For inauguration zeal, LBJ '65 may be the precedent for Obama
The 1.2 million spectators who mobbed [Lyndon] Johnson's inauguration - still a record - are remembered today as little more than a trivia question and a crowd-control model. But as Barack Obama prepares to be sworn in Jan. 20 on Abraham Lincoln's Bible to inherit Franklin D. Roosevelt's economy - while facing inevitable comparisons to John F. Kennedy's style and Ronald Reagan's rhetoric - the 1965 event has begun to look like its own precedent: The only inaugural to compare to this one for sheer enthusiasm and participation by often-disaffected citizens.
Then, as now, triumphant Democrats - especially African-Americans who played crucial roles in both sweeping victories - came to Washington both to welcome a new president and to enshrine a new coalition many of them imagined could permanently realign American politics.
"It was an extraordinary moment for liberals: They had what they believed was a mandate for pretty sweeping change," said Thomas J. Sugrue, a University of Pennsylvania historian and author of "Sweet Land of Liberty," about northern civil-rights activism. "The expectation of an extraordinary presidency played into Johnson's hubris."
In political terms, Johnson's inauguration was anticlimactic. He had assumed office on a Dallas tarmac in November 1963 following Kennedy's assassination, and within months signed the Civil Rights Act, effectively abolishing Jim Crow laws and ending legal discrimination. In 1964, Johnson was elected to a full term with the largest share of the popular vote in modern history. Early the following January, he delivered a State of the Union address laying out his ambitious "Great Society" agenda.
"People viewed the federal government as a positive force in American society," said Randall B. Woods, a University of Arkansas historian and the author of the biography "LBJ: Architect of American Ambition." "That election and this election served as bookends to a long period of conservatism and distrust of the federal government."...
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Then, as now, triumphant Democrats - especially African-Americans who played crucial roles in both sweeping victories - came to Washington both to welcome a new president and to enshrine a new coalition many of them imagined could permanently realign American politics.
"It was an extraordinary moment for liberals: They had what they believed was a mandate for pretty sweeping change," said Thomas J. Sugrue, a University of Pennsylvania historian and author of "Sweet Land of Liberty," about northern civil-rights activism. "The expectation of an extraordinary presidency played into Johnson's hubris."
In political terms, Johnson's inauguration was anticlimactic. He had assumed office on a Dallas tarmac in November 1963 following Kennedy's assassination, and within months signed the Civil Rights Act, effectively abolishing Jim Crow laws and ending legal discrimination. In 1964, Johnson was elected to a full term with the largest share of the popular vote in modern history. Early the following January, he delivered a State of the Union address laying out his ambitious "Great Society" agenda.
"People viewed the federal government as a positive force in American society," said Randall B. Woods, a University of Arkansas historian and the author of the biography "LBJ: Architect of American Ambition." "That election and this election served as bookends to a long period of conservatism and distrust of the federal government."...
Wearing a dinner jacket in place of his predecessors' white tie and tails, Johnson was reportedly the first president since George Washington to dance at his own inauguration. At one ball, he changed partners nine times in 13 minutes - and elsewhere he sought out a black couple on the dance floor. A photo of the encounter - Lady Bird dancing with a White House aide, Hobart Taylor, and Johnson dancing with the aide's wife, Lynette - appeared quickly in Jet magazine.
When, after visiting all five inaugural balls, the first couple retired for the night, Johnson offered a word of caution to his fellow partiers."Don't stay up late," the president said, according to one biographer."We're on our way to the Great Society."