The Use of Presidential Power by Johnson and Nixon
The Use of Presidential Power by Johnson and NixonPresidents Lyndon Baines Johnson (1963-1968) and Richard Milhous Nixon (1968-1974) will be remembered for the different ideals, goals, and failures within their administrations. Johnson was immediately appointed President following the assassination of John F. Kennedy and earned the trust and respect of the American people by implementing various Kennedy domestic policies such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Medicare and Medicaid. Unfortunately, Johnson was overwhelmed by the growing problems in the international community that ultimately doomed his presidency and opened the door for new presidential candidates. Richard Nixon succeeded Johnson and redeemed himself following a failed 1960 election to Johnson's predecessor, John F. Kennedy. It was a different agenda under Nixon for the first time in eight years. Nixon was aware of the nation's concern with the escalating Vietnam War and was able to spend his first term in office trying to compensate for years of American involvement in Vietnam. In their use of presidential power, Nixon's legacy was his accomplishments of opening relations with China and ending the Vietnam
"Ultimately, the Great Society failed because of lack of funding and as support for the poor became a liability among whites. During the 1968 presidential campaign Nixon positioned himself between Democratic vice president Hubert Humphrey, the liberal defender of the Great Society programs, and the conservative, law-and-order, third-party challenger Governor George Wallace of Alabama. Johnson also tried to do more with his presidential power than Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The entire nation was liberated in a way that forever changed our society. Nowhere was the impact of Vietnam greater than on the nation's foreign policy. Though Nixon understood that the Vietnam War was a no-win situation, he told a friend that some level of opposition was needed to maintain bargaining leverage. Both men left office unceremoniously and Nixon made history as the first president to resign while in office. What remains clear in this comparison of the two leaders is that their dedication to achieving their goals (or their stubborn persistence and ego) eventually destroyed them. At the same time, this escalating problem overseas also affected Great Society programs by late 1966. Many whites felt the Johnson administration was too focused on Civil Rights and the desegregation of public housing. The north could fight such a conflict for years while the patience of the American people was certain to wear thin much sooner. But his greatest achievement was to open diplomatic relations with China for the first time since the Korean War. By the end of Johnson's term in 1968, there were over 500,000 American troops fighting a losing battle in Vietnam. " Johnson simply could not get the funding to end his war on poverty or the war in Vietnam.
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Acceptance Essays
