Olivia Colafella

Ms. Yanelli

U.S. History

5/4/17

President Lyndon B. Johnson

Lyndon B. Johnson was elected vice president in 1960. He served under John F. Kennedy

until his assassination in 1963, thus becoming the 36th president.

Lyndon Baines Johnson was born in Stonewall, Texas on August 27th, 1908. He was the

oldest of five children to Samuel Ealy Johnson Jr. and Rebekah Baines Johnson. Johnson

struggled in school, but ended up graduating in 1924 from Johnson City High School. He

attended Southwest Texas State Teachers College where he participated in debates and campus

politics. After he graduated in 1930, he taught school, but he already had a passion for politics. In

1931, he won as legislative secretary to Texas Democratic Congressman Richard M. Kleberg. He

moved to Washington D.C. and had a network of congressmen, lobbyists, and newspapermen.

After bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, President Roosevelt helped Johnson win a

commission in the U.S. Naval Reserve as a lieutenant commander. He served on a tour of the

South Pacific and flew in one combat mission. Johnson's plane was forced to turn back early due

to a mechanical difficulty, but he still received a Silver Star medal for his participation. He

returned to his legislative duties in Washington, D.C. right after. In a close election, Johnson was

elected as a senator for Texas in 1948. In 1953, he became the youngest minority leader in Senate
history. Democrats won control of the Senate the year after that, and Johnson was elected as

majority leader.

In 1960, Johnson ran for vice president under John F. Kennedy. They served together

until 1963, when Kennedy was assassinated. During that time, Johnson headed the space

program, oversaw the negotiations for the nuclear test ban treaty, and worked for minorities to

have equal opportunity in legislation. He also supported Kennedy's decision to send American

military to South Vietnam to fight off a communism outbreak. When Kennedy was assassinated,

Johnson was only two cars behind him. A few hours after President Kennedys death, Johnson

was sworn in as the 36th president of the United States. President Johnson created the Warren

Commission to investigate the Kennedy assassination. It concluded that the killer had acted

alone. He carried on Kennedys programs he had been working on before his death. Johnson

created War on Poverty, Job Corps, and Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) which were

all used to help end poverty in America. Johnson also got Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act

of 1964. He wanted to create the Great Society, a place of abundance, liberty, and justice for all.

Johnson wanted to better our world by helping those who needed it. In 1965, the first

large scale program that gave government aid to public schools was passed. A preschool

education program called Head Start and the first federal college scholarships were also formed.

Medicare and Medicaid were approved which provided health care for the poor and elderly. In

1967, laws were made that helped improve the environment and created the Corporation for

Public Broadcasting.

Sadly, Johnsons progress began to slow down at the end of 1966. In 1965,

Johnson sent troops to the Dominican Republic to end a revolt that was occurring there. The
Johnson Doctrine was also established which stated that the U.S. could intervene if there was a

risk of a communist dictatorship. In 1967, President Johnson signed the first direct treaty with

the Soviet Union in 50 years. There was also an agreement between 60 nations that there should

be a ban on weapons in outer space.

In 1967, the war in Vietnam took over Lyndon B. Johnson's presidency. Criticism of the war was

all over the nation's media. Anti-war protests had begun to spring up on college campuses and in

major cities. By 1968, more than 500,000 U.S. troops were in Vietnam. The United States was

spending 2.5 billion dollars every week on the war in Vietnam. The next election campaign

began and Democrats were split into four factions. Each one hated the other three, and Johnson

lost control of his party. His approval rating went down to 36 percent. On March 31, 1968,

Johnson announced to the nation that he would not be running for re-election.

When Johnson left office in January 1969, peace talks in Vietnam were under way. It

would take another four years before the United States was completely out of Vietnam. Johnson

died suddenly of a heart attack at his ranch in Texas on January 22, 1973. The day before his

death, he had learned that peace was happening in Vietnam.

 Works Cited

"Lyndon B. Johnson." The White House. The United States Government, 08 Mar. 2017. Web. 22
May 2017.

The Editors of Encyclopdia Britannica. "Lyndon B. Johnson." Encyclopdia Britannica.

Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc., 03 Mar. 2017. Web. 22 May 2017.

Library, LBJ Presidential. "LBJ: Biography." Facts about Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th
President of the United States - LBJ Presidential Library. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2017.