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LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON
[LBJ Library Photo by Yoichi R. Okamoto]
1908-1973
36th President (1963-1969), Vice President (1963)
Education: Southwest Texas State Teachers College
Occupation: teacher
Political Affiliation: Democrat
Religious Affiliation: Disciples of Christ
Summary of Religious Views:
Views on Religion & Politics:
Quotations:
". . . our Constitution wisely separates church and state, separates religion and Government. But this does not mean that men of Government should divorce themselves from religion. On the contrary, a first responsibility of national leadership, as I see it, is spiritual leadership, for I deeply believe that America will prevail not because her pocketbooks are big, but because the principles of her people are strong." -- Remarks in Austin at the Dedication of the Agudas Achim Synagogue, 30 December 1963
"I am not a theologian. I am not a philosopher. I am just a public servant that is doing the very best I know how. But in more than 3 decades of public life, I have seen first-hand how basic spiritual beliefs and deeds can shatter barriers of politics and bigotry. I have seen those barriers crumble in the presence of faith and hope, and from this experience I have drawn new hope that the seemingly insurmountable moral issues that we face at home and abroad today can be resolved by men of strong faith and men of brave deeds.
"We can only do this if the separation of church and state, a principle to which Baptists have given personal witness for all their long history, only if the separation of church and state does not mean the divorce of spiritual values from secular affairs. To day we have common purposes. Great questions of war and peace, of civil rights and education, the elimination of poverty at home and abroad, are the concern of millions who see no difference in this regard between their beliefs and their social obligations. This principle, the identity of private. morality and public conscience, is as deeply rooted in our tradition and Constitution as the principle of legal separation. Washington in his first inaugural said that the roots of national policy lay in private morality." -- Remarks to the Southern Baptist Christian Leadership Seminar, 25 March 1964
"I believe in the American tradition of separation of church and state which is expressed in the First Amendment to the Constitution. By my office -- and by personal conviction -- I am sworn to uphold that tradition." -- Interview, Baptist Standard, October, 1964
"This was the first nation in the history of the world to be founded with a purpose. The great phrases of that purpose still sound in every American heart, North and South: 'All men are created equal'--'government by consent of the governed'--'give me liberty or give me death.' Well, those are not just clever words, or those are not just empty theories. In their name Americans have fought and died for two centuries, and tonight around the world they stand there as guardians of our liberty, risking their lives.
"Those words are a promise to every citizen that he shall share in the dignity of man. This dignity cannot be found in a man's possessions; it cannot be found in his power, or in his position. It really rests on his right to be treated as a man equal in opportunity to all others. It says that he shall share in freedom, he shall choose his leaders, educate his children, and provide for his family according to his ability and his merits as a human being.
"To apply any other test--to deny a man his hopes because of his color or race, his religion or the place of his birth--is not only to do injustice, it is to deny America and to dishonor the dead who gave their lives for American freedom." -- Special Message to the Congress: The American Promise, 15 March 1965
References, Links, & Further Reading: Books, Articles, Links
Books
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Articles
Robert Dallek, "Three New Revelations About LBJ," The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 281, No. 4; April 1998, pp. 42 - 44
Lewis J. Gould, Harry McPherson, and Jack Valenti, "Reconsidering LBJ," Wilson Quarterly, 24, Spring 2000, pp. 80-96
Links
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