An accomplished senator, ruler of the senate, he tagged along with the Kennedys to become famous. Becoming president is a rich man’s game because of the amount of spending power it takes to become popular. John F Kennedy supported by his millionaire father Joe Kennedy Sr and his personal charm and charisma to win supporters and donors beat out older and more experienced democratic candidates Hubert Humphrey, Adlai Stevenson and Lyndon B Johnson to win the Democratic candidacy. Kennedy had full support from New England but needed LBJ as running partner to pull the votes of the western and southern states.
This running strategy was successful for the Kennedy team in 1960 against Richard M Nixon. However Kennedy and his team did not like or utilize LBJ once in office. Being vice president for the famous Kennedy got LBJ out of the senate and into the glamorous spotlight of the “camelot” white house.
When Kennedy was shot, LBJ was left with the reigns of the POTUS. Left with Kennedy’s team he immediately dedicated himself to continuing the Kennedy dream, aspiration and political platform that had been presented to the country. Johnson admired JFK, his family and loyal team for their youth, intelligence, and agency although recognizing that they recognized him as an outsider and sometimes even unwelcome and unwanted guest. While implementing the Kennedy platform he was unable to lead or connect with Kennedy’s family or team like his predecessor had. The men who followed Kennedy followed his vision, not the dogma that his vision became under LBJ.
One at a time LBJ replaced Kennedy’s team so that by the time he campaigned for the presidency in 1964 he had men surrounding him that he believed were loyal to him not Kennedy. Among those excluded was JFK's younger brother, Bobby Kennedy, who served ably as Attorney General under the 1960-1964 JFK/LBJ presidency. Having left Kennedy's team and vision behind he pursued his own program, the Great Society, which happened to be the not yet legislated ideas of FDR.
White, Theodore H. The Making of the President 1960. 1961. Harper Perennial Political Classics. New York, New York.
White, Theodore H. The Making of the President 1964. 1965. Harper Perennial Political Classics. New York, New York.
