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'''Lyndon Baines Johnson''' (1908–1973), often referred to as '''LBJ''', was the 36th [[President of the United States of America]] (1963–1969). After serving in the House and Senate since 1937, Johnson was elected Vice President in 1960, and in November 1963, he succeeded to the presidency following President [[John F. Kennedy]]'s assassination. President Kennedy disliked his Vice President Johnson so much that Kennedy ostracized him from social events, and Johnson was perhaps the most crooked, bullying politician ever to become president.<ref>[https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu//NSAEBB/NSAEBB132/tapes.htm ''LBJ Tapes on the Gulf of Tonkin Incident Source: John Prados, The White House Tapes'']</ref>

'''Lyndon Baines Johnson''' (1908–1973), often referred to as '''LBJ''', was the 36th [[President of the United States of America]] (1963–1969). After serving in the House and Senate since 1937, Johnson was elected Vice President in 1960, and in November 1963, he succeeded to the presidency following President [[John F. Kennedy]]'s assassination. President Kennedy disliked his Vice President Johnson so much that Kennedy ostracized him from social events, and Johnson was perhaps the most crooked, bullying politician ever to become president.<ref>[https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu//NSAEBB/NSAEBB132/tapes.htm ''LBJ Tapes on the Gulf of Tonkin Incident Source: John Prados, The White House Tapes'']</ref>

In [[Texas]], Johnson stole his first election to the [[U.S. Senate]], as recounted by historians.  As president in 1964, Johnson ordered the [[CIA]] to infiltrate and spy on his [[conservative]] opponent, [[Barry Goldwater]], which enabled Johnson to preempt Goldwater's initiatives with Johnson's own.  Johnson also lied about the [[Gulf of Tonkin]] attack in order to boost Jonson's reelection chances in 1964.

In [[Texas]], Johnson stole his first election to the [[U.S. Senate]], as recounted by historians.  As president in 1964, Johnson ordered the [[CIA]] to infiltrate and spy on his [[conservative]] opponent, [[Barry Goldwater]], which enabled Johnson to preempt Goldwater's initiatives with Johnson's own.  Johnson also lied about the [[Gulf of Tonkin]] attack in order to boost his re-election efforts in 1964.

Johnson began his career as a liberal [[New Deal]]er, later when he became a senator he initially aligned himself with the Southern Democrats, although by the time he ascended to Senate Leadership he espoused moderate politics in an attempt to bridge both wings of the fractious [[Democratic Party]]. However, as President, he seized the leadership of liberalism citing [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] as his role model. Johnson moved the [[Democratic Party]] to the left, and pushed through Congress the [[Great Society]], comprising liberal economic policy including Medicare (free health care for the elderly), Medicaid (free health care for the poor), aid to education, and a major "War on Poverty". As part of his jobs program, he greatly escalated the American troop strength in [[Vietnam]] through [[conscription]], from 16,000 in 1963 to 23,000 by the end of 1964 and finally to 550,000 by early 1968. [[Unemployment]] consequently, remained in check.

Johnson began his career as a liberal [[New Deal]]er, later when he became a senator he initially aligned himself with the Southern Democrats, although by the time he ascended to Senate Leadership he espoused moderate politics in an attempt to bridge both wings of the fractious [[Democratic Party]]. However, as President, he seized the leadership of liberalism citing [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] as his role model. Johnson moved the [[Democratic Party]] to the left, and pushed through Congress the [[Great Society]], comprising liberal economic policy including Medicare (free health care for the elderly), Medicaid (free health care for the poor), aid to education, and a major "War on Poverty". As part of his jobs program, he greatly escalated the American troop strength in [[Vietnam]] through [[conscription]], from 16,000 in 1963 to 23,000 by the end of 1964 and finally to 550,000 by early 1968. [[Unemployment]] consequently, remained in check.

During the 1964 Presidential campaign, Johnson ran "[https://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/24/revisiting-the-daisy-ad-revolution/ the most negative political ad in American history]," a campaign ad titled "Daisy," smearing Republican challenger [[Barry Goldwater]] as a warmonger who threatened nuclear devastation. Thus "[http://www.pophistorydig.com/topics/lbjs-atomic-ad1964-daisy-girl/ the negative political ad was born], initiating the clever use of image and sound to paint an opponent in negative or scary terms."  

During the 1964 Presidential campaign, Johnson ran "[https://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/24/revisiting-the-daisy-ad-revolution/ the most negative political ad in American history]," a campaign ad titled "Daisy," smearing Republican challenger [[Barry Goldwater]] as a warmonger who threatened nuclear devastation. Thus "[http://www.pophistorydig.com/topics/lbjs-atomic-ad1964-daisy-girl/ the negative political ad was born], initiating the clever use of image and sound to paint an opponent in negative or scary terms."  

Johnson won the 1964 presidential election in a landslide over Goldwater but, ironically, greatly expanded American involvement in [[Vietnam]] (see [[Vietnam War]]). In November 1965, during a meeting with his Joint Chiefs, after stating how they could mine the North Vietnamese ports as well as do massive aerial strikes on Hanoi to prevent Soviet or other Communist aid from going into the region, although Johnson seemingly acted receptive, he then turned around and started screaming various obscenities, including using the f-word more freely as an adjective than a Marine at boot camp, and told them he was disgusted with their naivety and made clear that he wasn't going to let "military idiots" drag him into World War III before bluntly dismissing them by telling them to "get the hell out of [Johnson's] office!"<ref>Cheers and Tears: A Marine's Story of Combat in Peace and War (2002).</ref> 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 neither seek nor accept his party's nomination for the presidency in 1968. This decision may have been brought about by his surprisingly narrow victory in the New Hampshire primary over Eugene McCarthy, a liberal anti-war Democrat. It is widely thought that had he run, he would have been trounced in the primaries or in the subsequent general election—eventually won by Republican [[Richard M. Nixon]]. Another reason he decided to not pursue reelection may have also had to do with the then-recent reporting of the 1968 [[Tet Offensive]] by [[Walter Cronkite]] that [[Liberal bias#Vietnam War|falsely implied]] that America was losing the Vietnam War (with Johnson allegedly stating to his aides during the broadcast that "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America"), coupled by a failed attempt to explain otherwise to the American public.<ref>http://www.iancfriedman.com/?p=383</ref>

Johnson won the 1964 presidential election in a landslide over the hawkish Goldwater but, ironically, greatly expanded American involvement in [[Vietnam]] (see [[Vietnam War]]). In November 1965, during a meeting with his Joint Chiefs, after stating how they could mine the North Vietnamese ports as well as do massive aerial strikes on Hanoi to prevent Soviet or other Communist aid from going into the region, although Johnson seemingly acted receptive, he then turned around and started screaming various obscenities, including using the f-word more freely as an adjective than a Marine at boot camp, and told them he was disgusted with their naivety and made clear that he wasn't going to let "military idiots" drag him into World War III before bluntly dismissing them by telling them to "get the hell out of [Johnson's] office!"<ref>Cheers and Tears: A Marine's Story of Combat in Peace and War (2002).</ref> 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 neither seek nor accept his party's nomination for the presidency in 1968. This decision may have been brought about by his surprisingly narrow victory in the New Hampshire primary over Eugene McCarthy, a liberal anti-war Democrat. It is widely thought that had he run, he would have been trounced in the primaries or in the subsequent general election—eventually won by Republican [[Richard M. Nixon]]. Another reason he decided to not pursue reelection may have also had to do with the then-recent reporting of the 1968 [[Tet Offensive]] by [[Walter Cronkite]] that [[Liberal bias#Vietnam War|falsely implied]] that America was losing the Vietnam War (with Johnson allegedly stating to his aides during the broadcast that "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America"), coupled by a failed attempt to explain otherwise to the American public.<ref>http://www.iancfriedman.com/?p=383</ref>

==Legacy==

==Legacy==