Lesson 20 The Decline of Liberalism
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Franklin D. Roosevelt came of political age in the era of his cousin, Theodore Roosevelt,
the first president to use the strong arm of government to curb the excesses of big business.
In the 1930s, FDR himself broke new ground in imagining the ways that government might involve itself in solving social problems.
The New Deal transformed American politics,
forging a democratic coalition that would dominate the political scene for nearly 40 years.
Underlying this reality was a consensus that could be called the essence of liberalism,
namely that a robust federal government was a positive force in American life,
providing a needed measure of economic and military security.
Polls in the 1950s generally reflected the widely shared belief that government was good.
And even when the Republicans won the White House, Dwight Eisenhower made no move to dismantle the core programs and policies of the New Deal.
Lyndon Johnson, who had cut his political teeth in the New Deal era, embraced the legacy of liberalism and carried it to new heights.
But even at its peak, cracks were beginning to show in the foundations.
Johnson may have been the architect of liberal government's crowning achievements, but he
ironically would also become one of the principal agents of its demise.
New Deal era liberalism really revolved around that one word security.
Security from foreign threats, security from economic depression, security from the risks
of illness and old age. After the Second World War, liberalism continued to metamorphose.
It became more and more concerned with the rudimentary idea of social justice for all Americans.
White Southern Democrats had been an essential part of the New Deal coalition. But as the
to peel away.
That's why I think Lyndon Johnson's emergence as the principal champion of liberalism in
the 1960s is so interesting.
Almost alone among white Southern politicians, he does not oppose the civil rights movement
that's taking shape in the South.
He can tie together that older New Deal tradition rooted in the economic reform of the South
with the new variety of liberalism based on the promotion of economic growth and of civil
and political equality.
You've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels and you've got to indicate
to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine
will be prevented from working.
But in the 1960s, Johnson's brand of liberalism came under attack from the New Left.
Violence in the cities and bitter divisions over Vietnam kept the country in turmoil.
I shall not seek and I will not accept.
Johnson's decision not to run for re-election, followed by Robert Kennedy's assassination,
left the Democratic Party rudderless in the storm.
They were in a state of disarray because the New Deal coalition was breaking up and Vietnam
was causing strife within the Democratic Party and the whole Chicago Convention and the debacle
there was largely over the ascension with respect to the war.
And for that reason, I request the suspension of the rule.
Wisconsin is not recognized for that purpose.
The turmoil of the 1968 Democratic Convention reflected the discord within the party and within the nation as a whole.
Outside the Chicago amphitheater, several thousand students and anti-war activists had
descended on the city to pressure delegates to repudiate Johnson's Vietnam policy.
The night the delegates gathered to nominate their candidate for president, minor skirmishes
outside turned into a major battle between protesters and the police.
There were certainly a significant number of demonstrators who wanted to have a riot.
And then there were police agents who also wanted a riot because they thought it would
help shore up the forces of the law and order and make them look more necessary.
I proudly accept the nomination of our party.
In the end, Vice President Hubert Humphrey received the nomination from an embattled
Video Summary & Chapters
No chapters for this video generated yet.
Video Transcript
Franklin D. Roosevelt came of political age in the era of his cousin, Theodore Roosevelt,
the first president to use the strong arm of government to curb the excesses of big business.
In the 1930s, FDR himself broke new ground in imagining the ways that government might involve itself in solving social problems.
The New Deal transformed American politics,
forging a democratic coalition that would dominate the political scene for nearly 40 years.
Underlying this reality was a consensus that could be called the essence of liberalism,
namely that a robust federal government was a positive force in American life,
providing a needed measure of economic and military security.
Polls in the 1950s generally reflected the widely shared belief that government was good.
And even when the Republicans won the White House, Dwight Eisenhower made no move to dismantle the core programs and policies of the New Deal.
Lyndon Johnson, who had cut his political teeth in the New Deal era, embraced the legacy of liberalism and carried it to new heights.
But even at its peak, cracks were beginning to show in the foundations.
Johnson may have been the architect of liberal government's crowning achievements, but he
ironically would also become one of the principal agents of its demise.
New Deal era liberalism really revolved around that one word security.
Security from foreign threats, security from economic depression, security from the risks
of illness and old age. After the Second World War, liberalism continued to metamorphose.
It became more and more concerned with the rudimentary idea of social justice for all Americans.
White Southern Democrats had been an essential part of the New Deal coalition. But as the
to peel away.
That's why I think Lyndon Johnson's emergence as the principal champion of liberalism in
the 1960s is so interesting.
Almost alone among white Southern politicians, he does not oppose the civil rights movement
that's taking shape in the South.
He can tie together that older New Deal tradition rooted in the economic reform of the South
with the new variety of liberalism based on the promotion of economic growth and of civil
and political equality.
You've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels and you've got to indicate
to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine
will be prevented from working.
But in the 1960s, Johnson's brand of liberalism came under attack from the New Left.
Violence in the cities and bitter divisions over Vietnam kept the country in turmoil.
I shall not seek and I will not accept.
Johnson's decision not to run for re-election, followed by Robert Kennedy's assassination,
left the Democratic Party rudderless in the storm.
They were in a state of disarray because the New Deal coalition was breaking up and Vietnam
was causing strife within the Democratic Party and the whole Chicago Convention and the debacle
there was largely over the ascension with respect to the war.
And for that reason, I request the suspension of the rule.
Wisconsin is not recognized for that purpose.
The turmoil of the 1968 Democratic Convention reflected the discord within the party and within the nation as a whole.
Outside the Chicago amphitheater, several thousand students and anti-war activists had
descended on the city to pressure delegates to repudiate Johnson's Vietnam policy.
The night the delegates gathered to nominate their candidate for president, minor skirmishes
outside turned into a major battle between protesters and the police.
There were certainly a significant number of demonstrators who wanted to have a riot.
And then there were police agents who also wanted a riot because they thought it would
help shore up the forces of the law and order and make them look more necessary.
I proudly accept the nomination of our party.
In the end, Vice President Hubert Humphrey received the nomination from an embattled
