when lyndon and lady bird came to washington, lyndon's father had known sam rayburn, and mr. sam, as they called him, used to come and spend sundays, you know have sunday breakfast and then stay around the johnsons' little apartment, and he was very fond of both lyndon and lady bird. once, when johnson was still a young assistant, he got pneumonia, which of course was very serious back in those days. mrs. johnson was back in texas on a vacation, and rayburn sat next to johnson's bed all night in the hospital, in a straight backed wooden chair. he was so afraid, he was a chain smoker, he smoked all night, but he was so afraid of making a movement and disturbing lyndon, that he didn't brush, want to get up and brush the ashes away. so when lyndon johnson woke up in the morning, sam rayburn was sitting there with his lapels covered with this cigarette ash. as soon as he saw that lyndon johnson was awake, johnson recalled, rayburn leaned over him and said, "lyndon, don't worry about anything, if you need anything, call on me." and shortly johnson did call on rayburn. rayburn got

. >> reporter: like most 15-year-olds, lyndon baty loves sports. but not for the usual reasons. >> it's my hobby. it's an outlet for me to, you know, kind of escape all my medical history. >> reporter: born with a rare kidney disease, lyndon has spent half his life in hospital rooms. >> he has dialysis from 9:00 at night until 7:00 in the morning. he has five injections a week. >> reporter: his immune system has become so weak, he can no longer be around other kids. >> you know, when the doctor told me that, i mean, that really just, you know, sucked the life out of me. >> reporter: lyndon's parents were determined to find a way to connect lyndon at home to a life in high school. his eyes and ears? a four-wheel robot who walks the halls for him. all they need is a laptop and a wifi connection. >> came up with the baty-bot. >> what can you say about this? >> reporter: but while the robot connected lyndon, it could not heal him. he can't be exposed to classes filled with other children. and he can't play sports. but one place he can go is the safety

but to the lyndon resources is still thriving and j. c. hayward recently visited their headquarters in arlington, virginia. >> reporter: they own two successful commercial businesses, a full service printing company, and a warehousing facility. >> while we are happy to provide paychecks, and help people ensure that they are able to meet their financial obligations, we really enjoy all of those other aspects that come along with unemployment. >> lyndon resources serves the needs of people with severe intellectual and physical disabilities, including wounded warrior veterans. >>> 28-year-old megan greenwood served four years in the air force as a medic. when she returned from iraq, she suffered from posttraumatic stress. >> i am considered a disabled vet. because of pt s ddepression and migraines as well. and they do hinder me from working sometimes. >> reporter: lyndon is also strongly committed to employment needs of students. they work with local school systems, the virginia department of rehabilitation services, and local community servi

that was lyndon johnson. the goldwater part of that speech was written by a number of people. >> it was written by bill moyers. he wrote that. there was a call and response kind of thing that caught on. that was an early one. >> call and response? >> "not senator goldwater." and then the crowd respond. >> senator humphrey had ambitions for the presidency for quite a while. he toyed with it in 1952 and made a real bid in 1960. harry was finally at the convention accepting the vice- presidential nomination. you can see how excited he was about the moment. he earned the nickname "the happy warrior." he loved politics, right? >> he loved politics. he was joyful about politics. he believed it was a way to better the country, to change the country. it was an innocent way. he believed in the american people. he really believed in our system. that was the way for him to change the country. >> another clip, and this was later on in 1974 when hubert humphrey made audiotapes. thosegoing to use some of throughout the pro

. >> schieffer: i keep thinking back to people like lyndon johnson and to think that lyndon johnson would have been sit ing there in oval office just watching this happen and not trying to push these people, not calling them, not doing the direct lobbying. i mean, is the president doing we don't know about or haven't heard about? >> if barack obama had the republican party that lyndon johnson dealt with, i have no doubt we would make progress. barack obama sat with john boehner who is largely, no offense to chairman priebus, the head of the republican party. nothing will get passed in congress without getting through john boehner, right? and barack obama put out a plan that would say, if you make a lot of money in this country, you're going to pay a little bit more. but we're going to get our fiscal house nor. john boehner went back to his house republican caucus and they said, we're not going to do it. regardless of the fact that for time after time day after day they say let's not saddle our children with debt and deficits. the president outlined a way we could do it. and john boehner a

thank you. >> lyndon johnson -- the most famous moment between lyndon johnson and wallace came in the midst of the selma crisis in which president johnson brought him to washington, or actually, governor wallace volunteered to meet with him where he got the full treatment from lyndon johnson. he was pretty intimidated by the whole process, but he was not alone in that respect. lyndon johnson intimidated everyone. that was, of course, in the early 1960's. the last hurrah for the kind of racial campaign came in 1970 against albert brewer, who had been one of his proteges. he replaced his wife as governor. in the wake of that campaign, it was a pretty all out use of the race issue, attacks that brewer was a candidate of blacks. in the aftermath of that, politically, he said to many of his aides that this was the last campaign he would be able to run like this. the public mood of voters was changing and black voters were fully enfranchised at that moment. when he emotionally changed -- that, i think, really comes later on. >> as we discussed with dan carter a little earlier, george kellne

vietnam war under lyndon johnson was gradualism. we're going to tighten the screw and eventually they're going to give up. yeah right. i think if barry had been president, and i'm not saying it would have been a good move or a bad move. i'm not sure. but i think he would have come in with with what later became the colin powell doctrine. if you're going to go to war, you have to go with the attitude that you want to win it in the next hour. that's his attitude. then he said we lost the war in vietnam for one reason. the politicians tried to run the war. in his quote. and politicians don't know their ass from a hot rock about running a war. that was his quote. i think he would have taken a far more aggressive approach to it, as compared to johnson's gradualism, which dragged out almost as long as our current wars. >> what kind of a president would he have been? dorothy olson. >> barry would have been something we don't see too often today. i think he would have been a very honest president. i think he would have been very candid as h

you and i both know a lot about the people who worked for lyndon johnson. one thing they say it's a tough thing for them is when people say last my son in vietnam. why did he die? would you say for iraq? >> it is the hardest thing. i think anyone who is in a position of responsibility, with a conflict occurs and you will come as choice and i would go to the hospitals to meet with the wounded whose lives are changed forever, and meet with their families and meet with the families of those who have been killed, we would need to ourselves, we are going in, what is it that we could say or do that would help them understand the appreciation that we in america have for this sacrifice? the individual sacrifices and the sacrifices of families as well because he sacrificed and they serve. and we would come out of those meetings almost invariably inspired, not feeling that we had hoped to them, but feeling they had hoped us. the pride they have in their service, the cohesion they feel with the units they were and come in their desire get back to their unit, you just

the time when people were friends across aisles, you know, republicans and dem -- especially during lyndon johnson's administration. you know, they would play cards and drink together and they were friends and they would compromise. there was a civility in the body politics and that seems to be gone. and i think that obama has tried to reach out, and i think that the other side is really intransigent. i don't know if there's anything that he could have done differently.

he's just managed to document and plum every depth of lyndon johnson so far, and, of course, his first book "the power broker "about robert mosess caused such a stir and continues to be a watershed benchmark for how to write a biography. so understandably, this new volume which, i believe, still only gets us into the vice presidency and not even into his presidency proper yet. so even though caro who is not getting younger by any stretch of the imagination has been working on lyndon johnson for, you know, almost three decades, i believe, now his next volume he's going to have to address the presidency, and it'll be interesting to see how quickly he'll be able to produce it. um, so certainly, i think this fourth volume is exciting on its own, but it's also exciting for what additional research and scholarship and new material he'll be able to present about lyndon johnson's presidency some years down the line. >> and finally, let's return to where we began, sarah weinman. the publishing industry and what changes are we going to see in 2012? and i know that's kind of a dumb question, but

but let's talk about lyndon johnson. i think -- i didn't have time to cover this in the remarks, but i think you could also say besides the other in the course of his conduct general westmoreland was guilty of macrodisobedience and the reason i say that is in the early 1966 february of that year there was a major conference in honolulu. one way of conducting the war was to have conferences periodically, various locations and then the president would come sometimes and lyndon johnson came to the conference in february, 1966 and westmorland came from vietnam and so did the two senior vietnamese. president too and the vice president as the fenimore. in the the plate of this conference was to boost american support for pacification, which you have already heard me say westmorland ignored in his intelligence he said pacification board and so on, and so it's not just lyndon johnson focusing on callamore although lots of times when he said that, but now he's saying we've got to get behind the pacification effort if we are ever

even though caro, who is not getting younger by any stretch of the imagination has been working on lyndon johnson for almost three decades i believe now. his next volume he is going to have to address the presidency and will be interesting to see how quickly he will be able to produce it. so certainly, think this fourth volume is exciting on its own but it's also exciting for white additional research and scholarship and a materials fee will be able to present about lyndon johnson's presidency some years down the road wind. >> host: finally let's return to where we began sarah weinman. the publishing industry and what changes are we going to see in 2012 and i know that's kind of a question, but what are you going to be looking for? >> guest: well i think, it's more i think a very complicated question. certainly, it will be very interesting to see how amazon contends with the publisher. for example as i noted earlier in the broadcast it has a new new york based division, but it also has several imprints mostly focused on genre based out of seattle. so what i'm wondering is whether amazon's

but let's talk about lyndon johnson. i think -- i didn't have time to cover this in the remarks, but i think you could also say besides the other in the course of his conduct general westmoreland was guilty of macrodisobedience and the reason i say that is in the early 1966 february of that year there was a major conference in honolulu. one way of conducting the war was to have conferences periodically, various locations and then the president would come sometimes and lyndon johnson came to the conference in february, 1966 and westmorland came from vietnam and so did the two senior vietnamese. president too and the vice president as the fenimore. in the the plate of this conference was to boost american support for pacification, which you have already heard me say westmorland ignored in his intelligence he said pacification board and so on, and so it's not just lyndon johnson focusing on callamore although lots of times when he said that, but now he's saying we've got to get behind the pacification effort if we are ever

but let's talk about lyndon johnson. i think -- i didn't have time to cover this in the remarks, but i think you could also say besides the other in the course of his conduct general westmoreland was guilty of macrodisobedience and the reason i say that is in the early 1966 february of that year there was a major conference in honolulu. one way of conducting the war was to have conferences periodically, various locations and then the president would come sometimes and lyndon johnson came to the conference in february, 1966 and westmorland came from vietnam and so did the two senior vietnamese. president too and the vice president as the fenimore. in the the plate of this conference was to boost american support for pacification, which you have already heard me say westmorland ignored in his intelligence he said pacification board and so on, and so it's not just lyndon johnson focusing on callamore although lots of times when he said that, but now he's saying we've got to get behind the pacification effort if we are ever

he manage to document and plum every depth of lyndon johnson. his first book, powerbroker of robert moses caused it to stir and continues to be a watershed benchmark for how to write a biography. so understandably this new volume which i believe still only get this into the vice presidency and not even the presidency proper yet. even though caro is not getting younger by any stretch of the imagination has been working almost three decades. his next volume he has to address the presidency and will be interesting to see how quickly he will produce it. this fourth volume is exciting on its own but also exciting for what additional research and scholarship and new materials they will be able to present about lyndon johnson's presidency some years down the line. >> host: the publishing industry and what changes are we going to see in 2012? i know that is kind of a dumb question but what are you looking for? >> guest: a very complicated question. certainly it will be very interesting to see how amazon contends with a publisher for example. as i noted

it's managed to document every death of lyndon johnson and continues to be a watershed benchmark and write a biography so understandably this new volume which i believe still gets us into the presidency and not even to the presidency proper yet so even though carow, who is now getting under by any stretch of the imagination has been working on lyndon johnson's almost three decades i believe now his next volume he's going to have to adjust the presidency and will be interesting to see how quickly he will be able to produce it. the fourth volume is exciting on its own but it's also exciting for what additional research and scholarship will be able to present some years down the line. >> host: finally let's return to where we began, sarah weinman. the publishing industry and what changes are we going to see in 2012? i know this kind of a dumb question but what are you going to be looking for? >> guest: it's more i think every complicated question. certainly will be very interesting to see how amazon contends to the publisher. flexible, as i noted earlier in the broadcast it has a new ed

in the 1964 presidential election, it was lyndon johnson running for a full term, and his republican opponent was barry goldwater, republican senator from arizona. it came about in the research that johnson's campaign, the democratic national committee and the advertising firm that they hired, doyle, dane burnback, a very up and coming, prominent advertising firm from new york, came out of the research they did and the thinking and the talking that they did about where's goldwater vulnerable, where can we go after him, initially they thought it was of going to be civil rights because goldwater had voted against the civil rights act of 1964. but that issue sort of faded. then they thought it might be the vietnam war, but neither candidate was interested in talking about vietnam at that time. so it came down to goldwater's statements about nuclear weaponry. and it, goldwater had made so many reckless remarks. for example, he had joked about lobbing a missile into the men's room of the kremlin after kennedy had talked about sending a man to the moon. he said i don't want to send a missi

the last eight presidents, seven lived longer than expected, the exception lyndon johnson who died of a heart attack. he was 64. >>> many are skipping the long waits at the hospital. nearly 3 million people go to urgent care centers each week according to the urgent care association of america. there are more than 9200 centers. patients are attracted to the lower cost. urgent care fees are half of those at er. still some argue it's not the same as having a regular physician who knows all of your medical history. >> abc2news.com wants to be the place for all the information you nee.d need. ?iewp next everybody feeling stressed out about the holiday shopping and all the family obligation? why having a significant other around to share that burden with may cause you more anxiety. >>> and an icy situation for man's best friend. how rescuers were able to save this up.

and the years of lyndon johnson, passage of power. that's coming out in may and that's the fourth in his lbj biographical centric sarah weinman, what has caught your eye for early 2012? >> well, certainly i remember the announcement and i think i did the internet virtual equivalent of the happy dance for me, his books are so good. he just managed to document, and, of course, his first book, powerbroker of a robert moses cause such a stir, and continued to be a watershed benchmark for how to write a biography. so understandably, this new volume, which i believe still only gets us into the vice presidency and not even to his presidency proper yet. so even though caro who's not getting any younger, has been working on lyndon johnson for almost three decades i believe now. his next wife is going to have to address the presidency. in be interesting to see how quickly he will be able to produce it. so certainly i think this fourth one is exciting on its own but it's also exciting for what additional research and scholarship and nearly kille

lyndon johnson had the civil rights movement. i think we begin with that. this book comes out at a moment when the country sees the power and possibility of occupy, 99%, and how that has shifted. it is still evolving. it has shifted the center of political gravity of our dialogue. the issue has been off the radar for so long. >> roosevelt surfed and harnessed those movements. he used them to get legislation passed to initiate programs. obama is still getting on his wet suit. to read the essay she wrote in 2008, there was a sense of exhibits -- exuberance. you say that hope is not optimism that expects things to turn out well. it seems like he confused those two things. >> i will come back to what i write about in the book. the expectations were so great and high. go back to 2008. the back to the election and year when we are fortunate region were fortunate enough to be living with debates that were not cruel reality shows. every week, there were debates among the democratic candidates. barack obama embodied change. it seemed he brought into politics a gener

. >> reporter: like most 15-year-olds, lyndon baty loves sports. but not for the usual reasons. >> it's my hobby. it is an outlet for me. kind of escape all of my medical history. >> reporter: born with a rare kidney disease, lyndon has spent half his life in hospital rooms. >> he has dialysis from 9:00 at night until 7:00 in the morning. he has five injections a week. >> reporter: his immune system has become so weak he can no longer be around other kids. >> you know when the doctor told me that, i mean -- that really sucked the life out of me. >> reporter: lyndon's parents were determined to try to connect him at home to a life in high school. his eyes and ears? a four-wheeled robot who walks the halls for him. all he needs is a laptop and a wi-fi connection. >> they came up with the baty-bot. >> what can you say about this? >> reporter: while the robot connected lindon, it cannot heal him. he can't be exposed to classes filled with children and he can't play sports. but one place he can go -- is the safety of a small booth at the top of the blea

>> reporter: while the robot connected lyndon it can't heal him. he can't be exposed to classes filled with children and he can't play sports. but one place he can go -- is the safety of a small booth at the top of the bleachers. where he sits mostly by himself, but where his voice certainly carries. i just really look to make as much is not as possible. i really just want to be part of it, just to be part of the sports team. picked up by sheldon. he could go all the way! touchdown! i watch "monday night football" a lot. so i got some ideas from them. oh, wow! what a play! oh! ow! come on, man! >> i think his attitude with that sports announcing it gives him a desire to keep going. >> yes, i have this kidney disease, yet i am happy. i want people to look at me and say "he can be happy with that. you know why can't i be happy?" for abc news, tom rinaldi, espn. >> what a wonderful attitude. >> did you have that at 15 years old? >> we could learn a lot from him. >> definitely makes you appreciate the things you have in life when you get up and see som

you and i both know a lot about the people who worked for lyndon johnson. one thing they say it's a tough thing for them is when people say last my son in vietnam. why did he die? would you say for iraq? >> it is the hardest thing. i think anyone who is in a position of responsibility, with a conflict occurs and you will come as choice and i would go to the hospitals to meet with the wounded whose lives are changed forever, and meet with their families and meet with the families of those who have been killed, we would need to ourselves, we are going in, what is it that we could say or do that would help them understand the appreciation that we in america have for this sacrifice? the individual sacrifices and the sacrifices of families as well because he sacrificed and they serve. and we would come out of those meetings almost invariably inspired, not feeling that we had hoped to them, but feeling they had hoped us. the pride they have in their service, the cohesion they feel with the units they were and come in their desire get back to their unit, you just

you and i both know a lot about the people who worked for lyndon johnson. one thing they say it's a tough thing for them is when people say last my son in vietnam. why did he die? would you say for iraq? >> it is the hardest thing. i think anyone who is in a position of responsibility, with a conflict occurs and you will come as choice and i would go to the hospitals to meet with the wounded whose lives are changed forever, and meet with their families and meet with the families of those who have been killed, we would need to ourselves, we are going in, what is it that we could say or do that would help them understand the appreciation that we in america have for this sacrifice? the individual sacrifices and the sacrifices of families as well because he sacrificed and they serve. and we would come out of those meetings almost invariably inspired, not feeling that we had hoped to them, but feeling they had hoped us. the pride they have in their service, the cohesion they feel with the units they were and come in their desire get back to their unit, you just

>> well, we all cried as we listened to lyndon johnson deliver that speech to the nation and he got to that point after and he said, and we shall overcome. >> really, it's all of us who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice and we shall overcome. [ applause ] >> that was the first time hearing an american president use the theme song of the movement. i looked at dr. king, tears came down his face, and we all cried a little and dr. king said, we will make it from selma to montgomery and a voters rights will be passed. he he was right. congress debated the act, passeded it act, and it was signed into law on august 6th, 1965, almost 47 years later. there are people who want to subvert that act, make it almost impossible for people all across america to cast a vote. one person, one vote. that is part of our democratic process. it's part of our democracy. and now people want to make it hard sh hard, want to make it difficult. photo i.d.s in early voting. we cannot go back. >> you were the last active of the big six leaders of the '60s of the voter rights movement. it m

you studied many presidencies, franklin roosevelt, lyndon johnson. were you struck by how may times the word happy came up in these conversations because i was. and something, you know, she's nothing if not france or out these interviews. and one thing that she says more than once is that when a husband is elected in 1960 she had a novel reaction, very unlike most incoming first lady's. she was terrified and she was depressed. partly because she just given birth but part of because she thought it would wreck their family life. the osha such a fishbowl and tommy pressures. and she was amazed to find as she said that it had the opposite effect. during their marriage since 1953, john kennedy had run for vice president, run for reelection in the senate. and so was gone she said almost every weekend. very much a part. the first time now they were there in that house he worked in the oval office. they were together in physical proximity a lot more. so i think there was an acceleration contrary to what she expected that there really weren't their happiest y

pushing back in a speech at the lyndon baines johnson presidential library in austin, texas. citing the voting rights act of 1965. it says recent efforts to curtail voting rights in this country, quote, have the potential to reverse the progress that defines us. and has made this nation exceptional as well as an example for all the world. we must be true to the arc of america's history, which compels us to be more inclusive with regard to the franchise. franchise as in the vote. not as in, like, carl's jr. the attorney general tonight pledging his support for an anti-dirty tricks bill that barack obama sponsored when he was in the united states senate. the attorney general also pledging a thorough, he says fair review, of new restrictive state laws on voting and voter registration. interestingly, also, the attorney general tonight calling on the general public to see the protection of the right to vote in america, quote, as a moral imperative. to speak out, in his words, and raise awareness about what's at stake for voting rights. effectively calling on the citizens of this c

but then lyndon johnson called said we want you to run this pacification program. and that was a program of really a little bit of what's going on -- a lot of what's going on in afghanistan and anwr provinces in iraq, which is secure a part of iraq. if you go into a hot zone, secure at least one section of the town. make it livable for the people there. and then build out there. and once people can sort of go to work and raise their children and buy their rice and whatever, then secure some stability for the place and then start using your intelligence. and that's really what the phoenix pacification -- the overall program was pacification. get with the villagers. it's not a shooting war between us and some guy running around in the jungle. get to know their needs and run through there. we had the villlanlers -- villagers would know who they were. they could capture and hopefully ton them. he would say it's fond to kill bin laden or maybe a couplele of higher ups but you don't want to be killing the middle level guys. you want to interrogate them and maybe best of

he was lyndon johnson's choice. he didn't compete in a single primary. you can believe somebody could get the nomination without competing in a primary. today it's different but i think some of the rules still apply from 1968 or 1976. now, look, what i'm suggesting neil is probably not going to happen. we are stirring the pot. we're having fun. and it's okay to do that at the end of the year prior to the election. let's say you enter in early february. you missed the chance to qualify for the new hampshire primary, right? >> right. >> neil: have you missed the chance to qualify for south korea. >> yes because all those primaries are in january. if you enter in early february, the voting is over in iowa, new hampshire, south korea and florida. there is nothing can you do. >> neil: stupid question. i guess future primaries then, what is the first one you would be eligible for? let's say you are sarah palin or a jeb bush who raised this thought. early february is when you announce. then what are you -- what are you eligible for? >> you can qualify for some

in addition, lyndon johnson. there was a civil rights legislation in the 1960's that gave blacks and minorities the right to vote and fully participate in our democracy. i would like to make one comment regarding frank luntz. i'm curious why you are inflicting this man on us every christmas morning. this man is a propagandist, who uses -- language to upset the whole political process. i am curious why, each christmas morning, we are subjected to this. here is his one approach. blame washington. never take responsibility. this is the advice he gives republicans. los now we will leave it there. we'll let our listeners know that, -- host: we will leave it there. we'll let our listeners know that frank luntz, the president and ceo of luntz global, will be our guest. he will be here to talk about the focus currency has been working with leading up to the first voting of the 2012 -- focus groups he has been working with leading up to the first voting of the 2012 campaign. frank luntz will be our guest in about another

i missed it once and waited a whole year regretting the lost chance to track the lyndon leaves tiny migration. the next fall, refusing to endure that state of desolation again i asked everyone who loved me to please meet me just south of the border. we ordered green mussels and popcorn shrimp. the shrimp beat the mussels to the table. i drank for pleasure but since i left that state i hadn't found anything delicious so iate all the mussels. crouched, later in that state betrayal that come from learning some green things are not good. considering the law averages that a body in motion stays in motion unless faced with an equal or opposite force, peer pressure, skitology the projected near devastation of world forest should population the motdz of toilet paper consumption. germs vary. my role in the pressing the mean agent of common human hygiene i knew i never wanted to be near that state again. with extradition i was hardly away at all. when i first rolled over my parents were pleased and i left the state of never having rolled before. ditto, something on all fours to crawling. and once i cou

it's filled with photographs and family stories of celebrities and, oh, my goodness, presidents, and lyndon johnson and all kinds of people that mr. borge knew and worked with -- there are 13 dvds. it's going to be a wonderful, wonderful treat for you and your whole family if you make that call of support right now. but please, we need your support. yes, we do. we do need your support. and you do that by making a call. so please make that call. something we have a choice about, how about that! you have a choice -- it's viewers like you that make this happen. we're in charge! we're going back to the program now. and it's some wonderful routines. i'm thinking, "timid page turner." you're right, you're right, but remember, you can make that call during the program. so please -- or online, if you'd like. make that call of support right now. hello? hello? we're back with... anything he said was funny, really, if he was relaxed and just let it spill out. life was absurd to him and he grasped that, and it never disappointed him. [ applause ] [ laughter ] [ laughter ] [ typewriter dings ] [ carriag

it's lyndon johnson, i saw him in a rally. i was a kid, a teenager. >> when you heard the caller, 89 years old, he could still remember it and excited about the fact he saw mr. willkie in person. just in your experience, what importance is it to have seen a candidate? >> well, you contrast that and, again, you wonder if 50 years from now there will be folks like that because television, of course, has intervened between then and now and transformed the relationship between americans and their politicians and americans and their presidents. >> brian, this is "the contender" show and he saw willkie, he didn't see a president. the first time i met a contender was gene mccarthy. i had a sign, me and my friend, sophomore, at mcclatchy high school that said "all the way with l.b.j." and the college kids were shaking their fists at was. and mccarthy called us over there, why are you for the president? we didn't know. we said we think we have the war going on and need to support the commander in chief. he said, boys, that's a good rea

his legislative accomplishments are better than any other democratic president since lyndon johnson. is that correct. >> that is correct. if you look at the actual bills that have gone through congress which is one way of measuring leadership. mostly in the first couple of years. but the key thing is what you put your finger on a few minutes ago. guts. leadership, according to chris christie, mitt romney, any of themes is doing something that's unpopular but in the interest of the country. nobody in the military wanted him to get involved with libya. they didn't want him to deescalate from afghanistan. the pentagon did not want him to go after osama bin laden. they wanted to bomb that compound, which may have had disastrous results. he took, made risky choices. and they paid off for him. health care. he rolled the dice on his whole presidency, put all his chips on getting that through at the beginning of 2010. and it worked for him. that is the definition of leadership. it's not about whether you agree with him or not. george w. bush was a leader, ed. people who say, might not like g

>> johnson, lyndon johnson held a big rally in detroit. >> first one. >> first one, kick-off, labor day kick-off of the fall election campaign, 100,000 people in the audience and gave a speech and attacked barry gold water and it didn't go over very well. i think people thought, this is a slow start to the campaign, in fact "the new york times" story did sort of imply that it was a slow start to the campaign. they didn't know what johnson had in store for 50 million tv viewers late that night. >> the state of the race at time we look at '64, think landslide. did it feel like a land decide september 1964? >> some ways it did. johnson was ahead, that day probably 30 points ahead in the gallup polls. johnson was not going to be satisfied with just a within. he wanted an historic win. he wanted to beat fdr's numbers and his re-election and he wanted a mandate. >> all right. so the add ad airs once on nbc, 50 million people estimated to see it. and then it went viral in its day. explain. >> well, it -- that -- it created quite a stir because no one has seen anything quite like it. all of the