used the legacy of lbj to broaden out the conversation. what do you think the key policy agenda that the president introduced in addition to just the race facet of civil rights, where he mentioned immigration prominently? is he trying to broaden out this conversation? he talked about more con sit wensys too. he said lbj was a great man because he tried to deal with the most fundamental problems, like poverty, education, whatever the cost. there was an interesting reference when he was talking about the advisers that told him not to do civil rights at the beginning of this presidency because it might be too costly. obviously what he was thinking of himself is his advisers in his own presidency who said don t do health care, it will be
as it is but also by reimagining the world as it should be. this was president johnson s genius. as a master of politics and legislative process, he grasped like few others the power of government to bring about change. lbj was nothing if not a realist. he was well aware that the law alone isn t enough to change hearts and minds. a full century after lincoln s time, until justice is blind to color and education is unaware of race and opportunity is unconcerned with the color of men s skills, emancipation will be a pro clamation but not a fact. he understand laws couldn t accomplish everything but he also knew that only the law
could anchor change and set hearts and minds on a different course. a lot of americans needed the law s most basic protections at that time. it s dr. king said at the time, it may be true that the law can t make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me. and i think that s pretty important. [ applause ] passing laws was what lbj knew how to do. no one knew politics and no one loved legs lating more than president johnson. he was charming when he needed to be, ruthless when required.
too difficult for you to do. but the other thing is that, remember, he said the office the office humbles you. he described himself as just a relay swimmer in the currents of history. very interesting, and very different from his own talk about presidential leadership from the beginning. but there is one thread that runs throughout, i think, president obama s thinking that was there today, which was essentially presidents can t do it all. john kennedy sent a civil rights bill to congress. lbj did the same thing with the voting rights bill. but those things would have been impossible without fair-minded people, both african-american and otherwise, of the grass roots demanding that these things be done, pressuring presidents to go where they might not otherwise have gone. ben, he didn t go into policies specifics, though he did allude to voting rights specifically. yesterday on this program, they
historian, michael beschloss, an authority on that legacy question. michael, i ll start with you while we re hearing this powerful performance. lbj is a dif isive figure. do you think this is a opening to recast his legacy? no question. the johnson people hope very much the next few days particularly for a generation of americans who doesn t know much about lbj, to make sure that at least these people know what he did not only for civil rights but education and poverty and did a lot to create the world we re living in. but the other part is for those who are old enough to remember vietnam, it s still a complex legacy. how could the person who did such wonderful things domesticically on vietnam in some cases make decisions that don t stand up that well today. i think one of the challenges for two-term presidents, they don t have the chance to double back on divisive issues in a second term.