(Brief Biography)

Lyndon B. Johnson ("L.B.J.") served briefly in the Navy as a lieutenant commander, during World War II, winning a Silver Star in the South Pacific. He served in the House of Representatives and the Senate, representing the state of Texas, before accepting John F. Kennedy’s ("J.F.K.'s") invitation to run as his Vice President. Johnson endeavored (wanted) to be elected President himself then, but fellow Democrat, J.F.K., proved too popular, so he accepted the Vice President Candidate role. Johnson's popularity in the southern United States paired well with northerner J.F.K., and together they won the 1960 Election.

L.B.J. became President upon the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963. The federal investigation concluded that J.F.K. was assassinated by gunshot from an upstairs Dallas, Texas building window. This happened while J.F.K. was riding in the Presidential Limousine (with the top removed) in a motorcade of cars passing through the downtown Dallas area. J.F.K.'s wife, Jacqueline was in the car by his side, when J.F.K. was shot. (L.B.J. was in another car, only two cars behind Kennedy's, but was not hurt.)


The assassination was caught on grainy film by an amateur photographer ("the Zapruder Film") standing alongside the parade route. The person believed to have been the assassin (Lee Harvey Oswald) was later caught by police, but Oswald was then killed by another man (Jack Ruby) a few days later when the Dallas Police were transferring the murder suspect through a group of news photographers. There have been multiple theories debated by legal experts and average citizens over the motive, and who was responsible for J.F.K.'s killing. (Learn more about the JFK Assassination at: https://cnn.it/3tjNsr8)


Upon J.F.K.'s death in Dallas, Texas, Lyndon B. Johnson ("L.B.J.") took the Oath of Office aboard 'Air Force One' (the President's Airplane), and was officially sworn in to the Office of the President of the United States. J.F.K.'s coffin was loaded onto the same plane to return to Washington, D.C. for the public funeral procession and burial that occurred a few days later. J.F.K.'s wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, stood next to L.B.J. as he recited his oath.

Prior to becoming President, L.B.J. had been a successful legislator in the U.S. Senate, both as Senate Minority leader (the leader of the political party, Democrat or Republican, that has fewer Senate members), and later as Senate Majority Leader (the leader of the political party, Democrat or Republican, that has a greater number of Senate members). He was considered to have great skills of persuasion, getting many members, both Democrats and Republicans, to vote as he urged. In this role, he was able to guide the passage of several of prior President Eisenhower's measures (laws).


Once L.B.J. became President, he was able to lead measures (legislation) to passage that President Kennedy had been working on before his death. These included the new Civil Rights Act of 1964, and tax cuts meant to help the economy grow. L.B.J.'s own vision as President was to help the United States become, “A Great Society”, “...a place where the meaning of man’s life matches the marvels of man’s labor,” for the American people, and their fellow men elsewhere.

Connecting his image to the popularity of J.F.K., Johnson ran for President in 1964, and won by a huge margin: 42 million votes to his opponent's 27 million. His Electoral College victory was broad as well: 486 to 52.

L.B.J. worked with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This law sought to stop racist whites from preventing Blacks from voting. Though L.B.J. was credited for that effort, the Civil Rights Movement continued to grow. Demonstrators and protestors challenged L.B.J.'s administration, the U.S. Congress, and the U.S. Supreme Court to do more to respect the rights of Black Americans. At this time, many Blacks still had a hard time with being able to buy a house in a white neighborhood, attend some colleges, open accounts at banks, get credit, or obtain employment or a promotion to higher pay. The 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and soon after, Robert F. Kennedy (J.F.K.’s younger brother), only increased public unrest (riots) over these issues in many of the nation's largest cities, like Los Angeles and Chicago. This cast a shadow over L.B.J.'s many accomplishments.

L.B.J. promoted passage of legislation inspired by earlier President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal". This included national Title I funding, which directed massive amounts of tax money to support people living in poverty. Much of the Title I Services funding went to schools around the country, and was intended to help students have better prospects for higher education and employment as adults, and lift themselves out of poverty. In addition, The Medicare Act was passed, which was, and still is, a health insurance program for elderly Americans. The Medicaid Act, was another health care program intended for low-income people.


L.B.J. inherited from J.F.K. the rapidly growing struggle to restrain Communist encroachment (invasion) into South Vietnam (in the continent of Asia). Previous Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy had incrementally increased U.S. aid for the South Vietnamese defense. Johnson made efforts to negotiate a peace treaty with the North Vietnamese, but was unsuccessful.


L.B.J.'s Presidency was beset (troubled) by the widening war, which continued long after he left office in 1969. The Vietnam War ultimately cost the lives of over 58,000 servicemen and women, and over one million Vietnamese. L.B.J., and later, Nixon, often were the focus of American Protests over the Vietnam War. These protests were held at universities, near U.S. Government Offices, and on the streets of major cities. Many thousands of young men of draft age tried a number of things to avoid being sent to fight in Vietnam. This included moving to Canada or Mexico for several years, injuring themselves on purpose in order to fail the Army's physical exam, or falsify documents that would make it look like they were ineligible for military service.

L.B.J. did not seek a second full term as President, but instead used his remaining time in office to end the war and negotiate peace in Vietnam, an effort in which he was unsuccessful.


President Lyndon Johnson's wife, Lady Bird Johnson, served as the nation's "First Lady" during Johnson's term in office. She was very active publicly, making impassioned speeches and wrote extensively on the importance of protecting the environment. She was ahead of her time in understanding the importance of environmental protection, and its impact on people and society at large. Here is a quote of the First Lady:


"First we shape our buildings, and then they shape us. The same is true of our highways, our parks, our public buildings, and the environment we create. They shape us.... Though the word beautification makes the concept sound merely cosmetic, it involves much more: clean water, clean air, clean roadsides, safe waste disposal and preservation of valued old landmarks as well as great parks and wilderness areas. To me…beautification means our total concern for the physical and human quality we pass on to our children and the future.”

Sources:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
https://www.whitehousehistory.org/slavery-in-the-presidents-neighborhood-faq
https://www.biography.com/us-president
https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-presidential-election-of-1964
https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents
https://www.nps.gov/articles/lady-bird-johnson-beautification-cultural-landscapes.htm
https://www.nps.gov/media/video/view.htm?id=251F63A9-9C8B-0D21-A8F70139641BF207
https://www.cnn.com/2013/11/14/us/jfk-assassination-5-things/index.html
https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2008/summer/lbj.html

-Compiled by Henry Anker-