Lyndon Baines Johnson (1963-1969)

Might have been the force behind much needed social programs in US, but he was almost certainly beholden to his military-corporate kingmakers. Should probably have been a Republican...

May have been involved in the CIA coup to assasinate JFK.

Poor Johnson, the guy went threw hell during his presidency. He did do more for civil right, but his legacy will always be tarnished because of the vietnam war.

Lyndon Johnson did more for civil rights, tackling poverty, healthcare, education and the environment than any other president.

His political career is one of the most cunning, ruthless, charming, despicable and admirable in American history. Possibly the most natural politician to occupy the Oval Office, he may have been the greatest moral chameleon to be president as well. While his presidency features some accomplishments, the list of failures, even disasters is far longer. A fascinating man, but not a good president.

Look past the Vietnam War for a moment and look at all of his domestic accomplishments of the Great Society- Civil Rights (Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965, Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Fair Housing Act)), Healthcare (Medicare, Medicaid), Immigration Reform (ended racist quota system), Education Reform (federal funding for elementary, secondary, and higher education), Consumer Protection (Fair Packaging and Labeling Act, Truth-In-Lending Act, Motor Vehicle Safety Act, creation of the National Transporation Safety Board), Transportation (Department of Transportation, mass transit funding), Environment (conservation/preservation, emissions standards), Culture (National Endownment for the Humanities, National Endownment for the Arts, historical preservation, Public Broadcasting Act- PBS and NPR)...and so on.

If any one thinks his Viet Nam policies and Great Society policies were good, tell me to raise the rating. I remember him well and he still makes me shudder.

Although the ethics of the Vietnam war (anti-Communism and the 'domino theory') are perfectly valid in my book, sadly the execution was somewhat of a farce. He will always be remember as one of America's greatest villains because of the Vietnam affair. Luckily, Nixon cleared the mess up as well as he could, but the US' reputation was never the same.

I am quite glad to see him so low. Vietnam was such a pointless war and so many people died for a vain cause.

The government is still paying off the debts during his administration, as far as I am concerned he was a useless president who prolonged the Vietnam War.

A President who was so awful-and I believe crooked- that we are still paying for his garbage, directly and indirectly, to this day.

Another disastrous president, Lyndon Johnson was a crude, corrupt, self-aggrandizing man responsible for the calamity of VietNam; the Civil Rights bill is not enough to save his presidency, and he was a spendthrift as well.

Lyndon Johnson was a larger than life figure brought down by the Vietnam War. His major legacy was to put the federal govt. on the side of blacks, the poor, and the oppressed. He proclaimed the Great Society. The last half of his presidency floundered because of the war. LBJ wisely bowed out of the 1968 election. His VP Hubert Humphrey ran and lost because he was tarred by the war, resulting alas, in the election of Richard Nixon.

More like a weak three or 2.5 for LBJ Passed many of the programs of the slain JFK- and brought the nation together after that horrible event- However, lied about Vietnam, increased our involvement to the point of 500,000 troops, expanded government without accountability for his 'Great Society' The LBJ years where the peak of 'liberalism' It might be said we have reached a similiar point with conservatism, with Corporations now expected to totally carry the economy. Again this is over reaching, with pension plans being phased out and healthcare access becoming limited. The so called 'ownership' society is fine for those able to compete- But the diminishing number of safety nets is becoming eerliy similiar to the guilded age (late 19th century) and the era before the crash in 1929- when both eras where followed by progressive legislation. We will in all likelhood could begin a swing back to the left- LBJ abused power as Bush 2 has done, and despite his laudable attempt... Read more

Prolonged America's involvement in Vietnam, promoted anti-communism.

Maybe 2 1/2 stars.We on the right castigate this galoot for the welfare state but it was really FDR(Franklin Da Red)that started all this tax and spend liberal horse manure...all Lyndon did was expand FDR's stupidity a little.An arrogant,obnoxious man.No class.Did,ironically try to help the downtrodden.Did well by blacks(unlike that racist idiot FDR)Vietnam was a disaster that he mishandled.Itwasnot an unjustified war.He made a mess out of it.

He lied so bad him and his pal Mcnamara, pocketed a bunch of tax dollars while letting inocent troops die for no reason.

Paid a big political price in supporting civil rights legislation - a sign of real political courage. Unfortunately, this is outweighed by the stupidity of dragging us into the Vietnam war - a civil war in a country (as history has shown) that was no real threat to us.

a 2 because he kept us in a war that did not need to be fought.

Sure got a lot of my generation killed for nothing

The Civil Rights Act was a reaction to the changes that had already happened in society. And of course, Iraq is Republican for Vietnam.

The Great Society was a dismal failure as Johnson took the failed programs of FDR and expanded them which made more people dependent on government. His mishandling of the Vietnam War--a righteous cause--cost thousands of men their lives. LBJ is easily one of the worst presidents in US history. Only Carter and Jackson come off worse on my list.

People from Texas should not be elected President. Nuff said.

He was a rude angry man who destroyed everything for everybody.

Great Society entitlements enable those who shirk individual responsibility. The mathmatics will catch up, just as it did in the Soviet Union. LBJ's legacy will be the destruction of our great nation.

if you leftist liberal commies want to talk about a war we should not have gotten into, it was VIETNAM! Oh, but you dont care about the 58,000+ that died for nothing, because a Democrat got us into that one! He'd be a 1 if not for signing the Civil Rights Act in 1965(correct year?)

He was a power hungry egotist who had 58,000+ heroes killed for nothing. The only good thing is that he took the cowardly way out, by not running again. History will judge him for what he didn't do, and I hope God has already.

LBJ is actually a bit difficult to rate. He would not have become president if not for the Kennedy assassination, and probably wouldn't have been re-elected if not for the country still reeling from that tragedy. Johnson said he would not take us full force into Vietnam when running for his own term, and one of the first things he did once elected was take us full force into Vietnam. Although I rate him low, I will add that some strides made in civil rights might not have happened if not for some of his actions.

Domestic=Good Foreign=Bad

Credit his domestic achievements. He's a great man; passed 'da Civil and Votin' Rights; did wut he could to help 'da underdog.

Great Society has led to a generation of people living as welfare slaves, burdened the government budget with ridiculous, bloated programs impossible to kill, high taxes that killed the postWWII boom, and has led to the total destruction of the black family/society. Micromanaged Vietnam into an inevitable defeat. Only good thing was going against his party and his political base to take a leading role in the Civil Rights Acts.

How do you vote Truman #5 and LBJ #30 something? You are mad at him for Nam, yet he was only following the Truman Doctrine. Yes, I am against Nam, but there was at least precident for this attack and he was following a doctrine. Bush today is engaging in a war without precident and based on his own doctrine. If you justify giving LBJ a 1 or a 2, then you have to do the same for Truman. It was Truman's policy. Also, he had the support of the entire country for a while, especially in getting civil rights and liberties for everyone. He, unlike his namesake Andrew Johnson, had a great relationship with congress. If he wanted something done, he got it. Of course he was flawed, but he at least made his mistakes on precident and a policy our country was following. You might call me a hypocrit as I rated Kennedy low for this same reason, but I found it cowardice that he sent people to their death in a sneak attack backed by lies. LBJ at least did something. Whether it was enough or too much, i... Read more

He would have been a good President if he hadn't listened to some VERY bad advice to openly attack Vietnam.

The failed Great Society flushed trillions down the toilet. Completely bungled the Vietnam situation.

All LBJ's war on poverty accpomplished was creating (for generations now) a class of people who know only how to survive is by welfare. This will not change easily because without this welfare class the Democratic Party would not be able to elect a dog catcher

Like the current jerk-in-chief, LBJ is yet another Texas turd. I'm being generous giving this conservative-in-Democrat's clothing two stars. A terribly unrefined man who got lots of Americans (and others) killed, to no good end. I'm sure good people come out of Texas, too, and maybe someday Texas will put someone decent in the White House. They need to make serious amends for LBJ and GWB.

Responsible for 58,000 American deaths in a war that had no reason whatsoever.

Extremely underated, due to Vietnam. SOCIALISM WORKS, REPUBLICAN OLIGARCHY DOES NOT.

LBJ was not responsible for affirmative action; that was a Nixon program. He was however responsible for ending segregation as America new it. He also, cut poverty in half with Great Society programs, which despite reputation were largely succesful. Did escalate Vietnam, but war had reached point of no return once Kennedy authorized Diem's removal from power (which ended in Diem's death, as Kennedy knew, or should have known, it would). Idea that he was behind Kennedy's assasination is beyond idiotic; no proof has been produced, and while LBJ was not above getting his hands dirty he never went beyond graft and the occasional electoral chicanery (both of which Kennedy was also quite guilty of). Has been slandered so Kennedy could be sainted, and is due for a reevaluation.

Hardest president of all to rate. I find the evidence convincing that he was behind Kennedy's assassination in order to avoid jail for dirty dealing back in Texas. I think this is the key to his presidency. He needed to keep plenty of pots on the front burners to avert a too close examination of Dallas. He had been lukewarm toward civil rights in the 1950's, but now championed Kennedy's bills and also medicare and the war on poverty. The left was assuaged by all this action and kept the blinkers on concerning Oswald and Ruby. Johnson had been against intervention in Vietnam in 1954, but now sent in hundreds of thousands of troops. The right would not be keen on exposing a wartime commander-in-chief as a murderer. The country as a whole was suspicious but did not have the stomach to face the truth. How did it all clank out? An historical disaster in Vietnam weakened the economy and deflected energy away from the main struggle with Moscow. Civil rights brought forth a better A... Read more

Another blo-hard scocialist tax and spend Democrat. Always thought he had something to do with Kennedy's demise.Left goverment richer than ever and the American people stuck with more wealth distrubution programs than ever. Had hoped voters would come out of a comma and vote all Dems out of existence--Still hoping!

Should have had a different approach to the Vietnam problem.

Because of LBJ's lies about VietNam, I would crawl to Texas on my hands and knees over broken and crushed glass just for the honor of peeing on his grave.

An omen of Texans to come.

Positive: Civil Rights. Negative: Vietnam. 'Nuf said.

His corruption and misguided policies have done incalculable damage. The civil rights legislation was done more for political purposes than a genuine desire for equality. (Lenny Bruce once did a comedy skit saying how Johnson could not pronounce the word Negro without turning it into a racial slur) Credit for the civil rights act should actually go to John Kennedy. It was because Kennedy was so well liked that Johnson (up for election against Goldwater in '64) seized the opportunity to pay tribute to the slain president, knowing in that vein, the legislation would pass in spite of the Dixiecrats who still opposed the idea. Probably the most colorful aspect of Johnson's presidency were his home spun sayings. My personal favorite is when Johnson was trying to convey that someone was not very intelligent, he said He couldn't pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were printed on the heel.

Do you know why nasa mission control is in Houston? Because lyndon was from texas!

Gosh, where do we start? Expanded America's role in Vietnam, with hundreds of kids, many of whom draftees, dying every week. Fought the war half-assed, as LBJ failed to let the generals do their job as he micromanaged the war to an absurd degree. 40 years later, The Great Society programs and The War on Poverty are a joke. I travel to Philadelphia periodically, and LBJ's policies haven't done a damn thing for that city as well as many others. LBJ's big government solutions didn't work; the state and local governments should be utilized to solve social ills because they know the problems of their constituents better than bureaucrats in Washington who go yachting on the weekends. Not to mention that it's not constitutionally mandated. As for LBJ the person, I think he assumes the throne for worst person to become President. Intimidated people, serial philanderer, held meetings with staff while wiping his butt on the can, and fought a war with no clear vision for his entire term. ... Read more

Horrible. Sent soldiers into Nam for no reason, and more for his politcal gain. Also, he is the brains behind Medicare, Medicade, and other social spending programs, which ARE NOT required by the Constitution, and are a waste of tax dollars. He did do one good thing. He was one of the very few Democrats who supported the Civil Rights Act.

A mixed bag. King of the wheeler-deelers while in the Senate, but watered himself down when he attempted to be all things to all people when he became Chief Executive. Johnson accomplished more for the sake of civil rights than any President since Lincoln, and for this he should be highly respected. His Great Society programs, although flawed at times, displayed vision, proactive thinking, compassion and reasonableness, which is considerably more positive, intelligent and responsible than what the current administration affords. He did screw up in Viet Nam, but this is owing to three factors beyond his control: (1) he inherited a very suspect military misadventure initiated by that senile old idiot Eisenhower that Kennedy attempted, much to the disfavor of rightwingers and WWII generation hawk pinheads, to curtail; (2) he was ill-advised by that amalgam of yahoos, incompetants, punks and sabre-rattlers known as The Pentagon High Command in regard to the Gulf of Tonkin incident, the ... Read more