I wonder if watching how Biden is turning out is sort of like what it was to see LBJ

[dsc]

when he became President. I know the circumstances are quite different to say the least but LBJ was not considered a liberal by any means before he was President. Yet, domestically, he built a modern welfare state almost from the ground up. Medicare, Medicaid, welfare, voting rights, civil rights. Biden, in 45 days, passed the largest, most progressive spending program in my lifetime (I was born in 67). And he did it, unlike Johnson, with a bare Senate majority and the closest House majority in two generations. I expected Biden to be competent. I expected him to try to keep promises. I didn't expect this. In a month and a half he has:

Passed the aforementioned bill, got most of his cabinet approved and is on the way to getting all but one cabinet level appointee confirmed (Tanden lost), got vaccinations up to 2.9 million per day (yesterday) and is on track for 60 million in 50 days. I will say it, this is beyond my wildest expectations. Oh, and he is now saying anyone who wants a vaccine will have it by mid May (that is moved forward from July as recently as three weeks ago). To those who voted for him in the primary, you were right, you were totally right.

[Sancho]

1. I agree...Biden may turn out like LBJ in some ways...

...both experienced politicians with clear agendas.

[dawg day]

2. I hope no Vietnam....

[dsc]

5. yeah he is even working on getting rid of the war authorization from 9/11

[Duppers]

28. That horrible gawddamn war ruined his presidency.

He didn't have to placate the reichwing like that.

[PatSeg]

51. I didn't realize what a progressive president

LBJ was until many years later. At the time, we were so opposed to the Vietnam War, that was all we saw when we looked at him. Even he knew that the war would tarnish his legacy.

[OAITW r.2.0]

3. History will judge.

It will wonder what happened to the American ideal in 2016 when a guy with a cheap slogan could con millions of supposedly intelligent people.

[Blue_true]

37. After that 2016 election, I will never view this country's people the same as

I did before. I saw rising, evil populism sweeping the world and I was sure that we, collectively would turn it back. But, sadly I found that there are a lot of evil people, and people that are angry about their own short-comings and that there are enough of them to destroy the nation, if a larger group is not unified enough to stop them.

[Tomconroy]

4. RFK

I see he keeps a bust of Bobby Kennedy behind him I think in the Oval Office. So maybe that is the inspiration.

[babylonsister]

11. Welcome to DU, and...

that's a good question.

Interesting to note that it is RFK’s bust that now graces the Oval Office, not JFK. A line from RFK’s impromptu speech on April 4 1968 after Martin Luther King’s assassination is said to deeply resonate with Biden and helped frame his inaugural speech.

RFK said “What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness; but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black.”

Opinion piece
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/niall-o-dowd-joe-biden-s-debt-to-the-kennedys-1.4476035

[Tomconroy]

18. RFK

I remember when Bobby spoke in indianapolis the night Martin Luther King was murdered. He quoted Aeschelus on human suffering. There was no violence in the city that night.

[murielm99]

39. He walked the streets In Indianapolis, too.

He had just been to Valparaiso University, where I met him. I was a student there. When he was at Valpo, he quoted Camus on hungry children.

[electric_blue68]

41. Wow...

I was a Sophomore in HS in NYC.

And I was so looking forward to seeing him run in our
NYS primary. I figured I'd go volunteer when it got closer...

But NYS was was about ? 1 - 2 weeks after California...


The pain still is easily evoked even after 53 yrs.
😥😠🤬

[murielm99]

44. I lost my first husband when I was 27.

I am 72 now. When I look at old pictures of him and us together, I remember the good times. I don't cry any more.

When I look at the Camelot pictures, JFK and RFK, I tear up. I don't often admit this.

[niyad]

38. Welcome to our DU family.

[Elessar Zappa]

6. If he keeps this up

he’ll even surpass the Obama presidency, which was the best in my lifetime.

[bamagal62]

20. I've been a Biden fan from

Ages ago. He’s wicked smart and he’s a good person. We are lucky to have him.

[pazzyanne]

25. Same for me.

I was saddened when his previous presidential bids did not pan out, but he is definitely the leader we need for this time! He is more concerned about results for the American people than for his own ego. So refreshing after the last 4 years!

[Ocelot II]

7. Much of what LBJ did was overshadowed by Vietnam, so it's hard to compare.

[JI7]

10. Not really overshadowed for those who follow civil rights

[Ocelot II]

13. Maybe, but what I remember most vividly about those years

(I was in college, so old enough to remember) and about LBJ was Vietnam.

[JI7]

17. I understand what you mean

Like in a general way that's what people think of similar to Bush and the war in Iraq.

But I guess I'm talking more within the context of civil rights itself.

[Ocelot II]

22. Because of Vietnam, LBJ probably got a lot less credit than he deserved

for civil rights legislation at the time.

[soldierant]

36. This is true.

I was in college when he assumed the Presidency, and I certainly remember the Civil Rights stuff. But many don't.

[msongs]

8. my memory is LBJ having lots of democrats in congress nt

[JI7]

9. I think LBJ is a better comparison in some ways than FDR

becsuse his agenda include social rights issues.

FDR comparison is more on the global issue of the pandemic where FDR of course had WW2.

So both are worth studying.

[Hortensis]

12. Both were what they genuinely were when elected, never what

lying schemers on both right and (typically hostile, radical) left convinced victims they were.

Btw, seriously, only those so ignorant they could be easily fooled, and to whom the slanders appealed (which they really should examine in themselves), didn't know Biden is a lifelong progressive liberal. God knows his five-decade record was available to all.

[dsc]

16. My biggest fear with Biden was he believed that stuff he was saying

about how the GOP would behave if he won to the point that he wouldn't be willing to pass a bill like this without any support from them this early. I don't think that was an irrational fear even though it turned out to have been wrong.

[JI7]

19. I think that was more about his being aware of how people viewed him

and how the media reports things.

[Hortensis]

21. Imo, though, no one should ever have. Why would any of us know more

about what what they were than a man who saw daily for 40 years what was happening to the GOP and then lived under constant, scorched-earth barrage for eight years as Obama's VP? Not to mention all the rest of his battle-scarred career combat soldiers? They lived this daily.

Biden speaks of what they should be because he's trying to rebuild a working government, and that has to include teaching those who may be elected and those who elect them what that means. You don't raise a child to be a responsible adult by telling him he's scum and refusing to talk to him. Nor do you allow him to get away with behaving badly. Same principles.

[Wounded Bear]

14. In fairness, much of the Civil Rights prelim-work was done under JFK...

in many ways, LBJ was just fulfilling JFK's legacy on that one. Admittedly, Johnson rammed it through with a lot of strong arming of Congress critters and Senators, which he was noted for throughout his career. His prior contacts from when he was Senate majority leader didn't hurt.

IAE, Joe Biden is setting his place amongst the greatest Dem presidents of the modern era. Just on this, his legacy is pretty secure.

[Blue_true]

34. President Biden can end up as one of the great Presidents in history.

Even beyond Covid, the issues on his plate are huge (immigration, rebuilding the western alliance, rebuilding the economy and pointing it to the future, reversing climate change). There are enormous policy issues for him to deal with, historic issues, including the fate of life on Earth (climate change will end life as we know it if not enough is done to corral it - the Earth will be fine, other plants and species will arise after we are gone).

[electric_blue68]

42. And part of JFK's growing understanding was after...

RFK had a meeting with Black Civil Rights activists of their time who really laced into him about the Adminstration not doing enough.

[Demsrule86]

47. I disagree...facing reelection, I do not believe Kennedy would have pursued it.

Also, Johnson knew the Senate...he was successful because of this, and he knew where all the bodies were buried.

[jorgevlorgan]

15. Absolutely Incredible

[Joinfortmill]

23. Joe is going to be one of our greatest Presidents.

Guaranteed.

[BadgerMom]

24. My parents loved JFK.

My dad was Catholic. My mom was the same age as JFK. I was only in elementary school in Nov. 1963, but we were all devastated by his assassination. Nonetheless, I remember the two of them talking about what a masterful politician he was, how well he had run the Senate. They knew he’d be able to get things done because he knew the ropes.

Even in 2018, as my friend and I discussed potential Democratic candidates for 2020, I thought one of the reasons Biden would be a good choice was his career in and knowledge of the Senate and its policies. I hope there are many more victories ahead.

[mzmolly]

26. I supported him early on.

He has surpassed my expectations as well.

[Blue_true]

30. I was initially for Senator Warren.

But once she faded, I jumped on the Biden wagon before the Iowa Caucus and never got off, even when things looked bleak before African Americans and Allies in South Carolina totally changed the race.

[pnwmom]

27. Biden PLUS Schumer PLUS Pelosi. They all deserve the credit.

And I still remember when a certain group of new young progressives wanted to topple Nancy, as soon as they started their jobs.

What a tragedy that would have been.

[Elessar Zappa]

48. It was actually the blue dogs

who voted against Pelosi's leadership. AOC and other progressives ultimately voted for her.

[pnwmom]

53. Yes, ULTIMATELY. But I remember when AOC was on the dump Pelosi team.

Until Pelosi changed AOC's mind.

But on her first day of office AOC held that protest outside of Pelosi's office about climate change -- as if Pelosi didn't care about that.

Also, she gave an interview to the Intercept (of all places) saying that Pelosi and Schumer should both be dumped, except she couldn't think of anyone better.

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ believes the Democratic Party needs new leadership, telling The Intercept in an interview that it’s time for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to go. But the left, she said, currently has no plan on how to fill the subsequent leadership vacuum.

“If you create that vacuum, there are so many nefarious forces at play to fill that vacuum with something even worse,” she told Jeremy Scahill during an interview aired Wednesday on Intercepted this week.

https://theintercept.com/2020/12/16/aoc-nancy-pelosi-needs-to-go-but-theres-nobody-to-replace-her-yet/

[Blue_true]

29. I am one here that see LBJ as accomplishing more good legislatively than FDR.

FDR did come along when the nation was in great peril (Depression and nazism), I believe that is the thing that has him surpass LBJ. It is more appropriate to compare President Biden to LBJ, but the way that President Biden handles the Covid crisis may give him a historical boast over LBJ.

[electric_blue68]

43. What I didn't know until about mid '00s was that FDR...

proposed a Second Economic Bill of Rights.

Acknowledging that it might have not reached African-Americans since I didn't know till years after what history I was taught about him -that he was quite rascist...

It's quite an amazing document, which because he died never got to Congress.

[Blue_true]

54. FDR was racist toward Japanese, Jewish people and maybe American Indians

(though for American Indians, most all presidents were racist). FDR’s position toward African Americans was more “out of sight, out of mind”. He didn’t risk anything to better the lives of Blacks, Truman did a lot more in that area.

As a young man, FDR was a White House staffer for Woodrow Wilson, who was definitely very racist toward Blacks. So that experience may have impacted how FDR approached the issue of civil rights.

I had an uncle who got conscripted into the Army near the end of WWII. He was very young and didn’t see action in Europe, but he did have to guard some German prisoners. He talked a few times about how they got treated better than him. Our shared history has some wonderful chapters, but it also has some tragically sad and morally empty ones also - that is why the Trump effort to re-whitewash our history was so insulting.

[Jarqui]

31. I think Joe is quite different as are the circumstances

I've always liked Joe but I never thought he'd get off to as good a start as he has.
I think it is the best start of any President in my lifetime.

I'm not going to spend much time on LBJ. They were very different men. I like Joe much better.

I think the circumstances Joe inherited are frightening and far worse than what LBJ had to deal with. The hole Joe is in might be too deep to dig out in one Presidency.

Our discourse is absurd. We're debating "any lie goes" and the media seems to get suckered like a troll sucks in a poster. Very dangerous for the democracy. Many people do not have a sound grip on what is going on because of all the misinformation.

It's going to be a real challenge to overcome that. Joe cannot do it alone.

[George II]

32. I'm in my 70s, and as far as getting important bills passed LBJ was the best I've seen....

Biden is working on being the second best and perhaps even the best once we're finished.

He didn't spend 30+ years in Congress twiddling his thumbs and concentrating on minutia, he's BRILLIANT!

[BobTheSubgenius]

33. It was also a different world back then.

You just didn't get the personal look into their lives then. That would have shown a big difference. LBJ was a crude, plain-spoken, "don't give a damn what you think about what I say" Texan. Mr. Biden is obviously almost the exact opposite of that. Urbane, well-spoken, thoughtful, considerate.

He's a statesman, where LBJ was a bulldozer in a nice suit. Whether either could have succeeded in the other's shoes is difficult to even speculate over, let alone know.

[PatrickforB]

35. Well, he has exceeded my wildest expectations for him, that is sure.

He may prove a transformative president, and that is what we need.

[sandensea]

40. Yes - except I think we can count on Biden to not be hoodwinked into some quagmire war

LBJ would have been a great president- had it not been for Vietnam.

[Demsrule86]

45. Thank you. I always believed he was the right guy for the job. I used to say Biden was

a perceived moderate and was really more liberal than people thought.

[Paladin]

46. Like LBJ---minus the daily anti-war demonstrations. (nt)

[karynnj]

49. Bigger difference was that in 1963 through 1964, Democrats had 66 Senators

After the 1964 election, he had 68 Democrats.

This is deceptive as many were Dixiecrats, but he still was far from a 50 Senator situation where even under reconciliation, he could not lose one Senator. (Obama had 4 months when he had 60 Senators and was in a similar bind passing things that had to be under regular order.)

This is not to discount LBJ's abilities, but today's polarization did not exist then. In fact, BOTH parties had liberals (think Jacob Javits), moderates and conservatives. Read anything on the passage of the civil rights bill and you find many terrible Dixiecrat Democrats who went against LBJ and many Republican Senators who led in supporting what was a bipartisan bill.

Edited to add that Biden's team and the Democrats in both houses did an amazing job in putting together a landmark bill that will likely be seen better and better in retrospect. (ie it really could impact poverty and income inequality which has become progressively worse since the 1970s.) Biden really was the right person for this time. (I voted for Biden in the VT primary, but even with the politician I admire most (John Kerry) making a very strong case for Biden, I went back and forth between Warren and Biden.)

[dsc]

50. I voted for Buttigieg

my first choice didn't make it to even Iowa. I would have voted for Inslee had he been more viable.

[karynnj]

52. I really liked Inslee and Buttigieg as well

Had Inslee still been in, I might well have voted for him. I really did not get why Cuomo got far more praise than Inslee on covid - other than the media being in NYC. More importantly, he was great on environmental issues.

My biggest concern with Buttigieg, who is brilliant, is that it is a huge jump from mayor of a small college town to President.