* * *
KENNEDY - JFK was a conservative hawk with a very strong anti-Communist theme to
his policies. His inauguration speech was almost a war warning to the Soviets. Although he did not plan nor get too deeply involved in the Bay of Pigs fiasco, it was laid at his feet because he did not approve of pushing that invasion any further and withheld some anticipated air and sea support from the invasion. His very determined and careful management of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis was probably the high point of his entire administration. His work on civil rights was reluctant but had begun movement forward in 1963. Perhaps his greatest legacy was the inspiration he gave to the country.
He had little opportunity in the 2 1/2 years in office (before assassination) to develop his domestic programs, and was more caught up in foreign affairs. It appears from an historical perspective that JFK was on the verge of reducing or ending U.S. involvement in Vietnam when he was killed - and several historians believe that was why he was killed.
[Do not blame your goofy ideas on "several historians." We all know it was 'the mob' who killed Kennedy. :p]
JOHNSON - There may not have ever been a President as complex as Lyndon Baines Johnson - at once crude, heavy-handed and overbearing, and also personally insecure, more sensitive to the problems of poverty and injustice than most admit today, and highly-motivated by a craving for approval. Johnson emerged from an earlier career in one of the country's most racist states to nearly single-handedly end 100 years of oppressive official racism and establish the concept of civil rights as a bedrock principle of American philosophy for ALL persons.
[ ~ Give him a standing ovation. ~ ]
Despite some cronyism and problems with the corruption of a few of his closest friends and advisors (remember the chinchilla coat?), Johnson led a reasonably honest and effective administration. His "Great Society" programs, even weakend by opponents terrified of empowering the poor, were actually successful in many ways - and today at least Head Start survives.
[Um, isn't Medicare a "Great Society" program? After all, Medicare is, as Senator Chuck Grassley famously said, part of the "social fabric."]
His greatest weakness was fear that a U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam would tar his legacy as President - and Vietnam indeed did so, but for the opposite reason.
[ ~ Sit down. ~ Do not forget that Johnson lied to get us into that war -- "Gulf of Tonkin" anyone? -- and couldn't withdraw without admitting his lie. Sound familiar? A President who lies deserves a special place in....]
Johnson's astonishing mastery of the legislative process and ability to reach down to the Hill is unmatched in U.S. history. Thus his time in office was capped with the landmark Civil Rights Act, and the creation of Medicare.
NIXON - No President ever better understood the national political process better than Nixon, but no President was ever worse-suited to attempt its manipulation. Ultimately, Nixon had no god but himself, and that destroyed him. He had no compunction about lying to the nation or to himself, a hallmark of his first Administration that is almost entirely forgotten today. His personal weaknesses, at the core of which was a desperate and nearly paranoid insecurity, caused Nixon to become more isolated and more vicious in response to critics as time went by. His 1972 re-election campaign was a vile exercise in attack, retribution, manipulation and deviousness.
[And Nixon tried to cheat to win -- ironically, not necessary. That is what Watergate was all about. And he took 'ownership' of Vietnam.]
Nixon achieved an astonishing result with his rapprochement with China - undertaken for weltpolitik purposes to help split Russia and China. He also made what had begun as promising initiatives to deal with the Middle East, but ultimately failed thanks to his preoccupation with domestic problems. The 1973 Arab Oil Embargo was more than a disaster for Americans, it exposed the United States as vulnerable in ways that helped encourage the development of Middle East terrorism, which has bedeviled the country since long, long before 9/11/2001.
FORD - Gerald Ford, vilified by many for his pardon of Nixon, was a caring, gentle and humane person perfectly suited, although purely by accident, to fill the Presidency when Nixon resigned. His good humor, genuine interest in the nation, and respect for his office probably saved the Presidency after the ruin Nixon's "imperial" style had wrought upon the office.
[Ford was a good guy -- more proof that nice guys finish last... or at least second.]
Unfortunately, Ford as a mildly conservative Republican was unsuited to develop and pursue policies that were then pressing, ranging from new standards for auto safety and economy to environmental protection, from reorganizing and rebuilding the military after the debacle of Vietnam (which came to a sorrowful end during his Administration) to effectively directing America's response to the great flood of Southeast Asian immigrants after Saigon fell. Ford's worst moment in office was not the Mayaguez incident, but the "Whip Inflation Now" button that proved he had no idea what to do about an economy in ruins.
CARTER - Jimmy Carter is most unjustly pilloried by the right wing and considered generally a failure in office. Yet he was the first and nearly only President to achieve significant progress in the Middle East, rebuild American prestige and respect abroad, finally launch a comprehensive program of environmental protection, take initiatives to improve worker health and safety on the job, protect new mothers (and fathers) when time off was needed after birth, and pursue dozens of other important, human domestic policies.
Unfortunately, Carter was also a technocrat more interested in process than in political leadership. He was not much of an admirer of America's military, and thus did not attend to the corrosion in the ranks or the officer corps caused by the debacle of Vietnam. Further, he was unwilling during times of considerable economic stress to invest heavily in development of advanced weapons systems or other improvements in pay and circumstances of military personnel. The 1979 oil embargo was but one of several developments that doomed his reputation and his reelection.
[And it was the Iranian hostage crisis -- unfairly exploited by his opponent -- that doomed him. More on this later....]
No comments:
Post a Comment