DBWI: President Johnson avoids his heart attack

It is interesting that the 1960's saw two short lived Democratic Presidencies that accomplished an enormous amount. President Johnson's legacy is particularly amazing when you consider how briefly he was actually President. So what if Johnson had not had a heart attack in October 1965, after mere two years in the white house? How would he have handled Vietnam in the later years of his first term? Would he have won reelection in 1968? Would President Humphrey ever reach the white house here? Would Johnson receive the kind of criticism regarding the war that Humphrey did from 1966? So basically what if LBJ and not HHH was President from 10/17/1965-1/20/1969 at minimum.
 
Well, I think if Johnson survives, he would be well-regarded today, compared to his successor, Humphrey, who is best remembered for the Vietnam War and an embarrassingly bad performance in 1968. This strikes me as ironic, because those who admire Johnson for his progressivism seem to overlook the progressive credentials of his accidency Hubert Humphrey.
 
The brief and hectic Presidencies of the 1960s and early 1970s always struck me as a fantastic symbol of the era. In the aftermath of Kennedy's assassination, Johnson's heart attack, Humphrey's cancer, the Nixon scandal, and Bobby's plane crash the nation was left shell-shocked. I'm not sure if we've yet recovered. In my opinion, Congress and the President are given far more respect than they deserve.

Anyways, the Johnson administration was much more politically saavy than his successor. While the escalation in Vietnam is inevitable, I think we would see a more Black Ops style conflict based primarily on support operations. Johnson will probably be able to pass pieces of the Great Society legislation with more ease, but I am not sure if they would be as far reaching. Would Johnson tackle racial issues as well as Humphrey did IOTL?
 
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By the time Johnson died much of his proposed Great Society had already passed, as had the CRA and the VRA. Though to be fair it was President Humphrey who was first tasked with administering many of the programs Johnson created. If anything, Johnson would have handled racial issues better than Humphrey, he did pas CRA and VRA after all. I agree that the swift succession of Presidents had a certain symbolic quality to it. And there is a certain irony to the fact that the two Presidents who served the briefest period in office are the most highly regarded. In contrast Nixon was President for about three times as long as Lyndon Johnson, and he is best remembered for being the only President both impeached and convicted in the Senate.
 
Are you certain Vietnam would have gone any better? Army doctrine was woefully inefficient for the task at hand.

Forgive me, I spend most my time in the Pre-1900s board. This era is not exactly my expertise. My knowledge is largely superficial. Please correct me if I am misremembering anything.

In Jack Valenti's memoirs he writes that Vietnam was hardly discussed at all in cabinet meetings with Johnson. He was far more concerned with the Great Society. He does allow a surge to take place after suggestions from his Cabinet, but America's presence is still largely limited to an advising role by the time of Johnson's death.

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution is problematic but I can see it as Johnson covering all possible options "just in case". Chances are we'll get a much better perspective on the issue as more NSAM's are released for public consumption.
 
Robert Caro speculated in the last part of his four book study of LBJ that Johnson's historuc obsession with avoiding humiliation would have compelled him to intervene more rashly in Vietnam than Humphrey ever did. He claimed much of Humphrey's policy was Johnsonian in origin and if anyone knows LBJ it would be Caro.
 
People keep telling me I have to read Caro. The moment I finish with my current work, I'll have to pick up a few volumes.


Johnson would be eligible to run in 1968, right? That means he should be in office to see the fruits of the space program, the shenanigans in the Middle East and the beginning of the Iranian Civil War. Is there any indication on how he would react to these issues?
 
People keep telling me I have to read Caro. The moment I finish with my current work, I'll have to pick up a few volumes.


Johnson would be eligible to run in 1968, right? That means he should be in office to see the fruits of the space program, the shenanigans in the Middle East and the beginning of the Iranian Civil War. Is there any indication on how he would react to these issues?

I would imagine he would intervene on the pretext of restoring order.
 
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