Money in Politics: A Case Study from 1948

Jennifer Burns is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Virginia.

Money in Politics: A Case Study from 1948

January 22 2010

My reading of Robert Caro’s monumental three volume biography of Lyndon Baines Johnson has taken on new relevance in light of yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling on campaign finance. In Means of Ascent (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume 2) Caro tells the story of how LBJ stole the 1948 election that brought him to Congress: with corporate cash.

LBJ was a little known congressman facing Coke Stevenson, a tremendously popular former governor known as “Mr. Texas.” Most political experts thought LBJ didn’t stand a chance. They were right; or they would have been right had this election not marked the transition into an entirely new era in American politics, as Caro argues. What the experts didn’t know about was the enormous reserves of cash Johnson had at his disposal from a variety of large corporations who had appreciated his responsiveness as a Congressman, and could only imagine what he could accomplish for them as a Senator. Not only did Johnson flood the airwaves with advertising and travel to campaign stops via helicopter, at the time an astonishing move, but he used campaign contributions to literally buy votes and stuff ballot boxes. Even so, his opponent was popular enough that Johnson could only muster an 87-vote victory. Yes, he was mocked as “landslide Lyndon” when he entered Congress, but it didn’t take long for LBJ to make the most of his opportunities and emerge as a powerful Congressman who would later ascend to the Presidency.

The Supreme Court’s decision to strike down limits on corporate campaign donations suggests that we will see a lot more elections like this one, where unlimited spending perverts democracy and thwarts the will of the people.

Those who love liberty ought to ask: should corporations and organizations be granted the same rights and liberties as persons? How much liberty will we have when our elected representatives can be purchased outright?

Those who want to read more about the history of money in politics might start with Means of Ascent (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume 2) .

Comments (7)

|2010-01-22 16:18:46 Paul R

If freedom of speech and freedom of association are both constitutionally protected, how can speaking in association not be protected? How can one right nullify another?

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) has said "Before long there will not be any longer the senator from Nebraska or the senator from Wyoming. There will be the senator from GE and the senator from Exxon." But I do not recognize a senator from ACORN or a senator from the SEIU as morally superior. If the country is to be ruled by pressure-group warfare then let all the pressure groups fight it out fair.

|2010-01-23 16:09:04 Joseph McHugh

How can corporate contributions thwart the will of the people if people have the right to vote?

Corporations are a collection of people who have the complete right to give their money to whomever they see fit.

If I and my associates want to give our money to someone, who are you to stop me?

If the government is doling out favors to certain groups, then it is the favors that are wrong, not the money.

Especially in these anti-Capiltalist times corporations certainly need to work hard to defend themselves from predatory moochers.

Government should be circumscribed to such an extent that no one can receive any favors. (Favors are just a transfer of wealth from one group to another,or, the taking of an individual's personal choice and giving it over to a bureaucrat.)

Jennifer, with all due respect, you are no friend of liberty!

|2010-01-24 11:46:56 CT Lostaglia

Maybe the professor can fill people in on the constitutional amendment and consequential supreme court rulings that decided corporations would be given "individual" status and how that means McCain Feingold was clearly an infringement on their constitutionally protected rights. All the supreme court did last week was do their job: adhere to the constitution and strike down any law which contradicts it. Pretty simple really.

|2010-01-26 16:21:54 Jennifer Burns - response

What about the distinction between individualism and collectivism? Is a group of individuals, a collective, the same as the lone individual? I think the conversation about “is a corporation a person” is one we ought to be having. As for the lack of proof that money affects politics, the exact equation may not fit into the model of any political scientist, but reading deeply researched accounts of American political history like Caro’s makes it impossible to ignore the reality that money can buy votes, both directly and indirectly. And yes, union money can buy votes too; given the rapid eclipse of labor in the last 40 years, it may be their only way to exercise influence in the future. I don’t think this is a partisan issue and I think that libertarians, traditionally not beholden to our tired divisions of left/right, Republican and Democrat, should be among the first to notice that.

-Jennifer Burns

|2010-01-27 17:36:40 Paul R - Collectivism

True, a corporation is not a person. But...

A collective is not merely a group of individuals. Where collectivism goes wrong as a theory is its reification of the group as a new entity whose welfare is considered as separate, more real or more important than any individual comprising it. It is the hierarchical priority of the group over the individual that leads to poisonous and destructive consequences.

A corporation is an instrument that makes it possible to conduct business without having to draw up contracts acknowledging each individual involved with the business. Whenever a corporation acts or speaks, it is still the action of one or more individuals and not that of some novel and foreign element which came into existence upon incorporation. It is not possible to restrict a corporation's actions without restricting individual's liberties.

|2010-02-01 03:33:38 Patrick Manley - Supreme Court Decision

Jennifer,

The Supreme Court decision is actually a boost for freedom. Why shouldn't a corporation as well as an individual support the candidate of choice?

I believe your premise is flawed. Lyndon Johnson did not win because of unlimited corporate donations. He won because he was corrupt and cheated. He would have found a way to stuff the ballot boxes regardless of the origin of the political contributions.

|2010-02-01 12:31:38 David C - 14th Amendment

According to rulings on the 14th Amendment by the United States Supreme Court, a corporation is considered a "person" and deserves equal protection under the law and has all the rights of a human person. This recent Supreme Court decision is the end logic of this flawed interpretation.