Lyndon B. Johnson

Background

Lyndon Baines Johnson was born in Stonewall, Texas, on August 27, 1908. Samuel Ealy Johnson Jr. and Rebekah Baines were his parents. He had three sisters and a brother, and was the oldest of his siblings. At the age of 15, he graduated from Johnson City High School in 1924. He then went to San Marcos’ Southwest Texas State Teachers College. Following his graduation, he began a teaching career and also entered politics. Johnson was voted speaker of “Little Congress,” a group of Congressional assistants, in 1931, after Congressman Richard M. Kleberg appointed him as his legislative secretary. He was named director of the Texas National Youth Administration in 1935. He won a special election for Texas’s 10th congressional district a couple of years later and served in the House from April 1937 until January 1949. During WWII, he also served in the United States Naval Reserve. In 1941, he was commissioned as a lieutenant commander and deployed to the South Pacific.

Republicans secured a majority of votes in both the House and Senate in the 1952 general election. Johnson, a Democrat, was elected minority leader by his colleagues in 1953 becoming the Senate’s youngest minority leader ever. The Democrats took control the following year, and Johnson became the majority leader. He was nominated for vice president by the Democrats in 1960, to run alongside presidential nominee John F. Kennedy. The Kennedy-Johnson ticket narrowly defeated Republican nominee Richard Nixon in the election. On January 20, 1961, Johnson was sworn in as vice president of the United States.

President John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. Within hours following Kennedy’s death, Johnson took the presidential oath. After the death of John F. Kennedy, he became president at a moment when the country was in shock and grief. In the 1964 presidential election, Johnson ran as an independent candidate. His campaign revolved around his vision of a “Great Society.” He advocated for educational reforms, improved medical treatment, and improvements in the lives of the financially underprivileged and the elderly. Against Republican presidential contender Barry Goldwater and his vice presidential running mate William E. Miller, he and his vice presidential running mate Hubert Humphrey won the election. Johnson was sworn in as president for the second time. Johnson signed numerous acts as President in an attempt to establish the ‘Great Society.’ As part of the fight against poverty, the Economic Opportunity Act was passed. He also enacted laws that established programs like Head Start, Food Stamps, and Work-Study. These laws benefited a large number of Americans, and the poverty rate decreased.

Johnson was popular and was expected to run for re-election in 1968. After standing down as president on January 20, 1969, he shook the nation by revealing that he would not run for another term and retiring to his ranch. In November 1934, he married Claudia Alta “Lady Bird” Taylor. They had two daughters together. During the last several months of his life, Johnson was ill and had cardiac problems. On January 22, 1973, he died at his Texas ranch after suffering a cardiac arrest.