Many people on this board have questioned my dislike of Lyndon Johnson as expressed in my sig line, pointing - correctly - to things like the Great Society and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as reasons not to do so. People have pointed out to me, again correctly, that Kennedy got us into Vietnam, so that was not Johnson's fault. I disagree strongly.

What they miss was that Kennedy was also ready to get us OUT after the Diem government fell. The day before he left on the trip that would take his life, he is reported to have said: "When I get back, we'd better be ready to answer some hard questions about just what we're trying to accomplish there (Vietnam). It may just be time to cut our losses."

Johnson pushed ESCALATION of the Vietnam war based on a LIE (the "Tonkin Gulf Incident" that never happened). We excoriate Bush for lying us into war, as well we SHOULD, but Johnson gets a pass when his decision killed FAR more young Americans? Not from me, thanks.

And it gets worse.

Johnson's dishonesty in escalating and prosecuting the war brought about the "Credibility Gap", which in turn brought about the counterculture. The counterculture fractured the New Deal Coalition, and began to alienate the blue-collar labor voters that had been Democratic bread & butter - the civil disorder, street protests, anti-American rhetoric, and seeming anarchy drove those voters straight into Nixon's "Silent Majority" - which became the Reagan Democrats.
Exacerbating this was that Johnson, having expended his political capital on Vietnam, had none left to fix the flaws in the Great Society - flaws the GOP seized upon as "excesses of liberalism", which solidified their hold on the hardworking voter.
This damage is ONLY NOW being repaired, as the economy begins to force a reforging of the coalition FDR built.

As I've said elsewhere - if all Johnson did was the Great Society and the Civil Rights Act, I'd honor him, and he'd deserve it. But on balance, I can't, because the tragedy of Vietnam has led to the mess we find ourselves in now. It led to 40 years of Republican ascendancy in American politics, the disastrous consequences of which we are only BEGINNING to experience, much less reverse. That ONE decision, based on a LIE, has led to utter, unmitigated disaster.

I can't call LBJ a good president. He meant so well, but DID so badly...