And then we had one of the finest presidents in the 20th century go down on account of the Vietnam War which was a legacy all leaders believed was necessary post WWII to fight communism. It’s a tale we shouldn’t forget; that a really good president can be brought down by one bad but really bad decision.
You are referring to Lyndon Johnson, of course, but it wasn’t just one bad decision - it was an escalating string of them all in defiance of a growing awareness (see the Pentagon Papers) that we were engaged in a war we couldn’t win and probably should never have gotten involved in in the first place.
Had Johnson’s legacy been his civil rights agenda, yes, he would have gone down as one of the great ones. His long and thorough preparation for the job was probably one of the best ever. But as in classic tragedy, his own somewhat chaotic and contradictory character was his undoing, and his pursuit of the war and the lies he and other told in its defense left a legacy of distrust in the government that lingers and increases to this day.
Bill Katz. Yes that is list of terrible leaders, but they won elections. It is an indictment of us.
And then we had one of the finest presidents in the 20th century go down on account of the Vietnam War which was a legacy all leaders believed was necessary post WWII to fight communism. It’s a tale we shouldn’t forget; that a really good president can be brought down by one bad but really bad decision.
You are referring to Lyndon Johnson, of course, but it wasn’t just one bad decision - it was an escalating string of them all in defiance of a growing awareness (see the Pentagon Papers) that we were engaged in a war we couldn’t win and probably should never have gotten involved in in the first place.
Had Johnson’s legacy been his civil rights agenda, yes, he would have gone down as one of the great ones. His long and thorough preparation for the job was probably one of the best ever. But as in classic tragedy, his own somewhat chaotic and contradictory character was his undoing, and his pursuit of the war and the lies he and other told in its defense left a legacy of distrust in the government that lingers and increases to this day.
Yep.