Johnson: The Frustration of Power

Abstract

John F. Kennedy’s assassination on 22 November 1963 passed to Lyndon B. Johnson the only government position he yet aspired to, but in circumstances that would encumber him professionally and personally. The slaying of the popular and charismatic president; the manner, timing and place of his death precipitated, with the aid of close Kennedy friends and family, the creation of a cult of personality that elevated the late president to a position that dwarfed the corporal entity of his successor. In the early days of Johnson’s administration, the resentment, frustration and nagging feelings of inferiority that this inflicted were largely subsumed by his determination to secure the legacy of America’s lost leader. As crises mounted, however, so did his inability to escape fully from the presence of JFK

I will repeat today what I said on that sorrowful day in November 1963: ‘I will lead and I will do the best I can.’ … For myself, I ask only, in the words of an ancient leader: ‘Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people: for who can judge this thy people, that is so great?’

Lyndon B. Johnson, Inaugural, 20 January, 1964