Was that a different kind of conscience than, for example, the Johnson administrations Great Society conscience?
MR. COSTLE: Different how? President Johnson really believed he could wipe out poverty, that equality of opportunity was the gift of the constitutional framers, and that we had to make good on that. This meant public education. It meant picking up people who need help out of poverty. This was conscience. This was a belief that a great nation took care of the poorest among us. Q: So are you saying that during the Carter administration, perhaps, some people believed that government couldn’t do all things, that it had to be more surgical, selective? You mentioned that you were an advance man for President Johnson, right out of college. How would you characterize the next Democratic administration, the Carter administration? Was there a character difference between the two? MR. COSTLE: I believe the character of any administration, to some extent, reflects the character of the President. He sets the tone. Lyndon Johnson was a larger-than-life person. I’ve yet to meet a man who was more com
