“President Biden, you are a patriot without peer.” So wrote the daughters of Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) in July 2024. They were thinking, of course, of their own father, who happens to be the last president who sought to bolster his party’s election prospects by resigning.

Both men are Democrats. They both entered the office in a time of chaos. Both led productive administrations. And both saw popular opinion turn against them. Many today are turning to the LBJ resignation for insights into this current moment. It behooves us to look closely at some parallels: 

To begin, LBJ was John F. Kennedy’s vice president. On November 22, 1963, tragedy struck when an assassin’s bullet took Kennedy’s life. That same day, aboard Air Force One, LBJ took the oath of office. An iconic photo captures that moment. LBJ’s hand raised while Kennedy’s widow stands in the same dress she was wearing when her husband was killed. It was a time of chaos; the nation craved stability.

LBJ, a man with legendary ambition and a reputation for being a master legislator, promised to steady the ship in a tumultuous time. Afterwards, he led a very ambitious and productive administration, known for, among other things, his “Great Society” programs and sweeping civil rights legislation.

But for a variety of reasons – including the war in Vietnam – LBJ saw his prospects for reelection fading. Amidst mounting pressure and sinking poll numbers, he stepped down in the hopes of not dragging his party into electoral defeat. 

How the LBJ Resignation From Presidential Race Parallels Current Times

The parallels to this current moment in the summer of 2024 are clear. Following the violent attempt to disrupt the transition of power to President-Elect Biden following the 2020 election, the nation craved stability. A former vice president with a reputation as a master of the Senate took office. He led a productive administration that saw significant legislation enacted.

But following a debate in which the President immediately lost the confidence of much of his party, and just days after an assassin’s bullet grazed former President Trump’s ear, President Biden made the difficult decision to step down, leaving his party with the task of propelling a new candidate forward, all with limited time to build a campaign apparatus. 

Mark Twain once said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” We can be sure that Republicans with an interest in history will note that LBJ’s party, the Democrats, went on to dramatically lose to Republican Richard Nixon (who would himself resign rather than face impeachment and possible criminal charges for his attempts to rig an election). 

As the future is unknowable, faced with uncertainty, we turn to the past during the LBJ resignation for insights. But history is not a crystal ball. The one thing we do know is that we must vote our conscience as we work to bring forth the America we want to live in. 

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