Lyndon B. Johnson Quotes
I’ll give you anything including creating a new judgeship if it’s necessary for you.
Johnson thought that he was 5 votes short to pass the Economic Opportunity Act to launch his War on Poverty. This quotation shows the master of Presidential vote getting in action. Jones came from a very conservative and racist district in Florida. In addition to the general conservative concern about the bill. White Southern racists were still angry about the Civil Rights Act that had just passed and saw the anti-poverty programs as another opportunity for the Federal Government to have racially integrated employment and training programs in the South. If Jones voted for the anti-poverty bill, he might well be defeated in the 1966 election. The President promised to appoint him as a Federal Judge—a lifetime appointment—if he were defeated. A potential problem was that there would not likely be a vacant judgeship open in Alabama. Johnson promised that he would create another judgeship for Jones if necessary—a judgeship that was not really needed. Jones was reelected and President Johnson did not have to create a new judgeship.
Lyndon Baines Johnson, 1908-1973, 36th President of the United States (Democrat, TX), Telephone call with Alabama Democratic Congressman Robert E. Jones Jr., August 5, 1953
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
The War on Poverty Bill The bill passed on August 8, 1964 by 226-184 a wider margin that Johnson thought he could get. See {637611}.
The issue of how the federal judiciary would be selected was one of the more hotly debated issues during the Constitutional Convention.
Explaination of why he threatened to block Senate approval of an appointment he favored in order to achieve another political objective.
Judges are easily attacked by those who do not like their decisions. In most cases judges can net even ethically defend themselves and so they are common victims of politicians and demagogues.
He had been a Congressman before assuming the Presidency.
White was not confirmed.
- Born: August 27, 1908
- Died: January 22, 1973
- Nationality: American
- Profession: President
Lyndon Baines Johnson, often referred to by his initials LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, in office from 1963 to 1969. He served as the 37th vice president from 1961 to 1963 and assumed the presidency following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. A Democrat from Texas, Johnson was also a United States representative and later majority leader in the United States Senate. Johnson is one of only four people to have served, at various times, in all four federal elected positions.
