Mark Malcomson
Lyndon B. Johnson: Amazing Success and Stunning Failure
Summary
Lyndon B. Johnson won the 1964 election with the biggest popular vote percentage in history, yet four years later he walked away from the presidency a broken man. While his domestic agenda was a towering achievement, his foreign policy was a disastrous failure. This talk asks, how have Johnson and his legacy stood the test of time?
Mark Malcomson
Mark Malcomson has been principal of City Lit since 2011. Previously, he was the Director of Executive Education at London Business School and president of the New York Institute of Finance. He possesses a bachelor of laws from the University of Edinburgh; a diploma in legal practice from the University of Strathclyde; and a masters in international relations from the University of Kent. Mark was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to adult education.
Johnson had a fundamental mission to do right by the underprivileged. He was born in the South, so some of the stuff he says is just appalling in terms of the language he used. But ultimately he wanted, whether it be African Americans, Mexican Americans in the southern part of Texas, he wanted them to do well. And it was also true of poor whites. He came from that background and he just wanted people to have greater opportunity.
In ‘64, I think LBJ had served his purpose. I think Kennedy was a very, very pragmatic politician, very ruthless in lots of ways. Johnson had been the key factor, in my views, probably one of the most consequential vice presidential choices to enable the ticket won in '60.