Harry Truman 1945-1953 and Lyndon B. Johnson 1963-68 are two of the most memorable presidents in American History. Truman came into power post World War II, a very controversial time in America and the wider world and Johnson came into power after the assination of one of the most famous United States president in American History, John F.Kennedy. Truman and Johnson have many similarities and many differences. They are similar in the way they were both viewed very negatively coming into their presidency. Johnson ws depicted by his towering ego and he was ditrusted by many people especially Liberals, indeed few presidents recieved as much abuse as Johnson. Truman also recieved the same negativity, he was Roosevelt’s successor who was the longest …show more content…
Franklin Roosevelt’s successor after his death, some might say it was quite unfortunate for Truman at the begining of his presidency as Franklin D. Roosevelt was the longest serving president in American history at the time and many Americans could actually not remember who sat in the presidents Office before Roosevelt, they assumed he would be there forever . Trumans main focus in his presidency was foreign policy. Foreign policy was the hallmark of Turman’s presidency even though he was just following Roosevelt’s policies as he did not have a great knowledge in military issues and the outside world. Having just come out of the second World War, America was now the ‘most powerful nation in the world both politically and economically’ . There was massive post war issues that needed to be resolved not just in America but in Europe and the …show more content…
Johnson was John F.Kennedy’s successor after Kennedy was assinated on 23 November 1963 which was a major shock to the public. However Johnson’s critiscm arose from not only the American public but also from his staff, by the late 1960’s stories circulated about his towering ego, his crudity, to the public ‘he was not a very likable man’ . Johnsons main focus was domestic affairs, he could not accept the urgent need for provisions in Foreign Policy. The issues that were on Johnson’s mind were bills such as foreign aid, civil rights, tax reduction, higher minium wage and Medicare . As you can see military and foreign policies were not high up on his list, this was more than likely because of his lack of knowledge of the outside world. The failure of the Vietnam War is what made Johnson one of the most unknowledged presidents in American history in my opinion. In 1965 two years after Johnson’s inaugration America entered a large scale war in Vietnam. Johnson established a bombing progam ‘Operation Rolling Thunder’ against North Vietnam in 1965 that continued to 1968. Johnson just kept sending American troops into North Vietnam by late july 1965 Johnson had agreed ón another deployment of an additional deployment of 50,000 troops to Vietnam and he made all these massive military decisions without having any real military experince himself. Many people
Both JFK and Johnson were highly famous, yet controversial presidents. Elected in 1960 as the 35th president of the US, 43-year-old John F. Kennedy was the youngest man to run in office. As president, Kennedy endured to tense Cold War strains in Cuba, Vietnam and elsewhere. He additionally drove a reestablished drive for an open administration and in the long run gave government support to the developing social equality development. On November 22, 1963 JFK was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. His successor, Johnson, took over as president for a brief period of time. In spite of his noteworthy accomplishments in mainland US, Johnson's legacy was characterized by his inability to lead
Upon Johnson taking office in 1963, after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Johnson forced the passage of civil rights and economic legislation that Kennedy had sustained. Johnson was not always supportive of this bill BUT he foreseen the opportunity to present himself as a leader to the mourning nation. He used skills that he had acquired as Senate Majority Leader and ensured the passage of the Civil Rights Act, the Tax Act of 1964 and the
Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson were both innovative, progressive presidents. Many of their policies were similar, focusing on reform, destruction of monopolies and trusts, and improving conditions of the common American through policy change in Washington. However, both presidents are remembered in different lights and for vastly different reasons.
Many Presidents over the years have shown greatness through their leadership. Each has shown this in their individual way. It takes the ability to deal with whatever may come up, as far as politics are concerned, and handle it with care. Also it takes making a difference in society instead of just settling for the United States being ok as it is. The extra step that some take, separates the normal from the great. Lyndon B. Johnson was one of the Presidents who stood out by taking the extra step. LBJ showed presidential greatness through passing groundbreaking legislation and improving society.
When WWII ended, Americans were left in the hands of Harry Truman. Known as an
President Johnson was a very political man. He made lots of political decisions. Before he became president he was a senator. He was a senator for Texas, Texas was a southern state, they were very racist to african american people. As a senator he had to do what the people of Texas wanted him to do. So he had to pass a bunch of racist things in congress. Doc D
Harry Truman was one of the United States most important presidents. He was the 33rd American president. He took office after President Franklin Roosevelt. At the time of his assumption into office, World War II was occurring. Truman made the biggest presidential decision of his time to drop the atomic bomb on Japan. Truman also helped rebuild postwar Europe. He worked to contain communism and led America into the Korean War.
In 1965, he “ordered an increase in U.S. military forces in Vietnam, from the present 75,000 to 125,000”(History). Immediate reaction followed from this, and communist leader attacked him for this decision. This became “a major turning point, as it effectively guaranteed U.S. military leaders a blank check to pursue the war”(History). Johnson's future tactics included more men and many bombings and plans such as operation rolling thunder. These failed due to the fact that the Vietcong was not defeated stepping down from war. The more men he sent overseas just generated more chaos in America and deaths in Vietnam. In addition to this, North Vietnam had significantly less troops than we did in the South, they had about “10,000 troops...meanwhile we have an occupation force of 500,000 ground troops”, this doesn't include the naval and air command(Doc G). Lastly, the biggest shock for not only the President but the citizens lied in the fact that everyone believed it wasn't “possible for us to lose the war. We are too strong…”(Doc F). Johnson along with the generals aimed to “fight it with the least cost to ourselves and the greatest cost to our enemy”(Doc F). Unfortunately, it did the exact opposite with the failure through the President's failed military tactics and policies.
America has gone through high and lows as a country, but overall we overcome and grow and use our history to shape out future. When John F. Kennedy died, Lyndon B. Johnson took over as president and was at first liked and favored that he came back for a real term after the term he took over after JFK died. He then changed, and brought many Americans to fight in Vietnam and sacrifice their lives for a Vietnamese war, and was greatly looked down upon for this. Lyndon B. Johnson politically and socially with his Great Society and changed during his time as President of the United States of America.
President Kennedy and President Johnson had policies that lead America to the nation it is today. Although many policies were successful, both Johnson and Kennedy had committed some errors. This didn't stop the evolution of America or either of the hard working presidents on accomplishing what they both intended to do while in their time of presidency.
As Roosevelt’s second term was coming to an end, he picked William Howard Taft as his successor. Taft preached his ideas to the public, criticizing Roosevelt in his speeches.
The 1960s in the United States were a time of turmoil and revolution. Following President John F. Kennedy followed President Lyndon B. Johnson, who unfortunately inherited the burden of the Vietnam War. Though President Lyndon B. Johnson passed progressive legislature and engineered the Great Society programs, his international failures overshadowed his domestic successes. President Lyndon B. Johnson had some success in dealing with domestic and social problems he was unable to effectively navigate the Vietnam War and the political landscape of the 1960s.
Depending on how old you are, it is possible that you have experienced many great presidents throughout your lifetime. Every single person in this world has their own view as to what a president’s role in the world should be, and how their values should reflect them. So far, the United States has gone through 42 Presidents who have all offered many new ideas that have aided our country tremendously. One of these great men was our 33rd President, Harry S. Truman who was thrown into the presidents’ seat on April 12, 1945 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt died suddenly.
Johnson could never have envisaged what he had started. By the time of the 1968 presidential election, America had become involved in a war that was to take on far greater dimensions than anyone could have
What made this even more difficult was that he “had not given much attention to Vietnam or to foreign affairs in general” (Moise 30). For a nation like the United States in need of a decision on the fly, this was very troubling. Earlier “President Johnson felt that Harry Truman, in 1950, had erred by going into the Korean War without getting firm commitment of support from the congress” (Moise 226). In other words it appeared to be that Johnson would be careful about getting involved in a conflict like Vietnam. Being careful to say the least was not the case at all.