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Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon were presidents during one of the most turbulent periods in American history. Both grappled with significant social unrest and the question of whether to continue involvement in the Vietnam War. Although these two presidents faced similar problems during their presidency, their presidential style and approach to these problems was fundamentally different.
However, Johnson and Nixon shared a willingness to mislead the public and their associates in order to pursue their own course of action. Johnson and Nixon had fundamentally different presidential styles which explains much of the differences in their approaches to domestic and foreign policy. Johnson had a grandiose and domineering political style which he learned in part from his father who was a local politician in Texas. He was gifted at persuading people to his point of view, often relying on heavy-handed tactics that have been referred to as The Treatment. The Treatment included: supplication, accusation, cajolery, exuberance, scorn, tears, complaint, the hint of threat... Its velocity was breathtaking, and it was all in one direction.
Interjections from the target were rare. Johnson anticipated them before they could be spoken... Mimicry, humor, and the genius of analogy made The Treatment an almost hypnotic experience and rendered the target stunned and helpless... (Dallas). Johnson used deception, charm and coercion to achieve the support of persons with very different opinions.
Achieving political consensus was something Johnson did well, and he sharpened these skills while serving as a U. S. Senator from Texas. Although Johnson sought to control the actions of those who were necessary to achieve his will, he also suffered from a deep-rooted neediness, a desire to be liked by everyone, to outdo his predecessors, and to be known as the best president in American history.
He always wanted the approval of his advisors and the American public, and he viewed criticisms of his policies as personal attacks which led him to double his resolve and intensify his efforts. Johnsons modest upbringing and exposure to crude, wheeling and dealing Southern politics influenced his style and caused him contempt for those with pedigreed backgrounds. He was also influenced heavily by his exposure to poverty and discrimination in the South, particularly while teaching Mexican-American children in Cotulla, Texas. These experiences and his desire to be needed and praised gave him a strong desire to help the least advantaged in society. Nixon, like Johnson, was heavily influenced by his middle-class background ground.
He grew up assisting his father with running a grocery store in Los Angeles. Because his family was not wealthy, he was not able to attend Ivy League colleges, and as a result, Nixon was tormented by a feeling of insecurity and by a need to prove himself to those of the privileged class throughout his political career. Although both Nixon and Johnson shared a need to prove themselves, Nixon was not comfortable with traditional political methods as was Johnson. Whereas Johnson had a larger-than-life political style, Nixon was shy and shrank from the limelight. He was awkward and uncomfortable in front of people, and many described him as stiff. While Johnson was a master at persuasion, Nixon was uncomfortable with glad-handling and pressing the flesh. (Wicker 24).
Rather than relying on these extroverted tactics to prove himself, Nixon believed in the power of discipline and in unceasing effort. Nixon felt that he could overcome the snubs and slights of the privileged class by excellence [and] personal gut performance, while those who have everything are sitting on their fat butts. (Wicker 9). Nixon was introverted and self-reliant. Whereas Johnson used persuasive tactics to build a consensus among his dissenters, Nixon shunned the help of his advisors and cabinet members, and instead contemplated issues privately in isolation. The differences in character between Johnson and Nixon influenced the course of their policies. Johnsons domestic policy was characterized by massive social legislation and a desire to effect sweeping reforms of Americas social problems.
Upon taking office in 1963, Johnson took advantage of the aftermath of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy to push for the passage of civil rights and economic legislation that Kennedy had supported. Although Johnson had not always supported this legislation, viewing it as political suicide, he recognized the opportunity that the emotional reaction to Kennedys assassination created, as well as the need to present himself as a leader to the mourning nation. He employed the expert consensus building skills that he had learned as Senate Majority Leader, and within months after taking office, ensured the passage of the Civil Rights Act, the Tax Act of 1964 and the Economic Opportunity Act. The Tax Act enacted a tax cut during a boom economy to enhance spending and production, while the Economic Recovery Act focused on training those who were unemployed and problems such as health, education and medical care that affected the poorest Americans. However, Johnsons desire to outshine those who came before him led him to define his own domestic policy that was not tied to Kennedy.
In typically grandiose fashion, Johnson announced to the country his vision for a Great Society in which all Americans would enjoy equality, freedom and economic prosperity. After he was reelected in 1964, Johnson ensured the passage of more social legislation than occurred even during the New Deal. This legislation had ambitious goals and resulted in the creation of federal aid to education, medicare, housing subsidies to low income Americans, Operation Headstart, new mental health facilities and aid to urban mass transit. Johnson was obsessed with greatness and with solving all of Americas problems. One White House correspondent wrote that Johnson viewed himself as a great popular leader, something like Franklin Roosevelt, except more so, striding over the land and cupping the people in his hand and molding a national unity that every President dreams about but none is ever able to achieve. (Chafe 245). Because Johnsons vision was so large, however, it led him to settle for less than the most effective solution.
He was concerned with his image as a great leader which often led him to place a greater emphasis on propaganda than carefully thought programs. In the end, Johnson spent more time creating the illusion of unity and consensus then addressing the underlying tensions and divisions that American society was grappling with. Furthermore, the resources and attention that his programs would have required to be successful were increasingly diverted to the war in Vietnam. Despite the fact that Johnson had devoted more energy to social problems and to bringing Americans together than had any other American President, his presidency ended in the midst of great social protest and upheaval. His presidency saw the emergence of a strong civil rights movement, anti-war movement and womens rights movement. Ironically, although Johnson desperately sought to achieve unity, his presidency ended in the midst of divisiveness and civil unrest.
Johnson had attempted to be known for achieving consensus and unity amongst all Americans despite their differences. Although Nixon appeared to share this vision when he promised to bring the American people together... to bridge the generation gap... to bridge the gap between the races during his presidential campaign, during his presidency he exploited the divisions in American society to achieve a political power base. (Chafe 384). Nixon sought to appeal to those Americans who were by the rapid changes in American society that were reflected by Johnsons policies as well as by the growing civil unrest. When Nixon was campaigning for president, he promised law and order and claimed to speak for the forgotten and silent Americans. (Chafe 383).
Nixon catered to these Americans in his domestic policy by attacking liberal programs. Although he actually achieved the passage of significant progressive social legislation, including welfare reform, strict environmental laws, and consumer protection legislation, Nixon's legacy was to begin the assault on liberal ideology that has characterized all subsequent Republican administrations. He criticized school desegregation in the South and instead argued for freedom of choice plans which permitted blacks to choose the school they wished to attend. He attacked the liberalism of the Supreme Court and focused on nominating conservative justices to the Supreme Court. Whereas Johnson desired to win the American people by bringing them together through consensus, Nixon sough to achieve a conservative ascendancy through polarization. (Chafe 387). Like Johnson, how...
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