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Lyndon Baides Johnson Case Study

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The President of the United States is granted numerous powers when they assume office. Some of these powers are listed and explained in the Constitution of the United States. Some are not, and this often leads to Presidents stretching their duties too far, or until someone brings a complaint against them. The powers that are being spoken of are formal, implied, and informal powers. All can lead to good and bad. This paper sits out to discuss the successes and failures of these powers through the lens of a specific president, in this case Lyndon Baines Johnson or for short “LBJ.” Throughout the paper the reader will learn of various policy objectives, how the powers enabled passage or non-passage of the objectives, and some constraints Presidents …show more content…

Johnson entered the political world. LBJ first became in involved in politics in 1937. During this year he ran in a special election and won a seat representing the 10th District in Texas in the House of Representatives (…). His successfully ran campaign can be linked to him running on the support of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. LBJ spent six years in the House of Representatives before being elected to the Senate in 1948 (Library of Congress). During this election, LBJ was facing Coke Stevenson, who was the former Governor of Texas, for the Democratic nomination. This election was seen controversial by many not only because of who was running, but also because of how the votes were counted. After the run-off election LBJ won by a modest 87 votes, and coined the nickname “Landslide Lyndon.” In the general election, he defeated Republican Jack Daniel to take over the Senate seat vacated by W. Lee O’Daniel (…). As stated, by his Library of Congress “In 1953, he became the youngest Minority Leader in Senate history, and the following year, [he became] Majority Leader” (Library of Congress). Johnson found great success in Congress, through passing legislation and creating working relationships with both Democrats and

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