Snapshot · Empire: World History
Kennedy inherited 700 military advisors in Vietnam from Eisenhower; by the time of his assassination that number had grown to 17,000.
Where this was said
At 28:50 · chapter starts 27:25
Burns is working on a new documentary — LBJ and the Great Society — and his assessment of Johnson is unambiguous: Shakespearean tragedy, and a raw deal from history. [1] — Ken Burns "LBJ alone passed the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act — things his predecessor, for all his charisma, likely lacked the political…" 27:23 As a Southerner, LBJ could pass the Civil Rights Act in a way his charismatic predecessor could not. The Voting Rights Act too. He understood exactly what the political calculus would be. Then he walked into Kennedy's foreign policy apparatus — McNamara, Rusk, and others — and told them he needed them more than Kennedy did. That is where the tragedy begins. Kennedy had inherited 700 military advisors in Vietnam from Eisenhower; by his assassination, there were 17,000. Johnson made it official and legitimate in March 1965. A taping system in the Oval Office and Lady Bird's nightly reel-to-reel diary together produce, Burns argues, 'perhaps the biggest evidence of her extraordinary power': in 1965, when Johnson put boots on the ground, she recorded the prediction that 'Lyndon's not going to run again.' Three years and one New Hampshire primary later, she was right.
LBJ had a White House taping system. Lady Bird had a reel-to-reel recorder she used every night as a personal diary. In 1965, when Johnson put boots on the ground in Vietnam, she recorded: 'Lyndon's not going to run again.' Three years later, she was right.
LBJ won 60% of the New Hampshire primary vote in 1968 but Eugene McCarthy's unexpected 40% was seen as a moral defeat that prompted Johnson not to seek re-election.
Teddy Roosevelt famously invited Booker T. Washington to the White House — then caved to political pressure and never invited another Black person again. He reflected the eugenics of his era. His fifth cousin Franklin was the more important president. We're lucky there was no war on TR's watch.
Joel de la Garza noted that the CISO role is a relatively recent invention, with Steve Katz widely credited as the first-ever CISO.
Superficial adoption of electricity gave factories only 6% efficiency gains; fully redesigning factories around it delivered a 3x productivity improvement that powered 20th-century US growth.
Harold Ramis recounted that during Caddyshack filming, storms kept the cast cooped up in a Florida hotel for days, during which they partied and did drugs all day and night.
In the 1820s, China accounted for 25% of global economic output, making it the world's largest economic machine — a historical precedent for its current AI superpower ambitions.
66 Americans held hostage at the US Embassy in Iran were released after 444 days, within hours of Reagan's inauguration.
In the first round of the secret arms deal, 508 TOW missiles were transferred from Israel to Iran in exchange for hostage releases.
America secretly transferred 2,000 missiles and missile parts to Iran across 8 separate shipments over just over a year.
Despite all the missile sales, only 3 of the 7 American hostages held by Lebanese terrorists were ultimately released.
The CIA supply plane that blew open the scandal was flying at only 2,500 feet in broad daylight when it was shot down on October 5, 1986.
We use essential and analytics cookies to run Vuci. To understand how the site is used: Privacy Policy.
Install Vuci on your phone
Add it to your home screen for a faster, app-like experience.
Install Vuci on your phone
Tap the Share button, then “Add to Home Screen”.
A new version is available
Reload to get the latest Vuci.