LBJ
Turns out that pettiness, childishness, and not suffering those who don’t think he is the greatest thing since banana popsicles did not start in the White House in the twenty-first century. Pres. Lyndon Baines Johnson seems to have been almost as petty and childish and some who followed him:
“Extraordinarily difficult to work for, he was given to bellowing rages, self-pitying rants, explosions of vulgar language, and lengthy boastful monologues. Ingratiating himself with people who could help him, he was frequently tyrannical in his treatment of others, including his long-suffering aides.”
The Anti-MLK
Described as “calculating if not devious,” the non-violent strategy adopted by Martin Luther King, Jr. requires as a necessity the identification of perfect oppositional figures of law enforcement authority to carry out its intent. One of those so identified was Dallas Country sheriff, Jim Clark. Imagery is put to effective use to describe Clark:
“know as a hot-tempered white racist…jowly, corpulent figure who wore a tight-fitting uniform and a helmet with a Confederate flag on it.”
Gov. George Wallace
The profoundly, intensely racist Governor—that is, one of the profoundly, intensely racist Governors of Alabama—George Wallace managed to put together an imagery laden construction of a judge who dared to adopt the rule of law rather than the rule of racism in a decision handed down which Wallace disapproved. Wallace described John Johnson as:
“a low-down, carpetbaggin’, scalawagin’, race-mixin’ liar.”
The Culture Wars
The culture war was about to take a major turn in favor of the liberal agenda after having been solidly in place as a conservative bastion for more than half a century. This conservatism is reflected through imagery referencing pop culture hits in America at the time:
“Bonanza, The Andy Griffith Show, Bewitched continued to draw large audiences. Risk-averse new shows like The Monkees joined them in 1966. On Broadway, noncontroversial musicals such as Man of La Mancha, Cabaret and Sweet Charity were box office hits.”
