American Executor: Lyndon B. Johnson

The oath is taken in a moment of grief,

A nation stunned by violence and despair;

The fallen torch requires a new belief,

A steady hand to bear what few would dare.

No crown commands, yet history places there

A burden greater than the office knew—

He carries forward what the lost one drew.

The promise left unfinished now becomes

A charge he takes with overwhelming force;

Through Congress halls, through speeches and through drums,

He drives the nation toward a different course.

The executor assumes a larger source—

He carries forward what the lost one drew.

The Great Society becomes his creed,

A vision shaped by justice and reform;

The government is called to answer need,

To shelter those left vulnerable by storm.

The federal hand takes on a wider form,

With programs reaching every avenue—

He carries forward what the lost one drew.

Civil rights, delayed through generations long,

Become a cause the presidency must claim;

The laws that follow right historic wrong

Transform the meaning of equality’s name.

The executor acts through law and flame—

He carries forward what the lost one drew.

The ballot box is opened where once closed,

The barriers of exclusion start to fall;

A promise made in words is now imposed

Through federal power reaching over all.

The presidency answers history’s call,

And gives the nation laws it never knew—

He carries forward what the lost one drew.

Medicare, Medicaid, aid for those in need,

Expand the government’s appointed role;

The state becomes an instrument to lead

Toward a broader vision for the whole.

He seeks to heal the nation’s wounded soul—

He carries forward what the lost one drew.

Yet far away another struggle grows,

A war whose meaning shifts with every year;

The escalation deepens as he knows

The costs of choices made through doubt and fear.

The battlefield becomes a burden near,

And trust begins to weaken and undo—

He carries forward what the lost one drew.

The presidency that had promised change

Becomes divided by a distant fight;

The public questions whether power’s range

Has reached beyond what wisdom could make right.

The office loses some of its former light—

He carries forward what the lost one drew.

So stands the thirty-sixth in the line,

A giant figure of ambition’s age;

His victories and failures intertwine,

Recorded on history’s changing page.

He sought to use executive power’s gauge

To shape the nation as he thought was true—

He carries forward what the lost one drew.

For every executor who follows after

Must face the lesson of his command:

That power can bring both justice and disaster,

And every choice leaves footprints on the land.

The greatest reach requires the steadiest hand—

He carries forward what the lost one drew.

Envoi:

O builder of a more ambitious plan,

You bore the office with a forceful hand;

You lifted millions through the laws you ran,

Yet war revealed the limits of command—

He carries forward what the lost one drew.