Lyndon Johnson

Johnson’s Presidency comes at a striking inflection point in US history. People are living through a time where there is an incredible movement with enough momentum to force meaningful legislation to finally end Jim Crow, as there is also declining party polarization taking place in Congress and throughout the country (besides the sturdy minority of southern Dixiecrats). At the same time, the looming threat of a nuclear attack had never felt greater, and Johnson took office a day after the country witnessed President Kennedy’s assasination -- all on camera for everyone to see. The stakes for how the country progresses from here have never been higher, and Johnson, the Central Texas raised Democrat, surprisingly emerges as a strong and thoughtful successor.

It is difficult to truly measure the longstanding impact and value of Johnson’s domestic policy achievements throughout his Presidency. This episode of Unpresidented details just how extraordinary they were and the critical role Johnson played in moving those laws through Congress, which were without question some of our most important -- such as the Civil Rights of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Somehow, Johnson’s failures still rise to completely overshadow his accomplishments by the time we get to 1968, as his handling of the Vietnam War destroyed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. How do you evaluate a President like Lyndon Johnson, then, when his actions in office were both extraordinary and catastrophic? We dive into that complicated question, and person, who’s legacy can still be widely felt in 2021.

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