"Some historians say that to focus on the personality of a famous figure is to neglect the context in which he/she lived. My argument is that personality provides a way to attract students to history because it allows them to make a personal connection to the past." - Joe Illick
Lyndon Baines Johnson 1963-1969
LBJ, veteran of Senate fights,
Came out swinging on civil rights.
And he waged a war on poverty --
Job Corps, Head Start -- for he could see
The nexus between class and school and race.
Once poor himself, he remembered his place.
Of course there was Watts and then Black Power,
But these didn’t cause Lyndon’s dark side to flower.
No, it was events in Southeast Asia
That brought the Great Society’s dysphasia.
Tonkin and Tet and Ho Chi Minh;
A battle which we couldn’t win.
But Johnson the fighter would not face defeat,
So he stepped from the ring. If you can’t take the heat. . .
Came out swinging on civil rights.
And he waged a war on poverty --
Job Corps, Head Start -- for he could see
The nexus between class and school and race.
Once poor himself, he remembered his place.
Of course there was Watts and then Black Power,
But these didn’t cause Lyndon’s dark side to flower.
No, it was events in Southeast Asia
That brought the Great Society’s dysphasia.
Tonkin and Tet and Ho Chi Minh;
A battle which we couldn’t win.
But Johnson the fighter would not face defeat,
So he stepped from the ring. If you can’t take the heat. . .