Cold Open

It’s June 9th, 1942, on board a US Air Force B-26 bomber flying 12,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean.

With only minutes to go before the plane begins its bombing run, Sergeant Lillis Walker checks his machine gun is loaded and ready to fire. The B-26 is over hostile territory, and Walker knows that enemy fighters could strike at any moment.

Ever since Japan attacked Pearl Harbor six months ago, the United States and Japan have battled for control of the Pacific Ocean. Today, as part of the American offensive, Sergeant Walker’s squadron has been ordered to destroy an airfield on the island of New Guinea. The mission is daunting. Not only do they expect a fierce Japanese counteroffensive, but they also have a special guest to worry about. On board Sergeant Walker’s flight today, is 33-year-old Navy officer and politician Lyndon B. Johnson, who’s here to observe the war effort on behalf of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

As Sergeant Walker scans the sky for enemy fighters, the rhythmic drone of the B-26 changes. One of the bomber’s two engines sputters, and its propeller stops turning. Walker feels the plane tilt as the pilot turns away from the rest of the formation. They’re abandoning their bombing run before they get over the target.

But the Japanese have already spotted that the bomber is in trouble. Sergeant Walker sees several fighters dive from high above but he is ready for them. When he gets one of the enemy planes in his sights… he pulls the trigger as the plane hurtles past.

But as Walker searches for another target… Walker's bomber comes under fire. A neat line of bullet holes appears in the fuselage right above Lyndon Johnson’s head. Sergeant Walker expects his VIP observer to panic—but Johnson doesn’t show any sign of fear. Instead, he coolly runs his fingers over the bullet holes, then flashes Walker a broad grin.

The B-26 returns to base without dropping its payload, and Lyndon B. Johnson’s only active combat mission ends without success. But despite this failure, the B-26’s special observer will be awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action just a few days later. Johnson will proudly wear this medal for the rest of his life, and the award for bravery will enhance his reputation in Washington, DC. where over the next two decades, Johnson will rise in prominence, eventually assuming the office of President of the United States—and from that position of power, Johnson will implement his life’s work: a package of social reforms known as the "Great Society" that he will introduce to Congress on January 4th, 1965.

Introduction

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is January 4th, 1965: Lyndon B. Johnson Delivers His “Great Society” Speech.

Act One

It’s August 1948, in a small town in Texas, three years after the end of World War Two.

Lyndon B. Johnson opens the window of a small black helicopter as it circles a field at the edge of a fairground. He pushes out his Stetson hat and watches it drop into a crowd of ranchers and their families below. A group of children charges toward the hat, tussling to pick up the signature accessory of one of the nation’s rising politicians.

For the last eleven years, Johnson has been the United States Representative from Texas’s tenth congressional district. But he has long harbored ambitions to win a Senate seat, and he’s declared his intention to stand in the 1948 Senate elections.

Since Texas is a Democratic stronghold, whoever wins the primary is sure to win the election. But the Democratic Party is split. Some, like Johnson, are loyalists who backed the policies of Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his successor, Harry Truman. But a powerful faction of Texas Democrats has broken ranks with the party leadership in Washington. So, if Johnson wants to get elected, he needs to make sure Texas voters don’t side with this new political camp. And to this end, he’s decided to turn his attention to the small towns of Texas, one of which he’s visiting today.

As Johnson’s helicopter touches down, he opens the door and jumps out. Johnson takes a megaphone from one of his aides and invites the crowd closer. He jokes that he was so eager to see them that he leaned right out of the window and dropped his hat. But in truth, this act was the first step in Johnson’s well-rehearsed routine to win over voters.

Johnson goes on to ask whether anybody has his hat now. A child approaches with the Stetson in his hands. Johnson takes the hat from the child and gives him a dollar in return. The crowd applauds the Congressman’s generosity.

Johnson’s spectacular entrance captures the attention of these rural voters, many of whom have never seen a helicopter before. And over the next hour, Johnson explains why the people of Texas should vote for him in the upcoming primary, instead of his opponent from the rival Democratic faction: former Texas Governor Coke R. Stevenson. He makes much of the Silver Star he received for gallantry in action, contrasting his military record with that of Coke Stevenson, who did not serve with the armed forces during the war. Then, after shaking hands and kissing babies, Johnson jumps back in the helicopter and makes his way to the next stop on his airborne tour of Texas’s small towns.

Most politicians don’t bother visiting these isolated communities—the amount of effort involved doesn’t appear to make it worthwhile. But Johnson’s willingness to embrace modern methods of campaigning proves successful. He draws large crowds wherever he goes and covers huge distances in a short amount of time. It allows him to pick up crucial support he might not have otherwise. And when the votes are counted on Election Day, Stevenson initially has a narrow lead, but a late influx of votes swings the election in Johnson’s favor. By the time the last of the 988,000 ballots is tabulated, Johnson has 87 more votes than Stevenson.

It’s a tiny margin of victory, and Stevenson accuses Johnson of election fraud. In a formal challenge, he insists that Johnson’s supporters added false votes to the returns. The battle goes all the way to the Supreme Court, but in the end, the result is allowed to stand. Lyndon B. Johnson is duly elected as the next Senator from Texas.

From there, Johnson’s star rises quickly in the Senate. He allies himself with powerful senior figures in the Democratic Party, is appointed to influential committees, and soon becomes the Democratic whip, the second most powerful Democrat in the Senate. And after only four years, Johnson’s Democratic colleagues elect him as their party’s leader in the Senate—and after the Democrats win a majority in the 1954 elections, Johnson becomes the majority leader, one of the most important positions in government.

Thanks to his rapid rise, Johnson is considered a strong candidate for the Democratic nomination for President in 1960—but Johnson makes a rare political miscalculation when he enters the race late, by which time John F. Kennedy’s campaign has gained an unstoppable momentum. But Kennedy, a Catholic from the Northeast, recognizes Johnson’s ability to win over areas of the country that Kennedy can’t, and he selects Johnson as his running mate. It’s a good decision. Kennedy and Johnson win the 1960 Presidential election—but Johnson is soon sidelined by Kennedy, who fills the White House with Kennedy allies. It’s a disappointing outcome for the one-time rising star of the Democratic party.

But on November 22nd, 1963, Vice President Johnson is traveling in the car behind Kennedy when a gunman assassinates the president. Within hours, Johnson will swear the oath of office and become the 36th President of the United States. His unexpected accession to the White House will bring him right into the center of power, finally allowing him to dictate his own policy agenda.

Act Two

It’s November 22nd, 1963, on board Air Force One at Love Field airport in Dallas, Texas; two hours after President John F. Kennedy was shot.

Lyndon B. Johnson places his left hand on a Catholic missal and lifts his right hand in the air. He listens carefully as Judge Sarah Hughes reads the oath of office, and repeats the words back to her, still reeling from the day’s events.

When doctors examined President Kennedy at Parkland Memorial Hospital, it was clear his wounds were fatal. The president was pronounced dead half an hour after he was shot, and the news was relayed to Johnson minutes later. Johnson was rushed back to Air Force One in case he was also the target of an assassination plot, but the Vice President refused to leave Dallas until President Kennedy’s body and widow were also on the plane back to Washington. Now, as Air Force One’s engines are powered up on the airfield, Johnson is being sworn in as Kennedy’s successor.

After Johnson completes the oath of office, he takes Jackie Kennedy’s hand and tells her that the whole nation mourns the loss of her husband. But although the United States is shocked by the assassination of its young and charismatic leader, Johnson knows that he personally has little time to grieve.

Johnson’s first priority is to stabilize the nation. He begins by requesting that each of Kennedy’s government appointees remain in their posts. Then, five days after Kennedy’s assassination, Johnson addresses Congress and makes clear that he will continue Kennedy’s legislative program.

JOHNSON: "No memorial oration or eulogy could more eloquently honor President Kennedy’s memory than the earliest possible passage of the Civil Rights Bill for which he fought so long."

For years, opponents have blocked civil rights legislation using congressional procedures and regulations to delay its progress through the House and Senate. But Johnson spent years as whip and party leader in Congress, and he uses all his political acumen and knowledge to force the civil rights bill through. He signs it into law in July 1964, eight months after becoming president.

But Johnson has ambitions to do more than just follow in Kennedy’s footsteps. He wants to develop his own policy agenda that builds on the legacy of a different president: Franklin D. Roosevelt. Inspired by Roosevelt’s New Deal of the 1930s and ‘40s, Johnson comes up with a radical program of social reforms, he calls the Great Society. Johnson first unveils the Great Society in a speech to students at Ohio University in May 1964. He claims that his Great Society will eliminate poverty by reforming American education, healthcare, and transportation. Fifteen days later, he repeats the same ideas in a speech at the University of Michigan.

Johnson’s student audiences respond enthusiastically. But the liberal students are easy sells when it comes to the idea of social reform. The rest of the country will be harder to please. Political advisers warn the President that many Americans oppose the concept of greater social intervention, fearing that taxes will rise to fund the new reforms.

So, as the final months of Kennedy’s term in office come to an end and campaigning gets underway for the 1964 Presidential Election, Johnson shelves his Great Society proposals, fearing it won't be a vote-winner. Instead, he focuses his campaigning efforts on his achievements as President Kennedy’s successor, implying that he will continue in the same vein.

Johnson also goes on the offensive against his Republican opponent, Barry Goldwater. Attack ads portray the conservative Goldwater as a dangerous extremist, implying that a Goldwater administration brings the risk of nuclear war closer. In speeches, Johnson infers that Goldwater is a racist and segregationist because Goldwater voted against the Civil Rights Act.

And not for the first time, Johnson’s election campaign resonates with the public. When the results are announced, Johnson wins by a landslide. He picks up 61 percent of the popular vote—the most since 1820—and his 16-million vote margin of victory is the widest in American history at the time. Johnson has won the right to stay in the White House for another four years—and this time, he’s there in his own right rather than as Kennedy’s designated successor.

And Johnson will not be the only Democrat victor that year. Democrats will enjoy sweeping gains in the Congressional elections—and the resulting Democratic majorities in the House and Senate will give Johnson the political capital he needs to pass social reforms and make his ambitious Great Society a reality.

Act Three

It’s January 4th, 1965, inside the US Capitol in Washington, DC; two months after Lyndon B. Johnson won the 1964 Presidential Election.

Vice President-Elect Hubert Humphrey leans forward in his chair in the visitor gallery overlooking the Senate Chamber. It’s an unfamiliar vantage point for Humphrey, but one in a room he knows very well.

For the last fifteen years, Humphrey has attended the chamber as a Senator from Minnesota. But a few days ago, he resigned his seat so that he can be sworn in as the next Vice President at the upcoming inauguration. For the intervening three weeks, Humphrey has no official position in government. So today, he’s here as a guest to listen to President Lyndon B. Johnson deliver his State of the Union address.

Johnson stands at a rostrum at the front of the chamber and outlines his plans for his next presidential term. His words are warmly received by those present, but Humphrey notices a subtle shift in Johnson’s rhetoric. The President is no longer talking about continuing the legacy of John F. Kennedy. Instead, he’s using this national platform to introduce his own policy agenda: the Great Society.

JOHNSON: "The Great Society asks not how much, but how good. [Applause] Not only how to create wealth, but how to use it. Not only how fast we are going, but where we are headed. It proposes as the first test for a nation: the quality of its people."

Sixteen days after the State of the Union, Johnson and Humphrey will be sworn into office. As Vice President, one of the Humphrey’s responsibilities will be to act as President of the Senate. It’s a job that will keep him busy. Because with the Great Society now part of the political debate and Humphrey at the head of a cooperative Congress, the Johnson administration will be phenomenally successful at enacting its policy proposals.

Over the next two years, Congress will pass 84 of 87 bills submitted by the White House, including a Voting Rights Act and the creation of Medicare and Medicaid. Although Johnson’s reputation will be colored by America’s involvement in the Vietnam War, and he will decline the opportunity to serve another term in 1968, Johnson’s administration will also be remembered for its efforts to eradicate poverty, as outlined in Johnson’s State of the Union address on January 4th, 1965.

Outro

Next on History Daily. January 5th, 1933. After years of planning, construction begins on the Golden Gate Bridge, a process that will prove both challenging and dangerous.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammad Shahzaib.

Sound design by Katrina Zemrak.

Music by Lindsay Graham.

This episode is written and researched by Scott Reeves.

Executive Producers are Alexandra Currie-Buckner for Airship, and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.