The Johnson Treatment......

Dave and I visited the LBJ Library the other day...a first for us. I really had no pre-conceived ideas....but it was a wonderful place. The building itself, the way the exhibits explained the Johnson legacy. I learned so much and appreciated this President so much more when we walked back out into Austin’s sunshine.

I was in high school when Kennedy was assassinated......and then off to college where I paid zero attention to politics, with the exception of the all consuming Viet Nam story. Then we got married, graduated and went on to start our adult lives....which included trying to figure out how to raise our son.

So as we slowly moved through the museum’s hallways and rooms I began to have some understanding of just what happened during LBJ’s term in the oval office. There were quotes that made me stop....

“To deny a man his hopes because of his color or race, religion or place of his birth is not only to do injustice, it is to deny America and to dishonor the dead who gave their lives for our freedom.”

He declared “unconditional war on poverty” and he, his advisors and a bipartisan Congress passed many bills and tried lots of different ideas.

A few statistics really hit me.....when LBJ took office, 25% of the population did not have a high school education, 20% were living in poverty. Those citizens 65 years and older? 33% of this senior population was living in poverty. He signed the Medicare Bill in 1965 saying “No longer will illness crush and destroy the savings that (older Americans) have so carefully put away over a lifetime.”

And another quote “The beauty of our land is a natural resource. Its preservation is linked to the inner prosperity of the human spirit.” He signed a bill admitting immigrants from anywhere in the world based on their skills and family ties in the United States. He believed that good government could be a force for positive change and a protector of the people.

And then there was “There are no problems which we cannot solve together, and there are very few which any of us can settle by himself.”

I learned that LBJ was the consummate negotiator.....he knew how to bring people together and get things done. He could persuade people to his point of view.....by getting up close and personal. His almost irresistable power of persuasion was known as the Johnson treatment.

In 1963 he stepped into the roll of President in the midst of a tragedy......served one term on his own, but did not run for re-election. The quagmire that was Viet Nam made it impossible for him to continue to govern. At the end of the museum’s displays was the following statement: “Lyndon Johnson had faith in the political system and government. In his view, they were sometimes the last hope of the poor, the elderly, and oppressed.”

I re-read this statement several times.......and wondered about today......and the concerns facing our Nation......and the man at the helm......