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Essay about Greatness of Lyndon B. Johnson

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Greatness of LBJ

Many Presidents over the years have shown greatness through their leadership. Each has shown this in their individual way. It takes the ability to deal with whatever may come up, as far as politics are concerned, and handle it with care. Also it takes making a difference in society instead of just settling for the United States being ok as it is. The extra step that some take, separates the normal from the great. Lyndon B. Johnson was one of the Presidents who stood out by taking the extra step. LBJ showed presidential greatness through passing groundbreaking legislation and improving society.
To get a feel for how Lyndon Johnson came to achieve greatness, let us look at how his journey began. In 1908, Lyndon was born …show more content…

Johnson’s first step after becoming president was to help the citizens of the U.S. and the world cope with the death of JFK. “American people actually were 190,000,000 dazed individuals; he had to give them that unity and confidence; he had to represent it to the world” (Wicker, 161). This was a great task for any man to take on and he did so with care. He showed compassion and provided comfort for the people, promising to continue the dreams Kennedy had and to make them become a way of life. These dreams caused most people to look up to Kennedy, and it turned him into a legend in the history books even though he did not accomplish all he had tried. To achieve what Kennedy had set out to do would take a great man, and a great man Johnson showed himself to be. He also “carefully honored the Kennedy legacy…and remained deeply respectful of JFK’s cabinet and top officials” (Schulman, 69).
The next steps in his greatness came out of his involvement in legislation. His biggest piece of legislation was the Great Society. His Great Society plan was similar to another “great” president FDR. LBJ had followed in FDR’s footsteps for years. He admired and carefully learned from him, but he wanted to do better than FDR and become history’s greatest president ever, and to truly make a difference in society. Through his efforts, he “revolutionized the relationship between the

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