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U.S. History
5/4/17
Lyndon B. Johnson was elected vice president in 1960. He served under John F. Kennedy
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
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
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
"Lyndon B. Johnson." The White House. The United States Government, 08 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.