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LBJ and Social Security…Again.
It’s one of those myths (or misunderstandings) that won’t go away. We’ve seen it pop up repeatedly in the past, and it seems embedded in the rumor mill that fuels so many aspects of social media.
Lyndon B. Johnson, our 36th president, is remembered for many things, from his traumatic ascension to the presidency in the aftermath of President John Kennedy’s assassination in November of 1963 to his landslide victory over Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater the following year. His pushing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to the finish line was also a hallmark of his administration, along with his work toward the Voting Rights act of 1965 and his historic signing of Medicare and Medicaid into law in mid-1965.
In short, while LBJ is remembered for a wide-ranging slate of actions he took during his little more than five years in the presidency, one of them, unfortunately, stands out in the minds of many critics of Social Security and specifically those seeking to cast blame for the program’s solvency problems. It goes like this: “There wouldn’t be a Social Security solvency problem if Congress would replace the money that President Johnson stole to finance the Vietnam War.”
While there are many variations of this criticism, they all revolve around the central myth that LBJ actually removed money from the Social Security trust fund accounts and made it accessible for Congress to fund projects unrelated to Social Security’s stated purpose. This particular saga is just one of the many myths and misunderstandings that social media “experts” circulate repeatedly, but it’s one of the most enduring. And, like most of them, it’s incorrect.
While AMAC Foundation has done its part through the years to dispel this rumor, or at least to clarify it, others have similarly tried to reckon with it. Today, we share a similar explanation authored by veteran Social Security official Tom Margenau, appearing on creaters.com. Check it out here…
This posting is presented for informational purposes only and does not represent legal or financial guidance. Any opinions or interpretations presented are either those of the original author or, in the case of articles authored by the AMAC Foundation, are the opinions of AMAC Foundation staff, originally trained and accredited by the National Social Security Association (NSSA) and certified via the AMAC Foundation. Any links included in the article are valid on the posted date; socialsecurityreport.org cannot guarantee the duration of the links’ validity. NSSA and the AMAC Foundation and its staff are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other governmental entity. To submit a question, visit our website (https://amacfoundation.org/services/) or email us at ssadvisor@amacfoundation.org. Because we are a non-profit organization, there is no charge for these services.