The Life And Accomplishments Of Lyndon Baines Johnson

Lyndon Baines Johnson had numerous accomplishments ranging from the Great Society legislation to the Vietnam war and the Immigration Act of 1965. Johnson’s first a major accomplishment came in the form of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Johnson’s knowledge and experience as a legislator pushed him into a more direct involvement in constructing winning coalitions and he was also able to attract southern voters for the Civil Rights Act of 1964(4). Johnson’s legislative mastery was useful in engineering a bill that satisfied both moderate Republicans and liberal Democrats. He had to use his experience as a legislator because without these two coalitions he would not have been able to get the act passed. Further, Johnson’s experience as a legislator and as a political animal led him to convince Hubert Humphrey and Everett Dirksen to unite behind his bill (5). Through a culmination of his legislative experience and his method of leadership Johnson was able to form coalitions and convince high ranking leaders to back the Civil Rights Act of 1964. However, Johnson was not done with the

Prior to Johnson, FDR, Truman, and Kennedy had all attempted to pass Medicare. However, Johnson with a combination of legislative intelligence and a majority in both houses was able to get it passed. As Wilbur J. Cohen former secretary of Health, Education and Welfare has said, “I think that of the four of them, certainly President Johnson was a more successful manipulator of the legislative process than any of the other three.” The true mastery of Johnson that came from the Medicare bill was the way Johnson was able to retain the support of organized labor and overcome opposition from the American Medical Association. Johnson’s experience as a legislator and master manipulator provided him with the experience and knowledge to get legislation passed in the face of opposition.