JOHNSON, LYNDON BAINES
Lyndon Baines Johnson was the thirty-sixth president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. Like three other vice presidents in U.S. history, he assumed the office following the assassination of the president. He took office November 22, 1963, after JOHN F. KENNEDY was killed in Dallas. Johnson’s administration was marked by landmark changes in CIVIL RIGHTS laws and social welfare programs, yet political support for him collapsed because of his escalation of the VIETNAM WAR.
Johnson was born August 27, 1908, near
Stonewall, Texas. He was raised in Johnson City,
Texas, which was named for his grandfather,
who had served in the Texas Legislature. John-
son’s father, Sam Ealy Johnson, also served in the
Texas Legislature. Johnson graduated from
Southwest Texas State Teachers College in 1930
with a teaching degree. He taught high school in
Houston, until 1931, when he became involved
with Democrat Richard M. Kleberg’s campaign
for the U.S. House of Representatives. Johnson
gave speeches and spoke to voters on Kleberg’s
behalf. When Kleberg was elected, he asked
Johnson to accompany him to Washington,
D.C., as his secretary. Johnson agreed, and his
political career in Washington, D.C., was
launched.
Johnson was not satisfied to be a secretary to
a congressman. He began making friends with
powerful Democrats, most notably Representa-
tive Sam Rayburn, of Texas. Rayburn, who
would soon become Speaker of the House, had
enormous influence. In 1935, after President
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT named him director of
the Texas division of the National Youth Admin-
istration, Johnson used his connections to put
twelve thousand young people to work in public
service jobs and to help another eighteen thou-
sand go to college.
He quit this position in 1937 to run in a spe-
cial election for the U.S. House of Representa-
tives in Texas’s Tenth Congressional District. In
his campaign he supported Roosevelt’s policies,
