Lyndon B. Johnson

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Lyndon B. Johnson

36^th President of the United States
Term of office November 22, 1963 - January 20, 1969^[1]
Political party	Democratic
Vice Presidents	None (1963-1965) Hubert Humphrey (1965-1969)
Preceded by	John F. Kennedy
Succeeded by	Richard Nixon
36^th Vice-President of the United States
Term of office January 20, 1961 - November 22, 1963
President	John F. Kennedy
Preceded by	Richard Nixon
Succeeded by	Hubert Humphrey

Born	August 27, 1908 Stonewall, Texas
Died	January 22, 1973 Stonewall, Texas
Spouse	Lady Bird Johnson
Religion	Disciple of Christ

Lyndon Baines Johnson became the 36th President of the United States of America after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He held that position from 1963 until 1969. Though he won election handily in 1964, he decided not to seek re-election in 1968 due to the unpopularity of the Vietnam War.

1 Early Life
2 Political Service
3 Presidency
4 References

Early Life

Johnson was born in Stonewall, Texas, as one of five children. He graduated from Johnson City High School in 1924, and in 1926 enrolled in Southwest Texas State Teachers' College, graduating in 1931.

Political Service

In 1932 Johnson moved to Washington, D.C. to work as an aide to Congressman Richard Kleberg. He briefly attended law school at Georgetown. In 1934 Johnson married Claudia Taylor (known as "Lady Bird"), with whom he had two daughters, Lynda (b. 1944) and Luci (b. 1947). In 1935, Johnson returned to Texas to run the Texas National Youth Administration, which created jobs for young people during the Depression. Including his wife's nickname, Lady Bird, all members of the family had the initials LBJ.

Johnson resigned from his job in 1937 to run successfully for a seat in the House of Representatives representing Austin and the surrounding area. In 1941 he lost a controversial race for a U.S. Senate seat to the governor of Texas, Pappy O'Daniel. The race was marked by allegations of voter fraud against both candidates. Johnson retained his House seat after the election.

In 1948, Johnson ran in another controversial Senate race, this time against former governor Coke Stevenson. After no candidate won a majority of the votes in the election, Johnson defeated Stevenson in a run-off election. After joining the Senate, Johnson established relationships with several senior senators, including Richard Russell. Johnson was appointed to the powerful Armed Services Committee in 1950, which brought him into the public spotlight. He became the leader of the Democratic Party in the Senate in 1953. Johnson sought the Democratic nomination for president prior to the 1960 election, but accepted the nomination for vice-president following Kennedy's nomination.

Presidency

Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn into the Office of the President just hours after John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The Oath of Office took place aboard Air Force One (en route to Washington DC from Dallas), was administered by Sarah T. Hughes (one of the first justices to hear and write the decision for Roe v. Wade in favor of abortion). ^[2] Also, since no Bible could be found aboard Air Force One, Johnson recited the oath with his hand on a Roman Catholic missal instead.^[3]

As President, Johnson greatly expanded the federal government with his Great Society programs. He also helped the civil rights movement win legislative victories and greatly expanded the American role in Vietnam (see Vietnam War). Although Johnson won the 1964 presidential election in a landslide over Republican Barry Goldwater, his popularity plunged as the death toll from the conflict in Vietnam steadily increased. In early 1968, faced with plummeting poll numbers and mounting public opposition to his foreign policy, Johnson announced that he would not seek, nor would be accept, his party's nomination for the presidency in 1968. It is widely thought that had he run he would have been trounced in the primaries and the general election, which was eventually won by Republican Richard M. Nixon.