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'''Lyndon Baines Johnson''' (August 27, 1908 – January 22, 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''' (August 27, 1908 – January 22, 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>

Johnson for the first twenty years of his political career opposed every single piece of civil rights legislation. In 1937, as a New Deal congressman, he denounced the [[Gavagan–Wagner Act]], a major [[anti-lynching bill]], as "pernicious," downplaying [[lynching]] itself as "no more indefensible than this bill, which is a reckless, arrogant, and illegal attempt upon the part of the Federal Government to usurp the lawmaking and the law-enforcing powers and agencies of the State governments."<ref name=bean,pp.168-69>Bean, Jonathan J. (June 18, 2009). [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Race_and_Liberty_in_America/FkgPOxEd-fYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=fish+anti-lynching+bill&pg=PA170&printsec=frontcover Race and Liberty in America: The Essential Reader], pp. 168–69. ''Google Books''. Retrieved May 29, 2023.</ref> Later when campaigning for U.S. Senate in the Democratic primary, Johnson later boasted of opposing anti-lynching and anti–[[poll tax]] legislation:<ref>Caro, Robert A. (February 3, 1991). [https://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/03/books/my-search-for-coke-stevenson.html My Search for Coke Stevenson]. ''The New York Times''. Retrieved February 29, 2023.</ref>

Johnson for the first twenty years of his political career opposed every single piece of civil rights legislation. In 1937, as a New Deal congressman, he denounced the [[Gavagan–Wagner Act]], a major [[anti-lynching bill]], as "pernicious," downplaying [[lynching]] itself as "no more indefensible than this bill, which is a reckless, arrogant, and illegal attempt upon the part of the Federal Government to usurp the lawmaking and the law-enforcing powers and agencies of the State governments."<ref name=bean,pp.168-69>Bean, Jonathan J. (June 18, 2009). [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Race_and_Liberty_in_America/FkgPOxEd-fYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=fish+anti-lynching+bill&pg=PA170&printsec=frontcover Race and Liberty in America: The Essential Reader], pp. 168–69. ''Google Books''. Retrieved May 29, 2023.</ref> Later when campaigning for U.S. Senate in 1948 during the Democratic primary, Johnson boasted of opposing anti-lynching and anti–[[poll tax]] legislation:<ref>Caro, Robert A. (February 3, 1991). [https://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/03/books/my-search-for-coke-stevenson.html My Search for Coke Stevenson]. ''The New York Times''. Retrieved February 29, 2023.</ref>

{{cquote|'''I have voted AGAINST the so-called poll tax repeal bill'''; the poll tax should be repealed by those states which enacted them. '''I have voted against the so-called anti-lynching bill'''; the state can, and DOES, enforce the law against murder.}}

{{cquote|'''I have voted AGAINST the so-called poll tax repeal bill'''; the poll tax should be repealed by those states which enacted them. '''I have voted against the so-called anti-lynching bill'''; the state can, and DOES, enforce the law against murder.|||Johnson, mid-1948}}

In [[Texas]], Johnson stole his first election to the [[U.S. Senate]], as recounted by historians.<ref>Federer, Bill (November 14, 2018) [https://www.worldtribune.com/how-landslide-lyndon-stole-the-senate-race-in-1948/ How ‘Landslide Lyndon’ stole the Senate race in 1948] ''World Tribune.'' Retrieved June 25, 2021.</ref><ref>Tolchin, Martin (February 11, 1990) [https://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/11/us/how-johnson-won-election-he-d-lost.html How Johnson Won Election He'd Lost] ''New York Times''. Retrieved June 25, 2021.</ref>  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.

In [[Texas]], Johnson stole his first election to the [[U.S. Senate]], as recounted by historians.<ref>Federer, Bill (November 14, 2018) [https://www.worldtribune.com/how-landslide-lyndon-stole-the-senate-race-in-1948/ How ‘Landslide Lyndon’ stole the Senate race in 1948] ''World Tribune.'' Retrieved June 25, 2021.</ref><ref>Tolchin, Martin (February 11, 1990) [https://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/11/us/how-johnson-won-election-he-d-lost.html How Johnson Won Election He'd Lost] ''New York Times''. Retrieved June 25, 2021.</ref>  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.