Hey, Hey, LBJ…
An archive profile of Lyndon B. Johnson, US President between 1963 and 1969, a period that included both the passing of the Civil Rights Act, and much of The Vietnam War. The piece reflects on a change in the relationship between Americans and their President in times of crisis that was seen in Johnson’s time in office. He writes of Johnson’s predecessor – “to the day of his death Kennedy could have commanded the virtually unanimous support—even fealty—of the nation in a foreign crisis, a summit setback, a missile confrontation. In the jargon of the time, “bipartisanship” would have seen to it that the people “rallied around the President” while “politics stopped at the water’s edge.” In crisis, people would have trusted—even expected—him not only to do the right thing, but to know the right thing.”