The LBJ Files (Book IV)

Chapter Six-President LBJ-The Later Years

Quote: "I believe we can continue the Great Society while we fight in Vietnam", President LBJ, (August 27, 1908-January 22, 1973)

I

The Vietnam War (1955-75), raged on. And on.

The birth of sexual freedoms, and liberty upon the "Flower Generation", was a false flag. Americans lost faith after President Kennedy's assassination.

US soldiers were murdered, and they came home to angry crowds. They were pariahs in their own country; they were outcasts,

II

Leaders like Malcolm X, (May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965); the Reverend Martin Luther King, Junior, (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968); and Rosa Louise McCauley Parks, (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005), all lead the African-American and Muslim brotherhood, to serve their own Gods in Church services; peace marches; and civil rights campaigns across America.

Bobby Kennedy was part of the white people's stand, and included everyone of color to be educated; to have a job; and to contribute to society.

And, for all the good they did, they were assassinated in bloody violence that send shockwaves through America, as the 1960's ended.

III

November 8, 1960

When Robert and Jack Kennedy saw Joe Kennedy, their father, they spoke about LBJ.

RFK: "Dad, LBJ is a firestorm of hatred for you".

JOE KENNEDY: "Lyndon has been around for a long time. He will be a Running Mate only if you stop the impasse".

JFK: "Then we have no choice. We'll have to do a deal if I want to be President".

And they left their home...and knew that the price they paid was victory...and to make sure they got into the White House without further issues.

And yet, as in other chapters, the Kennedys reign was short.

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IV

The inflammatory rhetoric that came from the Kennedys to LBJ came to ahead. Tip O'Neill was quoted thus:

("The Kennedy men...had a disdain for Johnson that they didn't even try to hide....They actually took pride in snubbing him", unquote); President Kennedy was quoted thus:

"I can't afford to have my Vice President...who knows every reporter in Washington...going around saying we're all screwed up; so we're going to keep him happy", unquote.

And he handed LBJ the job as "Head of the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunities", (in short making sure the Civil Rights movement was on track as the President did Presidential things like going to Berlin, Germany and doing his own job). But JFK's time was up. And, by 1968, so was RFK, when Sirhan Sirhan assassinated him as revenge for the Attorney-General's interference in the Middle Eastern conflict...and "The Six Day War of 1967", between Isreal and Palestine.

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V

About three hours after the JFK assassination, LBJ became President when he was on board "Air Force One", at Love Field, Dealey Plaza.

He held up the Bible, then swore his oath of President of the United States in front of US Federal Judge Sarah Tilghman Hughes, (August 2, 1896 – April 23, 1985); Hughes was one of the most prominent Judges at the highest level of Government thanks to the liberal 1960's, and that women could have high paid jobs in politics...She had previous begun her career as a Lawyer before taking the job to honor the country she loved.

VI

LBJ made good on his word to execute the US Space program. He watched the Russians do it in 1961...Now it was America's turn.

But it wouldn't be achieved until 1969.

In US Congress he told everyone about JFK's legacy:

Quote: "No memorial oration or eulogy could more eloquently honor President Kennedy's memory... than the earliest possible passage of the Civil Rights Bill for which he fought so long", unquote. On November 29, 1963, he ordered NASA's "Apollo Launch Operations Center", (ALOC), to "The John F. Kennedy Space Center", in his memory.

LBJ signed "The Immigration Act of 1965" after assuming the Presidency when JFK was murdered by covert Agents inside the White House, (and other conspirators).

He also signed "The Civil Rights Bill of 1964", and made sure African-Americans had had equal rights, and that she was stronger for it.

The date was: June 2 of that year.

VII

"To shatter forever, not only the barriers of law and public practice, but the walls which bound the condition of many by the color of his skin...To dissolve...as best we can...the antique enmities of the heart which diminish the holder...Divide the great democracy...and do wrong; great wrong; to the children of God", LBJ was quoted as saying.

And LBJ's statement of hope for African-Americans was a continuation of President JFK's dream of a unified country.

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VIII

By 1967, LBJ appointed Thurgood Marshall, (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993), a African-American Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. This paved the way for more African-Americans to be dreaming of Higher Office...and the beginnings of that dream was now turned into a reality.

IX

Earlier in 1964, during "The Summer of Freedom", in which three civil rights activists were lynched by the KKK, LBJ vowed to stop the racial violence, and hate.

With the Revenue Act of 1964; the Economic Opportunity Act;  the war on poverty; The Head Start program, (the help struggling families, led by The Department of Health and Human Services); Work Study, (a Food Study program to help American school students); Medicaid; Medicare; and food stamps.

X

With the Saturn V rocket, the Apollo 1, Apollo 7, and Apollo 8, successes...LBJ stated:

"You've taken ... all of us, all over the world, into a new era".

The date was: January 27, 1967.

By July 16, 1969, LBJ watched the Apollo 11 landing. It was watched by millions on TV. And the Astronauts were famous.

A year or so later, by 1970, Astronaut Jim Lovell and crew, boarded Apollo 13. But, due to some part of the ship falling apart, the accident caused NASA issues about bringing them home safely. And the end of the space race was complete.

XI

Lastly, most importantly, LBJ signed "The Gun Control Act of 1968". Because of the proliferation of armed weapons, it was important to find a way forward before more people died.

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