"Personally manning life boats or wading in to carry supplies"? President Lyndon Baines Johnson waded in carrying a flashlight assuring the people of New Orleans that help was on the way in 1965.
On September 10, 1965, the day after Hurricane Betsy plowed through southeastern Louisiana, President Lyndon Johnson flew to New Orleans. He went to the people, to shelters where evacuees were gathered, to neighborhoods all over the city. There was no electricity and, so that people could see and hear him at one shelter, he took a flashlight, shined it into his face and said into a megaphone, "My name is Lyndon Baines Johnson. I am your president. I am here to make sure you have the help you need."
And that's exactly what he did. He cut through bureaucratic red tape and, before he'd even left the city that day, he saw to it that the wheels were set in motion for the city's recovery. Those who remember Betsy will always be grateful to President Johnson for his decisive leadership, his critically needed comfort and his determination to bring timely help to the area, and to immediately start rescuing, recovering and rebuilding.
He saw what needed to be done and, without hesitation, put the entire weight of the federal government behind the effort to bring aid to the people and to supply whatever was necessary to begin the clean-up and rebuilding process. In fact, it was Pres. Johnson who soon afterward initiated plans for a long-needed levee system to protect the city. He stood behind his commitment to the area.
Here this an editorial from the Louisiana Weekly, September, 1965, "Our Brother's Keeper"
Hurricane Betsy, 1965
So, I DO expect the President of the United States to AT LEAST be engaged, and doing his JOB, protecting We, the People.
Lyndon Baines Johnson DID.
LBJ and Bush BOTH faced National disasters in New Orleans. Hurricane Betsy-1965 and Katrina-2005
LBJ was decisive, Bush was detached. A President that blames others and offers names is NOT a leader. He's a COWARD!!!
President Lyndon Baines Johnson took Hurricane Betsy personally. HE used the power entrusted to him by the people, his strong leadership and he got things done.
In the first hours, President Lyndon B. Johnson called 20 government agencies: Corps of Engineers, Veterans Administration, Food and Drug Administration, Agricultural Department, Small Business Administration, all the services: Army, Navy, Air Force, the National Command Center, Department of Agriculture, Interior, Maritime, Housing and Home Finance, Bureau of Yards and Docks and Navy, Federal Communications, Federal Aviation, Bureau of Public Roads, Treasury, Commerce, and Interstate Commerce Commission.
5 hours later LBJ, the President of the United States, landed in New Orleans and was soon wading through water with a flashlight assuring We, the People that they would be helped!
AND...LBJ anticipated ALL the problems Bush blames on others!
Before boarding Air Force One LBJ had a phone conversation with Robert Phillips the 1965 version of Michael Brown. LBJ didn't WAIT to see what Phillips would do...
LBJ TOLD Phillips WHAT to do and HOW to do it:
White House Transcript excerpt:
President Lyndon B. Johnson:
"we've got to cut out all the red tape. We've got to work around the clock. We've got to ignore hours. We've got to bear in mind that we exist for only one purpose and that's to the greatest good for the greatest number. And the people who've lost their homes, people who have lost their furniture, the people who have lost some of their crops and even their families are not going to be very interested in any individual differences between federal or state or local agencies."
LBJ GOT THINGS DONE! AND; You didn't say NO to LBJ!
Phillips wasn't hoping for "Bobby, you're doing a heck of a job." Phillips was PRAYING HIS nuts wouldn't end up flying from the White House flagpole!!!
EXCUSES are for people that CAN'T get things done. WE CAN'T tolerate that in a President.
Two Texans, ONE President...
