Davies, “The Historical Presidency” —
President as “responder in chief” (530); “consoler in chief” (541)
Alaska’s 1964 earthquake: 9.1 (estimate) on the Richter scale
“The president said that this is a case of saving a state . . .” (535).
“Traditionally, federal aid had been confined largely to infrastructural support, while relief for individual disaster victims had been seen as a job for subnational governments and, especially, the Red Cross” (536). “[T]he effort for individual relief had gained additional momentum, and by the end of the Johnson administration it was firmly embedded in the federal response to disaster” (536).
LBJ: “We’ve got to bear in mind that we exist for only one purpose and that’s to the greatest good for the greatest number. . . . Bring to these people the kind of assistance they need in this emergency which is worthy of a great government and a great country” (546).
“Under LBJ, [the role of the federal government in responding to disasters] changed: for the first time, the federal government became the lead player, and this may be regarded as one of the very many ways in which the Great Society transformed American government” (549).
[I will add more points later this afternoon/evening.]
http://disasters.ferrellhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/week-3-September-4-Friday.pdf
