yet, he showed confidence that he could lead the nation. Johnson did have experience in politics, prior to being sworn into office as Vice-President he was a senator. His experience will be in great demand in his brief tenure as president as he would acquire a long list of problems he had to tackle such as the civil rights of African American’s, health care; and his own political quest called the “War on Poverty”. Lyndon B. Johnson believed that he a duty to fulfill, for the sake of the United States of America and for the former President John F. Kennedy. Lyndon B. Johnson had many …show more content…
Just like other previous of his ideas and goals, Johnson wanted to succeed and win the war. Major legislations he passed in 1965 allowed him the freedom to increase American involvement in Vietnam. Kennedy had a policy which pulled combat troops out of Vietnam however, when Johnson assumed office he reveres these policies. Johnson was a strong believer in the “Domino Theory” which says if one country fell to communism another country will; therefore Vietnam could not become a communist nation. Not everyone believed in the Vietnam War, the war was between two ideologies, Capitalism and Communism, both of which had supporters and opponents. Johnson’s justification of being in Vietnam was that it was America’s mission to bring democracy to the world. Vietnam was not a success, and it was probably one of America’s political and military