this post was submitted on 18 Jul 2023
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What? lol, no, I just meant that JFK was generally a very good president and the others were largely shit.
I guess, if that's your opinion. I can't say I fully agree. I'm a huge fan of LBJ personally, despite him flubbing the Vietnam war. He cared deeply for educating the impoverished and racial minorities. He passed dozens of environmental laws. He also was responsible for a bunch of the beautification initiatives, which resulted in planting tons of trees. He was responsible for creating a ton of national parks. He even knew he fucked up the Vietnam war, and he decided he wasn't going to run for another term because of the decisions he made related to it. It's my opinion that he felt he didn't deserve the presidency anymore after making poor choices regarding Vietnam. Whatever the reason he had, it shows great emotional intelligence. And honestly, it makes me sad, because I feel like with 4 more years, he could have done so much more good for civil rights and the environment.
I also am a bit biased because I live in the city that he was from, so I get to enjoy the fruits of his and his wife's labor. All the trees they planted here are all grown and are gorgeous. I love how many parks we have here and how big they all are. And I can thank them for putting in the work, even though they knew they would not be the ones to benefit from it. It would be the future generations that would benefit.
You know what, you're right. I only discovered somewhat recently that LBJ may not be the character history makes him out to be. I still don't know what character he is, beyond some of the things you've mentioned, but he deserves a deeper look for sure, and I retract my statement wrt him.
What you said regarding your opinion on his emotional intelligence is pretty fascinating. Though you're a random stranger on the Internet, I choose to trust your conviction until I learn otherwise. Cheers!
I appreciate the kind words! I learned most of what I know about LBJ from his presidential library, which obviously is not the most unbiased source of information. But the picture it paints is that he wanted to to what he believed was right, even if it was unpopular within his own party at the time. That's the kind of behavior I respect in a leader. It's the same reason I respect the hell out of Bernie Sanders.
Ew you're one of them Bernie Bro socialists, give me a fucking break. I mean, I am one too, but Jesus, it's so cringe standing up for the disadvantaged and doing the right thing all the time. Looking out for yourself at the nation's expense, on the other hand, that's rad.
You had me in the first half, lmao.