Posted on 06/27/2005 5:41:38 PM PDT by KevinDavis
Kennedy had gotten involved in the revolution in Vietnam and left the resulting mess to Johnson, who got sucked in deeper and deeper. LBJ was in a terrible dilemma. He knew he couldn’t win in Vietnam, but he also knew he couldn’t quit, because the political consequences of losing were too great. So the stalemate in Vietnam just kept getting worse, and more and more expensive.
Johnson didn’t want to give up his Great Society programs, and he didn’t want to raise taxes, so he absolutely had to cut everything else—and the space race was a big fat money pot. But, as with the war in Vietnam, the consequences of losing the Space Race were also unacceptable. Remember, to LBJ we were in a desperate race to see who was going to own space—free men or the tyrants of the USSR—and the future of the world depended on making that come out right.
He had tried to negotiate a compromise in Vietnam, but couldn’t get the other side interested. So he looked for a compromise in the space race instead, and there, probably to his surprise, he succeeded. It was early 1966, and the US was gaining but still hadn’t quite caught up to the Russians in space. In one sense, it appeared the Soviets were about four months ahead. On January 31, 1966 the USSR launched Luna 9, which made mankind’s first soft landing on the Moon. America’s first soft landing came four months later, with Surveyor 1, on April 30, 1966.
(Excerpt) Read more at thespacereview.com ...
LBJ had one bad idea after another even before he became Pres. Good for him and his cronies, but we're still paying.
Thanks for posting this, Kevin...
Sure thing.. It seems that LBJ did a sh*t load of damage to this nation....
The SOB sure did his best...
Tons.
Yep...
er...to damage the Nation...
He was behind the Outer Space Treaty? Bastard is right, he abandoned future potential development in space because he didn't think we could beat the Russians. He played to lose, what a frikin' coward!
Basically todays mentality of the Democrat Party...
arrgh!
the vietnam era--
the defining experience of my life.
i sincerely hope that johnson, mcnamara, mcgovern, carter, kerry, fonda, clintons, teddy, et al go to hell.
Even when Democrat Presidents AREN'T out-and-out traitors, they still are bad at leading.
I can't decide whether LBJ or Carter did more damage.
I say worse, but it will get me banned from this board...
Imagine the difference in this world had LBJ hadn't gotten away with voter fraud in 1948(I believe it was) that ultimately put him in the Leadership position
I think the Democrat party would be different...
Try reading Barr McClellan's book "Blood, Money, And Power: How LBJ Killed JFK". It will make you think!!
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