Former LBJ official: Trump administration lacks clear objectives and goals

An official in former President Johnson’s administration criticized the Trump administration for lacking clear objectives and goals on Monday. 

James Jones, who served as Johnson’s appointments secretary, also said the two administrations had different approaches to what he described as “the relationship to truth.”

“In many respects, Lyndon Johnson was his own chief of staff because everybody knew exactly what he wanted to do, and where he was going, and we marched along that particular line and were very successful at it. That doesn’t seem to be the case today,” Jones, who also served as the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, told Hill.TV’s Krystal Ball and Buck Sexton on “Rising.” 

“We had clear goals we wanted to achieve: We wanted to help bring the rest of the country together through the Civil Rights and the Voting Rights Acts, Housing bills, etc.,” he said. “We wanted to help senior citizens through Medicare and Medicaid. All of those were established in the Johnson era, and there doesn’t seem to be a real objective and goal that makes sense today.” 

Jones also noted the differences between the administrations in dealing with inaccurate statements. 

“Other differences are the relationship to truth. [If] any of us were quoted as [saying] something that was inaccurate, that was a fireable offense, and that doesn’t seem to be the case today,” he said. 

Jones’s comments come exactly 53 years after Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, outlawing racial discrimination in voting. 

Supporters of Medicare and Medicaid, which were also landmark achievements for the Johnson administration, celebrated the government programs’ 53rd anniversaries last month. 

— Julia Manchester