LBJ SEEKS TO MEASURE UP TO JFK'S STANDARD

LBJ TO CONTINUE JFK'S LEGACY

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On November 26, 1963, the 36th President of the United States, Lyndon Baines Johnson, began his day as Chief Executive following the burial of his predecessor, John F. Kennedy, with a goal in mind.

Kenneth T. Walsh writes that LBJ "sought to capitalize on Kennedy's murder by moving swiftly to continue his legacy."  In his first address to Congress as president the following day, President Johnson said...

"On the 20th day of January, in 1961, John F. Kennedy (said) "Let us begin!"  In this moment of new resolve, I would say...Let us continue!"

LBJ, who considered himself a New Dealer and served in the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt, almost immediately pressed Congress to pass the Kennedy legislative program "to honor the martyred president."

Historian Robert Dallek tells us that LBJ believed his greatest immediate challenge as POTUS "was to provide reassurance...that he could measure up to the standard JFK had set."

SOURCE

"The First 100 Days:  Lyndon Johnson Fulfilled Kennedy's Legacy," by Kenneth T. Walsh, US News and World Report, March 5, 2009, www.usnews.com/

LBJ, MLK Jr., Whitney Young

 and James Farmer

January 18, 1964

Photo by Yoichi Okamoto

LBJ Library & Museum Image

TODAY IN THIS MOMENT OF NEW RESOLVE I SAY LET US CONTINUE

LBJ ADDRESSES JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Fifty-four years ago tomorrow, November 27, 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson spoke to a joint session of Congress.  It was just five days before that he had assumed the office on the death of John F. Kennedy.

Ashley Barrett describes the new Chief Executive as "humbly" standing "before his former colleagues" and exhibiting "an air of self confidence and diligence."

President Johnson began with these words...

"All I have I would have given gladly not to be seated here today.  The greatest leader of our time has been struck down by the foulest deed of our time."

Barrett says that LBJ rejected early drafts of the speech by JFK speechwriter Theodore Sorensen because they "moved to celebrate Kennedy."  President Johnson turned to "his longtime speechwriter and friend, Horace Busby*."

The tone of the speech shifted from the past to the present and future.  President Johnson said...

"On the 20th day of January, in 19 and 61, John F. Kennedy told his countrymen that our national work would not be finished...'in the life of this administration...but...let us begin.'   Today in this moment of new resolve I...say...let us continue."

*Horace Wooster Busby, Jr. (1924-2000) served as special assistant to President Lyndon B. Johnson 1964-65.  HWB was hired by LBJ in 1946.  After leaving the White House, Mr. Busby was a political consultant to Mobil Oil and American Airlines.

SOURCES

"LBJ Adviser Horace 'Buzz' Busby Jr., 76, Dies," by Adam Bernstein, June 1, 2000, www.washingtonpost.com/

"Lyndon B. Johnson, Let Us Continue (27 NOV 1963)", by Ashley Barrett, Baylor University.

"Lyndon B. Johnson, Let Us Continue", American Rhetoric, Top 100 Speeches, www.americanrhetoric.com/