Everyone knows by now that Indiana has not voted for a Democrat for president since 1964. And I am guessing everyone knows who that Democrat was. Most of you know that I have a minor interest in one
Lyndon Baines Johnson, so it seemed like I would be negligent by not spending one post on this American president since I have an excuse to do so.
For those of you who didn't know me in college, conversations with me frequently went like this:
Unsuspecting Person: "Hi Elizabeth. How's it going?"
Me: "LBJ got screwed by the Vietnam War. He was meant to pass sweeping changes on the domestic side."
Unsuspecting Person: "Uh..." (backing away)
I wrote not one but two papers on LBJ in college (and remember now I was a science major). The first was called "A Legislator in a Guerrilla War: Lyndon Johnson and the Vietnam War" and the second was entitled "The Man vs. the Myth: How the Legacy of John F. Kennedy Affected the Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson" (note that the actual file name for this paper is my great obsession.doc).
I am still completely proud of the fact that I managed to bring the Vietnam War into a presentation on mangroves in my Conservation Biology class (by the way, I am also fascinated by the Vietnam War and mangroves).
So, now you may be asking yourself...why was Elizabeth so interested in our 36th president? Many who studied that era would choose John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, or Martin Luther King Jr. I am not saying those three weren't important or interesting; they certainly were, but for me, the tragedy of LBJ's presidency is what draws me to study him.
He had many flaws and made many mistakes, the biggest of which was entangling us deeper in Vietnam. He badgered people into agreeing with him. His personality was...uh...challenging. Here's a quote I took from one of my papers. Joseph Califano, his special assistant for domestic affairs, stated that Johnson "could be altruistic and petty, caring and crude, generous and petulant, bluntly honest and calculatingly devious---all within the same few minutes." He
picked up his beagle by its ears (strangely, he also named his beagles "Him and "Her").
On the other hand, he got the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act passed. He started Medicare and Medicaid. He appointed Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court. He passed legislation to fund public schools. His interests and his strengths were on the domestic side, but his legacy will always be the Vietnam War. Surrounded by Kennedy's advisors (he kepts most including McNamara well into his presidency), he led America further and further into a war we could not win and shouldn't have been fighting (my opinion there). The truth was he never wanted to go, but he felt like he had to. That does not take away his responsibilty, but it further illuminates the tragedy of Vietnam.
Well, it's almost Thanksgiving. Ramona heads to Camp Euphemism later today, Sydney prepares for some quiet time in the house, and Andy and I head to the airport. As we get ready to travel to NC for Thanksgiving, my thoughts turn to basketball and Maui. Both Carolina and Indiana are in the Maui Invitational this year (Carolina plays Notre Dame for the championship, while Indiana takes on Maui's own Chaminade for 7th place), and of course, last year, we spent Thanksgiving in Maui! Details of that trip can be found here, here, and here. I am very excited about 
traveling home in a few hours, but I must admit that part of me would rather be flying to Hawaii this evening.
