Life
Obama to celebrate civil rights law that laid the groundwork for his presidency
Obama’s second-term agenda of reducing income equality through an increase in the minimum wage, for example, is aimed at addressing that disparity. But he has got a long way to go.
“The president has taken a number of steps in trying to close the gap that exists in this country but there’s a great deal of unfinished business as he looks to his remaining 2-1/2 years in office,” said Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League.
Comparisons between Obama and Johnson are inevitable as the 44th president prepares to visit the library of the 36th on Thursday.
Johnson, a former Senate majority leader who schmoozed friends and opponents and sometimes used hardball tactics to win support, stands in sharp contrast to the professorial Obama, who relies heavily on speeches to sway public opinion.
Senior Obama administration officials say that when Johnson’s and Obama’s legislative records are put side by side, they are not all that different.
When he had Democratic majorities in Congress in his first 2 years, Obama gained passage of his signature healthcare law, an economic stimulus bill, Wall Street reform and more. He has faced far more difficulty since Republicans gained control of the U.S. House of Representatives after the 2010 elections.
White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer said all presidents face unique challenges: While Johnson had a large Democratic majority, he “faced a lot of deep opposition within his own party to the civil rights legislation and had to build a bipartisan majority to pass the bill.”
