And now...

...it's time to turn from the lessons of William Jennings Bryan to those of another representative of the populist tradition in the Democratic Party, though he's not often thought of in those terms these days.

From his time as a country schoolteacher through his political career as a staffer, Congressman, Senator and Presienent of these United States, Lyndon Baines Johnson was called many things. I've always called him the greatest Democratic President of my lifetime (and, thus, the greatest President of my lifetime, period), the ugly war he inherited and foolishly expanded notwithstanding. He always called himself a populist.

This week I'll be listing some of the reasons I hold him in such esteem. Meanwhile, we'll kick off our series of Lessons From Lyndon with this still timely statement, issued in response to the nomination of John Kennedy in 1960...

"Now let our party unite behind our candidate - let us sweep the country this November, so that in January Democratic leadership may be restored to America in what promise to be the most challenging and difficult days in our history."

Lyndon Baines Johnson,
Democrat