Once Upon a Time at the Ballot Box: A Tale of a Cowboy, a Mormon, and a Southern Segregationist
JFK's second term sees the full implementation of his domestic policies and a period of relative peace abroad. Congress passes Kennedy's tax cut and approves Medicare, Medicaid, and the Voting Rights Act. Congress also enacts the Job Corps and Head Start programs in order to combat poverty. With South Vietnam on the brink of collapse, Secretary of Defense Robert F. Kennedy negotiates a ceasefire and takes up a British proposal to create a neutral government in Vietnam. President Kennedy authorizes a limited bombing run against strategic targets in Vietnam, backing up America's diplomatic hand with military force - and the threat of further intervention. After a period of intense diplomacy the plan is adopted by North and South Vietnam in 1965 and an all-out American war in Southeast Asia is narrowly avoided. However, by 1967 violence resumes in Vietnam and Saigon falls to the Communists after Kennedy leaves office. In 1966 President Kennedy remains very popular, but the Republicans make a resurgence in the midterm elections.
In 1968 the 51 year old John F. Kennedy serves out his final year as President of the United States. He signs the Housing Act of 1968, the landmark SALT I arms control treaty with the Soviet Union, and the Gun Control Act of 1968 in the aftermath of Martin Luther King's assassination. With a roaring economy at his back and JFK's approval ratings at 60%, Vice-President Lyndon Johnson of Texas has high hopes for 1968. He easily wins the Democratic Presidential nomination and chooses his friend Hubert Humphrey as his running mate. With former Vice-President Richard Nixon retired from politics for good, Michigan Governor George Romney emerges as the GOP's standard bearer. Disgusted with both parties, Alabama Governor George Wallace pulls the trigger on a segregationist third party candidacy.
The Presidential election of 1968 is one of the most unique and dynamic in recent memory - a battle between the tall Texan cowboy, the first ever Mormon to be nominated on a major party ticket, and a populist segregationist. LBJ touts the strong economy and promises to continue President Kennedy's New Frontier. Romney reminds voters of the riots and disorder that occurred during Kennedy's second term and makes the case for change. For his part Wallace hopes to deadlock the electoral college and play kingmaker in the House of Representatives. As in 1960 and 1964 TV plays a critical role: Wallace is excluded from the debates, depriving him of a major platform. While Romney expects to out-do LBJ on the debate stage, he shocks the nation with his awkward responses to policy questions and a mind-boggling gaffe about arm control, saying, "you know, some of the nicest people are Communists." In contrast, the calm and articulate Johnson is the clear winner. On election day, Romney and Wallace don't stand a chance:
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Lyndon B. Johnson (D-TX): 313 Electoral Votes, 46.8% in the popular vote
George Romney (R-MI): 178 Electoral Votes, 41.4% in the popular vote
George Wallace (I-AL): 47 Electoral Votes, 11.5% in the popular vote
A New Sheriff in Town: The B-Movie Actor Takes on Big Government
In his inaugural address President Johnson pledges to expand the New Frontier to forge a "Great Society" for all Americans to enjoy. LBJ's speech is met with applause from all corners of the nation - in particular from former President John F. Kennedy who happily retires to Massachusetts. Johnson hopes to create even more government programs than Kennedy and ultimately bring forth the long awaited health care reform that had evaded past Presidents since Theodore Roosevelt. With decades of high-level experience and a Democratic Congress, it looks like Johnson's dreams will come true.
But those fantasies are quickly shattered by a hard, cold reality. Johnson squanders much of his political capital by nominating Abe Fortas to succeed Chief Justice Earl Warren. Fortas is rejected by the Senate over corruption concerns, and Johnson is forced to appoint Associate Justice Arthur Goldberg instead. Worse, a recession materializes throughout 1969 and in Southeast Asia the Communists conquer South Vietnam. In the wake of these emerging problems at home and abroad LBJ's poll numbers begin to suffer. Nonetheless LBJ doggedly pursues a liberal domestic agenda: he creates new protections for the environment and strengthens workplace safety laws. Court rulings demanding racial integration in the South are stringently enforced, and Eisenhower's moderate Republican judges are replaced with progressive Democrats equally committed to the cause of civil rights - if not more so.
Yet the ongoing recession and public impatience with the high taxes used to pay for government programs lead to political disaster for the Democrats in 1970: for the first time since 1955, the Republicans regain both Houses of Congress in the midterm elections. With LBJ a lame duck, the Great Society and his dreams of passing universal health care are dead in the water. But not all is lost: in the 1972 Republican primaries moderate New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller once again loses the GOP Presidential nomination, this time to California Governor Ronald Reagan. A former B-movie actor who vocally supported Barry Goldwater in 1964, Reagan is widely perceived as a right wing extremist and LBJ ruthlessly exploits that toxic image in a negative TV ad campaign. Additionally, with the economy improving many voters who abandoned the Democrats in 1970 now give LBJ credit for the recovery. Despite his early setbacks LBJ isn't down for the count.
Reagan hits back against LBJ by distancing himself from Goldwater and projects a sunny, optimistic demeanor. He pledges to restore America to full prosperity, lower taxes, and eliminate government waste. With Alabama Governor George Wallace out of the race after he was paralyzed by an assassin's bullet, Reagan attempts to appeal to his former supporters by attacking "activist judges" who "enforce federal standards on the states" - an obvious dog whistle directed at white racists. This backfires when civil rights leaders blast Reagan for his stance, helping to energize minority turnout for the Democrats. By October, polling puts LBJ ahead of Reagan by 3%.
But the TV debate is where it would all come to an end for Lyndon B. Johnson. Four years earlier LBJ had impressed the nation by routing George Romney. But in 1972 the President is slow, stumbling, visibly tired and clearly ready to give up the Oval Office. He struggles through questions about the economy and healthcare, while the former actor Ronald Reagan shines on TV. The end result is close, but ultimately Ronald Reagan is elected to be America's 37th President: