--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: President Johnson offered the middle of…" description: "\"President Johnson offered the middle of the road.\" — Lew Wasserman" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/457/lew-wasserman-34540_johnson_president-johnson-offered-the-middle-of_204795.jpg" --- # President Johnson offered the middle of the road. ![“President Johnson offered the middle of the road.” quote by Lew Wasserman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/457/lew-wasserman-34540_johnson_president-johnson-offered-the-middle-of_204795.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/457/lew-wasserman-34540_johnson_president-johnson-offered-the-middle-of_204795.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/457/lew-wasserman-34540_johnson_president-johnson-offered-the-middle-of_204795.jpg) > “President Johnson offered the middle of the road.” [Lew Wasserman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lew-wasserman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He suggests President Johnson proposed a moderate, centrist approach. **In simple terms:** Johnson chose a middle path. Key Takeaway Consider the merits of moderate policies. Themes politics moderation leadership Mood analytical critical Type political strategic When to use this quote - voting decisions - policy analysis - debates - campaign strategies Key Concepts centrist policy compromise public opinion Questions to Reflect On - Is a middle-of-the-road stance always effective? - When does compromise become indecisiveness? A Different Perspective Critics may view centrism as lacking conviction. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/johnson/) [Johnson Offered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/johnson-offered-2129485/) [Middle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle/) [Middle of the road](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle-of-the-road/) [Middle Road](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle-road-729883/) [Offered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/offered/) [Offered Middle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/offered-middle-2129486/) [President](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/president/) [President johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/president-johnson/) [Road](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/road/) [Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trump/) ## Related quotes > [The middle of the road is all of the usable surface. The extremes, right and left, are in the gutters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/the-middle-of-the-road-is-all-of-the-usable-surface-the-extremes/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [Remember that the worst accidents occur in the middle of the road.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-mccarthy/remember-that-the-worst-accidents-occur-in-the-middle-of-the-road/) [Eugene McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-mccarthy/) > [The middle of the road is a poor place to walk. It is a poor place to drive. It is a poor place to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vance-havner/the-middle-of-the-road-is-a-poor-place-to-walk-it-is-a-poor-place-to/) [Vance Havner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vance-havner/) > [We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road. They get run over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/we-know-what-happens-to-people-who-stay-in-the-middle-of-the-road/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [“I'll walk in the middle of the road. No more standing safely to the side.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ahmed-hassan/i-ll-walk-in-the-middle-of-the-road-no-more-standing-safely-to-the/) [Ahmed Hassan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ahmed-hassan/) > [Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by the traffic from both sides.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/standing-in-the-middle-of-the-road-is-very-dangerous-you-get-knocked/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [“He who rides the middle of the road gets hit from both ends.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loni-bergqvist/he-who-rides-the-middle-of-the-road-gets-hit-from-both-ends/) [Loni Bergqvist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loni-bergqvist/) > ['Urban Renewal' was sweet because I've been - unfairly, I would say - plonked in the middle of the road because of a handful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-collins/urban-renewal-was-sweet-because-i-ve-been-unfairly-i-would-say/) [Phil Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-collins/) > [The middle of the road is for yellow lines and dead armadillos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-hightower/the-middle-of-the-road-is-for-yellow-lines-and-dead-armadillos/) [Jim Hightower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-hightower/) > [I never thought I would ever be middle-of-the-road anything, much less a middle-of-the-road Christian, but it actually ended up I'm extremely middle of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/i-never-thought-i-would-ever-be-middle-of-the-road-anything-much-less/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [You will soon get run over if you stay in the middle of the road too long.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/you-will-soon-get-run-over-if-you-stay-in-the-middle-of-the-road-too/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [Awkward moment when you're dancing in the middle of the road and you didn't realize there was a car behind you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/awkward-moment-when-you-re-dancing-in-the-middle-of-the-road-and-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The middle of the road is where the white line is - and that's the worst place to drive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/the-middle-of-the-road-is-where-the-white-line-is-and-that-s-the/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) > [People who stand in the "middle-of-the-road" get run over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/people-who-stand-in-the-middle-of-the-road-get-run-over/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [Compromise is like the middle of the road; always safer to walk on than the edges.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/compromise-is-like-the-middle-of-the-road-always-safer-to-walk-on/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) ## More by Lew Wasserman > [Stay out of the spotlight. It fades your suit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lew-wasserman/stay-out-of-the-spotlight-it-fades-your-suit/) [Lew Wasserman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lew-wasserman/) > [To err is human, to forgive is against company policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lew-wasserman/to-err-is-human-to-forgive-is-against-company-policy/) [Lew Wasserman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lew-wasserman/) > [Things have changed a great deal since the days of Mr. Mayer. The studios no longer control, as they did in those days, artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lew-wasserman/things-have-changed-a-great-deal-since-the-days-of-mr-mayer-the/) [Lew Wasserman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lew-wasserman/) > [To me, it's the White House and always will be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lew-wasserman/to-me-it-s-the-white-house-and-always-will-be/) [Lew Wasserman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lew-wasserman/) > [We had an interesting thing at that first dinner. It was prior to the availability of several new hotels in Los Angeles, and we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lew-wasserman/we-had-an-interesting-thing-at-that-first-dinner-it-was-prior-to-the/) [Lew Wasserman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lew-wasserman/) > [I think that our primary concern is that the membership in our industry become active. I'm not talking about the candidates being active. I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lew-wasserman/i-think-that-our-primary-concern-is-that-the-membership-in-our/) [Lew Wasserman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lew-wasserman/) > [You tend to meet on a more regular basis with people in your industry, and reality being what it is, you tend to meet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lew-wasserman/you-tend-to-meet-on-a-more-regular-basis-with-people-in-your-industry/) [Lew Wasserman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lew-wasserman/) > [I think the executives have matured enough so that they recognize that we have a two-party system. In California, we have more than a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lew-wasserman/i-think-the-executives-have-matured-enough-so-that-they-recognize/) [Lew Wasserman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lew-wasserman/) > [That room was not available, and the only other room had been booked for a Jewish bar mitzvah. I called the father and told…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lew-wasserman/that-room-was-not-available-and-the-only-other-room-had-been-booked/) [Lew Wasserman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lew-wasserman/) > [Well, it was a typical meeting with the President. He was very gracious, very outgoing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lew-wasserman/well-it-was-a-typical-meeting-with-the-president-he-was-very-gracious/) [Lew Wasserman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lew-wasserman/) > [I believe Johnson understood that the reason was Vietnam. I also believe that he felt that if there was a way to communicate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lew-wasserman/i-believe-johnson-understood-that-the-reason-was-vietnam-i-also/) [Lew Wasserman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lew-wasserman/) > [Paul Newman's an old friend of ours out of Cleveland, Ohio. He used to sit around our house. He's the only man I've ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lew-wasserman/paul-newman-s-an-old-friend-of-ours-out-of-cleveland-ohio-he-used-to/) [Lew Wasserman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lew-wasserman/) > [I was through as a manager. I did become involved late in the 1968 campaign at the national scene at the last minute. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lew-wasserman/i-was-through-as-a-manager-i-did-become-involved-late-in-the-1968/) [Lew Wasserman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lew-wasserman/) [Explore all 14 Lew Wasserman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lew-wasserman/) ## More Johnson quotes > [Jake Johnson is one of my oldest friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/casey-wilson/jake-johnson-is-one-of-my-oldest-friends/) [Casey Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/casey-wilson/) > [The improved American highway system isolated the American-in-transit. On his speedway he had no contact with the towns which he by-passed. If he stopped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-j-boorstin/the-improved-american-highway-system-isolated-the-american-in-transit/) [Daniel J. Boorstin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-j-boorstin/) > [Instead of finding himself in nerd heaven—where every nerd gets fifty-eight virgins to role-play with—he woke up in Robert Wood Johnson with two broken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/instead-of-finding-himself-in-nerd-heaven-where-every-nerd-gets-fifty/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [Jack Johnson, John Mayer, Neil Young and Bob Dylan are my main influences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cody-simpson/jack-johnson-john-mayer-neil-young-and-bob-dylan-are-my-main/) [Cody Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cody-simpson/) > [ \[Lyndon \] Johnson was responding to a black freedom movement that was tearing the country open and he did what he had to do… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/lyndon-johnson-was-responding-to-a-black-freedom-movement-that-was/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ Look at what I am proposing, and we \[wih Bernie Sanders\] have a vigorous agreement here. We both want to reign in the excesses… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/look-at-what-i-am-proposing-and-we-wih-bernie-sanders-have-a-vigorous/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [Lyndon Johnson faced some clear moral issues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/lyndon-johnson-faced-some-clear-moral-issues/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [All I want is to become someone new. In this case, Tobias Johnson, son of Evelyn Johnson. Tobias Johnson may have lived a dull…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/all-i-want-is-to-become-someone-new-in-this-case-tobias-johnson-son/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [My favorite country blues player was Big Bill Broonzy. City blues was Freddie King, but I liked them all - Muddy Waters, John Lee…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-lee/my-favorite-country-blues-player-was-big-bill-broonzy-city-blues-was/) [Alvin Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-lee/) > [President Johnson did not want the Vietnam War to broaden. He wanted the North Vietnamese to leave their brothers in the South alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-westmoreland/president-johnson-did-not-want-the-vietnam-war-to-broaden-he-wanted/) [William Westmoreland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-westmoreland/) > [Everyone believed the Senate could not really be led. It used to take so long to rise up through seniority. In two years Lyndon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-caro/everyone-believed-the-senate-could-not-really-be-led-it-used-to-take/) [Robert Caro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-caro/) > [They still talk about the night that Augie Pabst, a fresh-faced heir to the brewing fortune, drove a rented Falcon into the swimming pool…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/they-still-talk-about-the-night-that-augie-pabst-a-fresh-faced-heir/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [I consider myself lucky that Sheila Johnson, the cofounder of Black Entertainment Television, didn't choose to rest on her very impressive business laurels. Her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gayle-king/i-consider-myself-lucky-that-sheila-johnson-the-cofounder-of-black/) [Gayle King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gayle-king/) > [We've got characters in the UK like Boris Johnson, who's kind of like a proto Trump in many ways even down to the crazy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-brooker/we-ve-got-characters-in-the-uk-like-boris-johnson-who-s-kind-of-like/) [Charlie Brooker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-brooker/) > [ \[President Johnson\] had the political will to say that having one in five Americans living in the kind of abject conditions their fellow citizens… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/president-johnson-had-the-political-will-to-say-that-having-one-in/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) [Browse all 493 Johnson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/johnson/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "President Johnson offered the middle of the road.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lew Wasserman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lew-wasserman/president-johnson-offered-the-middle-of-the-road/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Johnson" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lew-wasserman/president-johnson-offered-the-middle-of-the-road/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/457/lew-wasserman-34540_johnson_president-johnson-offered-the-middle-of_204795.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/457/lew-wasserman-34540_johnson_president-johnson-offered-the-middle-of_204795.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/457/lew-wasserman-34540_johnson_president-johnson-offered-the-middle-of_204795.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“President Johnson offered the middle of the road.” — Lew Wasserman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Lew Wasserman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lew-wasserman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "President Johnson offered the middle of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lew-wasserman/president-johnson-offered-the-middle-of-the-road/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lew-wasserman/president-johnson-offered-the-middle-of-the-road/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```