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{{redirect|LBJ}}
{{Infobox President
|name=Lyndon B. Johnson
|nationality=American
|image=Lbj2.jpg
|order=36th [[President of the United States]]
|term_start=[[November 22]], [[1963]]
|term_end=[[January 20]], [[1969]]
|vicepresident=''None'' (1963–1965), [[Hubert Humphrey]] (1965–1969)
|predecessor=[[John F. Kennedy]]
|successor=[[Richard Nixon]]
|order2=37th [[Vice President of the United States]]
|term_start2=[[January 20]], [[1961]]
|term_end2=[[November 22]], [[1963]]
|president2=[[John F. Kennedy]]
|predecessor2=[[Richard Nixon]]
|successor2=[[Hubert Humphrey]]
|majorityleader3=11th
|term_start3=[[January 3]], [[1955]]
|term_end3=[[January 3]], [[1961]]
|predecessor3=[[William F. Knowland]]
|successor3=[[Mike Mansfield]]
|order4=9th [[Party leaders of the United States Senate|United States Senate Minority Leader]]
|term_start4=[[January 3]], [[1953]]
|term_end4=[[January 3]], [[1955]]
|predecessor4=[[Styles Bridges]]
|successor4=[[William F. Knowland]]
|order5=10th [[Assistant party leaders of the United States Senate|United States Senate Majority Whip]]
|term_start5=[[January 3]], [[1951]]
|term_end5=[[January 3]], [[1953]]
|predecessor5=[[Francis J. Myers]]
|successor5=[[Leverett Saltonstall]]
|order6 = [[List of United States Senators from Texas|United States Senator]] from [[Texas]]
|term_start6 = [[January 3]], [[1949]]
|term_end6 = [[January 3]], [[1961]]
|predecessor6 = [[W. Lee O'Daniel]]
|successor6 = [[William Blakley]]
|order7 = Member of the [[U.S. House of Representatives]] from [[Texas]]'s [[Texas's 10th congressional district|10th]] District
|term_start7 = [[April 10]], [[1937]]
|term_end7 = [[January 3]], [[1949]]
|predecessor7 = [[James P. Buchanan]]
|successor5 = [[Homer Thornberry]]
|birth_date={{birth date|1908|8|27|mf=y}}
|birth_place=[[Stonewall, Texas|Stonewall]], [[Texas]]
|death_date={{death date and age|1973|1|22|1908|8|27}}
|death_place=[[Stonewall, Texas|Stonewall]], [[Texas]]
|religion=[[Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)|Disciple of Christ]]
|spouse=[[Lady Bird Johnson]]
|profession=[[Teacher]], [[politician|Career politician]]
|alma_mater=[[Texas State University-San Marcos|Southwest Texas State Teachers' College]]
|party=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
|signature=Lyndon B. Johnson signature.JPG
|}}
'''Lyndon Baines Johnson''' ([[August 27]], [[1908]] – [[January 22]], [[1973]]), often referred to as '''LBJ''', was the thirty-sixth [[President of the United States]] from 1963 to 1969. Johnson served a long career in both houses of the [[Congress of the United States|U.S. Congress]], and in 1960 he was selected by then-Presidential candidate [[John F. Kennedy]] to be his running-mate. After Kennedy won the [[U.S. presidential election, 1960|1960 presidential election]], Johnson became the thirty-seventh [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]], and in 1963, he [[United States presidential line of succession|succeeded]] to the presidency following [[John F. Kennedy assassination|Kennedy's assassination]]. He was a major leader of the [[History of the United States Democratic Party|Democratic Party]] and as President was responsible for designing the [[Great Society]], comprising liberal legislation including [[American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968)|civil rights laws]], [[Medicare (United States)|Medicare]] (health care for the elderly), [[Medicaid]] (health care for the poor), aid to education, and a "[[War on Poverty]]." Simultaneously, he escalated the American involvement in the [[Vietnam War]], from 16,000 American soldiers in 1963 to 550,000 in early 1968.

He was elected President in his own right in a [[landslide victory]] in [[United States presidential election, 1964|1964]], but his popularity steadily declined after [[United States House election, 1966|1966]] and his reelection bid in [[United States presidential election, 1968|1968]] collapsed as a result of turmoil in his party. He withdrew from the race to concentrate on peacemaking. Johnson was renowned for his domineering (or dominating) personality and the "Johnson treatment," his arm-twisting of powerful politicians.

Johnson died after a [[heart attack]], the third in his lifetime, on [[January 22]], [[1973]].

==Early years==
Johnson was maternally descended from a pioneer [[Baptist]] clergyman, [[George Washington Baines]], who pastored some eight churches in [[Texas]] as well as others in [[Arkansas]] and [[Louisiana]]. Baines was also the president of [[Baylor University]], then in [[Independence, Texas|Independence]], in [[Washington County, Texas|Washington County]] during the [[American Civil War]]. George Baines was the grandfather of Johnson's mother, Rebekah Baines Johnson.

The President's grandfather, [[Samuel Ealy Johnson, Sr.]], was raised as a Baptist. Subsequently, in his early manhood, he became a member of the [[Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)]]. In his later years, he affiliated with the Christadelphians. According to Lady Bird Johnson, President Johnson's father, Sam Ealy Johnson, Jr., also joined the [[Christadelphian]] Church toward the end of his life.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/FAQs/Religion/religion_hm.asp |title=Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum — Religion and President Johnson}}</ref>

Johnson was born near [[Stonewall, Texas]], on [[August 27]], [[1908]], in a small [[farmhouse]] in a poor area on the [[Pedernales River]]. His parents, [[Samuel Ealy Johnson, Jr.]] and the former Rebekah Baines, had three girls and two boys: LBJ and his brother, [[Sam Houston Johnson]] (1914-1978), and sisters Rebekah (1910–1978), Josefa (1912–1961), and Lucia (1916–1997). The nearby small town of [[Johnson City, Texas|Johnson City]], [[Texas]] was named after LBJ's father's cousin, James Polk Johnson, whose forebears had moved west from [[Georgia (U.S. State)|Georgia]]. In school, Johnson was an awkward, talkative youth and was elected president of his eleventh-grade class. He graduated from Johnson City High School in 1924.<ref>Caro, Robert A. Volume I</ref> In 1925, he worked as an elevator operator in downtown [[San Bernardino, California|San Bernardino]], [[California]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=26682 |title=735 — Remarks at a Rally in San Bernardino. October 28, 1964}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sbpl.org/trivia.html |title=The Ultimate San Bernardino Trivia Quiz}}</ref>

In 1926, Johnson enrolled in [[Texas State University–San Marcos|Southwest Texas State]] Teachers' College (now [[Texas State University-San Marcos]]). He worked his way through school, participated in debate and campus politics, edited the school newspaper, and graduated in 1931. The college years refined his remarkable skills of persuasion and political organization. One year Johnson taught mostly [[Mexico|Mexican]] children at the [[Welhausen School]] in [[Cotulla, Texas|Cotulla]], some ninety miles south of [[San Antonio, Texas|San Antonio]] in [[La Salle County, Texas|La Salle County]]. When he returned to San Marcos in 1965, after having signed the [[Higher Education Act]], Johnson looked back:
:"''I shall never forget the faces of the boys and the girls in that little Welhausen Mexican School, and I remember even yet the pain of realizing and knowing then that college was closed to practically every one of those children because they were too poor. And I think it was then that I made up my mind that this nation could never rest while the door to knowledge remained closed to any American''."<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/lbjforkids/edu_whca370-text.shtm
|title=Remarks at Southwest Texas State College Upon Signing the Higher Education Act of 1965
|publisher=Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum
|accessdate=2006-04-11
}}</ref>

==Early political career==
After graduation, Johnson briefly taught public speaking and debate in a Houston high school, then entered politics. Johnson's father had served five terms in the [[Texas legislature]] and was a close friend to one of Texas's rising political figures, Congressman [[Sam Rayburn]]. In 1930, Johnson campaigned for Texas state Senator [[Welly Hopkins]] in his run for Congress. Hopkins recommended him to Congressman [[Richard M. Kleberg]], who appointed Johnson as Kleberg's legislative secretary. LBJ was elected speaker of the "Little Congress," a group of Congressional aides, where he cultivated Congressmen, newspapermen and lobbyists. Johnson's friends soon included aides to President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], as well as fellow Texans such as Vice President [[John Nance Garner]]. He became a surrogate son to Sam Rayburn.

[[Image:FDR-LBJ.png|thumb|250px|right|President Roosevelt, Governor [[James Allred]] of Texas & Johnson. In later campaigns, Johnson edited Governor Allred out of the picture to assist his campaign]]

Johnson married [[Lady Bird Johnson|Claudia Alta Taylor]] (already nicknamed "Lady Bird") of [[Karnack, Texas|Karnack]], [[Texas]] on [[November 17]], [[1934]] after having attended [[Georgetown University]] Law School for several months. They had two daughters, [[Lynda Bird Johnson|Lynda Bird]], born in 1944, and [[Luci Baines Johnson|Luci Baines]], born in 1947. Johnson enjoyed giving people and animals his own initials; his daughters' given names are examples, as was his dog Little [[Beagle]] Johnson.

In 1935, he was appointed head of the Texas [[National Youth Administration]], which enabled him to use the government to create education and job opportunities for young people. He resigned two years later to run for Congress. Johnson was a notoriously tough boss throughout his career, often demanding long workdays and work on weekends, and Johnson himself worked as hard as any member of his staff.<ref> Woods, Randall (2006), p. 131 </ref>

==House years==
In 1937, Johnson ran for Congress in a special election for [[Texas's 10th congressional district]] to represent [[Austin, Texas|Austin]], [[Texas]] and the surrounding Hill Country. He ran on a [[New Deal]] platform and was effectively aided by his wife, Lady Bird Johnson.

President Roosevelt found Johnson to be a welcome ally and conduit for information, particularly with regards to issues concerning internal politics in Texas ([[Operation Texas]]) and the machinations of Vice President Garner and House Speaker Sam Rayburn. Johnson was immediately appointed to the [[Naval Affairs Committee]]. He worked for rural electrification and other improvements for his district. Johnson steered the projects towards contractors that he personally knew, such as the [[Kellogg, Brown and Root|Brown]] Brothers, Herman and George, who would finance much of Johnson's future career.<ref>Caro, Robert A. (1982) is full of details.</ref> (The Brown & Root company would eventually be a subsidiary of [[Halliburton]].) In 1941, he ran for the [[U.S. Senate]] in a special election against the sitting governor, radio personality [[W. Lee O'Daniel|W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel]]. Johnson was not expected to win against the popular governor, but he ran a strong race and was declared the winner in unofficial returns. He was ultimately defeated by controversial official returns in an election marked by massive fraud on the part of both campaigns.

===War record===
After America entered the war in December 1941, Johnson, still in Congress, became a commissioned officer in the Navy Reserves, then asked Undersecretary of the Navy [[James Forrestal]] for a combat assignment.<ref>{{cite book |author=Hove, Duane T. |title=American Warriors: Five Presidents in the Pacific Theater of World War II |publisher=Burd Street Press |year=2003 |id=ISBN 1-57249-070}} [http://www.americanwarriorsfivepresidents.com/]</ref> Instead he was sent to inspect the shipyard facilities in Texas and on the West Coast. In the spring of 1942, President Roosevelt needed his own reports on what conditions were like in the [[South West Pacific theatre of World War II|Southwest Pacific]]. Roosevelt felt information that flowed up the military chain of command needed to be supplemented by a highly trusted political aide. From a suggestion by Forrestal, President Roosevelt assigned Johnson to a three-man survey team of the Southwest Pacific.

Johnson reported to General [[Douglas MacArthur]] in [[Australia]]. Johnson and two Army officers went to the [[22nd Bomb Group (Red Raiders) 5th Army Air Force|22nd Bomb Group]] base, which was assigned the high risk mission of bombing the [[Japan]]ese [[airbase]] at [[Lae]] in [[New Guinea]]. A colonel took Johnson's original seat on one bomber, and it was shot down with no survivors. Reports vary on what happened to the [[B-26 Marauder]] carrying Johnson. Some accounts say it was also attacked by Japanese fighters but survived, while others, including other members of the flight crew, claim it turned back due to generator trouble before reaching the objective and before encountering enemy aircraft and never came under fire, which is supported by official flight records.<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/johnson.silver.star/story/storypage.html CNN.com In-Depth Specials - The story behind LBJ's Silver Star]</ref> Other airplanes that continued to the target ''did'' come under fire near the target at about the same time that Johnson's plane was recorded as having landed back at the original airbase.<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/johnson.silver.star/story/storypage.html CNN.com In-Depth Specials - The story behind LBJ's Silver Star]</ref> MacArthur awarded LBJ the [[Silver Star]], the military's third-highest medal, although it is notable that no other members of the flight crew were awarded medals, and it is unclear what Johnson could have done in his role purely as an "observer" to deserve the medal, even if it had seen combat.

Johnson's biographer, [[Robert Caro]], stated, "The most you can say about Lyndon Johnson and his Silver Star is that it is surely one of the most undeserved Silver Stars in history. Because if you accept everything that he said, he was still in action for no more than 13 minutes and only as an observer. Men who flew many missions, brave men, never got a Silver Star."<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/johnson.silver.star/story/storypage.html CNN.com In-Depth Specials - The story behind LBJ's Silver Star]</ref>

Johnson reported back to Roosevelt, to the Navy leaders, and to Congress that conditions were deplorable and unacceptable. He argued the South West Pacific urgently needed a higher priority and a larger share of war supplies. The warplanes sent there, for example, were "far inferior" to Japanese planes, and morale was bad. He told Forrestal that the Pacific Fleet had a "critical" need for 6,800 additional experienced men. Johnson prepared a twelve-point program to upgrade the effort in the region, stressing "greater cooperation and coordination within the various commands and between the different war theaters." Congress responded by making Johnson chairman of a high-powered subcommittee of the Naval Affairs committee. With a mission similar to that of the [[Truman Committee]] in the Senate, he probed into the peacetime "business as usual" inefficiencies that permeated the naval war and demanded that admirals shape up and get the job done. However, Johnson went too far when he proposed a bill that would crack down on the draft exemptions of shipyard workers if they were absent from work too often. Organized labor blocked the bill and denounced Johnson. Still, Johnson's mission had a substantial impact because it led to upgrading the South Pacific theater and aided the overall war effort immensely. Johnson’s biographer concludes, "The mission was a temporary exposure to danger calculated to satisfy Johnson's personal and political wishes, but it also represented a genuine effort on his part, however misplaced, to improve the lot of America's fighting men."<ref> Dallek, Robert. ''Lone Star Rising'', p. 237</ref>

==Senate years==
===1948 contested election===
In [[U.S. Senate election, 1948|1948]], Johnson again ran for the Senate and won. This election was highly controversial: a three-way Democratic Party [[primary election|primary]] saw Johnson facing a well-known former governor, [[Coke Stevenson]], and a third candidate. Johnson drew crowds to fairgrounds with his rented helicopter dubbed "The Flying Windmill". He raised money to flood the state with campaign circulars, and won over conservatives by voting for the [[Taft-Hartley]] act curbing unions and by criticizing unions on the stump. Stevenson came in first, but lacked a majority, so a runoff was held. Johnson campaigned even harder, while Stevenson's efforts were poor. The runoff count took a week as the two candidates see-sawed for the lead. The Democratic State Central Committee handled the count (not the state, because it was a party primary), and it finally announced Johnson won by eighty-seven votes. The committee voted 29-28 to certify Johnson's nomination, with the last vote cast on Johnson's behalf by the [[Temple, Texas|Temple]] [[publisher]] [[Frank W. Mayborn]], who rushed back to Texas from a business trip in [[Nashville, Tennessee]]. There were many allegations of fraud on both sides. Thus one writer alleges that Johnson's campaign manager, [[John B. Connally]], was connected with 202 [[ballot]]s in Precinct 13 in [[Jim Wells County, Texas|Jim Wells County]] that had curiously been cast in [[alphabetical order]]. [[Robert Caro]] argued in his 1989 book that Johnson had rigged the election in Jim Wells County, and other counties in South Texas, as well as rigging 10,000 ballots in [[Bexar County]] alone.<ref> Woods, Randall (2006), p. 217; Caro, Robert A. (1989)</ref>

However, the state Democratic convention upheld Johnson. Stevenson went to court, but — with timely help from his friend [[Abe Fortas]] — Johnson prevailed. Johnson was elected senator in November, and went to [[Washington, D.C.]] tagged with the ironic label "Landslide Lyndon," which he often used deprecatingly to refer to himself.

===Freshman Senator===
Once in the Senate, Johnson was known among his colleagues for his highly successful "courtships" of older senators, especially Senator [[Richard Russell, Jr.|Richard Russell]], patrician leader of the [[Conservative coalition]] and arguably the most powerful man in the Senate. Johnson proceeded to gain Russell's favor in the same way that he had "courted" Speaker Sam Rayburn and gained his crucial support in the House.

Johnson was appointed to the Senate Armed Services Committee, and later in 1950, he helped create the [[Preparedness Investigating Subcommittee]]. Johnson became its chairman and conducted investigations of defense costs and efficiency. These investigations tended to dig out old forgotten investigations and demand actions that were already being taken by the [[Harry S. Truman|Truman]] Administration, although it can be said that the committee's investigations caused the changes. However, Johnson's brilliant handling of the press, the efficiency at which his committee issued new reports, and the fact that he ensured every report was endorsed unanimously by the committee all brought him headlines and national attention.

===Senate Democratic leader===
In January 1953, he was chosen by his fellow Democrats to be the minority leader. Thus, he became the least senior Senator ever elected to this position, and one of the least senior party leaders in the history of the Senate. One of his first actions was to eliminate the seniority system in appointment to a committee, while retaining it in terms of chairmanships. In [[United States Senate election, 1954|1954]], Johnson was re-elected to the Senate, and since the Democrats won the majority in the Senate, Johnson became majority leader. LBJ's duties were to schedule legislation and help pass measures favored by the Democrats. He, Rayburn and President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] worked smoothly together in passing Eisenhower's domestic and foreign agenda. As Majority Leader, Johnson was responsible for passage of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1957]], the first civil rights legislation passed by the Senate since [[Reconstruction]].
[[Image:Lbj-green.jpg|thumb|220px|right|Johnson gives "The Treatment" to 90-year-old [[Rhode Island]] Senator [[Theodore F. Green]] in 1957]]
Historians Caro and Dallek consider Lyndon Johnson the most effective Senate majority leader in history. He was unusually proficient at gathering information. One biographer suggests he was "the greatest intelligence gatherer Washington has ever known", discovering exactly where every Senator stood, his philosophy and prejudices, his strengths and weaknesses, and what it took to win him over.<ref>Woods, Randall (2006), p. 262</ref> Central to Johnson's control was "The Treatment",<ref>[http://www.afterimagegallery.com/nytjohnson.htm New York Times, The Johnson Treatment: Lyndon B. Johnson and Theodore F. Green]</ref> described by two journalists:<ref>[[Rowland Evans]] and [[Robert Novak]]. ''Lyndon B. Johnson: The Exercise of Power'' (1966), p. 104 </ref>
:The Treatment could last ten minutes or four hours. It came, enveloping its target, at the LBJ Ranch swimming pool, in one of LBJ's offices, in the Senate cloakroom, on the floor of the Senate itself — wherever Johnson might find a fellow Senator within his reach.

:Its tone could be supplication, accusation, cajolery, exuberance, scorn, tears, complaint and the hint of threat. It was all of these together. It ran the gamut of human emotions. Its velocity was breathtaking, and it was all in one direction. Interjections from the target were rare. Johnson anticipated them before they could be spoken. He moved in close, his face a scant millimeter from his target, his eyes widening and narrowing, his eyebrows rising and falling. From his pockets poured clippings, memos, statistics. Mimicry, humor, and the genius of analogy made The Treatment an almost hypnotic experience and rendered the target stunned and helpless.

==Vice Presidency==
{{main|United States presidential election, 1960}}

Johnson's success in the Senate made him a possible Democratic presidential candidate. He was Texas' "favorite son" candidate at the party's national convention in 1956. In 1960, after the failure of the Stop Kennedy coalition he had formed with Stevenson, Symington and Humphrey, Johnson received 409 votes on the first and only ballot at the Democratic convention, which nominated John F. Kennedy.

Tip O'Neill, then a representative from Kennedy's home state of Massachusetts, recalled that Johnson approached him at the convention and said, "Tip, I'd like to have you with me on the second ballot." O'Neill, understanding the influence of the Kennedy name, replied, "Senator, there's not going to be any second ballot."<ref>{{cite book |title=Tip O'Neill and the Democratic Century: A Biography |author=John A. Farrell |year=2001 |publisher=Little, Brown |id=ISBN 0-316-26049-5}}</ref>

During the convention, Kennedy designated Johnson as his choice for Vice President. Some later reports (such as [[Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.]]'s) say that Kennedy offered the position to Johnson as a courtesy and did not expect him to accept. Others (such as [[W. Marvin Watson]]) say that the Kennedy campaign was desperate to win the [[U.S. presidential election, 1960|1960 election]] against [[Richard Nixon]] and [[Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.]], and needed Johnson on the ticket to help carry [[Southern United States|Southern states]].

While he ran for vice president with John F. Kennedy, Johnson also sought a third term in the U.S. Senate. According to Robert Caro, "On November 5, 1960, Lyndon Johnson won election for both the vice presidency of the United States, on the Kennedy-Johnson ticket, and for a third term as Senator (he had had Texas law changed to allow him to run for both offices). When he won the vice presidency, he made arrangements to resign from the Senate, as he was required to do under federal law, as soon as it convened on January 3, 1961."<ref>Master of the Senate, p. 1035.</ref>

Johnson was reelected senator, with 1,306,605 votes (58 percent) to Republican [[John Tower]]'s 927,653 (41.1 percent). Fellow Democrat [[William A. Blakley]] was appointed to replace Johnson as Senator, but Blakley lost a special election in May 1961 to Tower. In 1988, [[Lloyd Bentsen]], the Vice Presidential running mate of [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] presidential candidate [[Michael Dukakis]], and also a [[United States Senate|Senator]] from [[Texas]], took advantage of "Lyndon's law," and was able to retain his seat in [[United States Senate|Senate]] despite Dukakis' loss to [[George H. W. Bush]].

After the election, Johnson found himself powerless. Despite Kennedy's efforts to have Johnson busy, informed and at the White House often, his advisors and even some of his family were dismissive to the Texan. Kennedy appointed him to nominal jobs such as head of the [[President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunities]], through which he worked with [[African American]]s and other minorities. Though Kennedy probably intended this to remain a nominal position, [[Taylor Branch]] in ''Pillar of Fire'' contends that Johnson served to force the Kennedy administration's actions for civil rights further and faster than Kennedy intended to go. Branch notes the irony of Johnson, who the Kennedy family hoped would appeal to conservative southern voters, being the advocate for civil rights. In particular he notes Johnson's [[Memorial Day]] 1963 speech at Gettysburg as being a catalyst that led to much more action than otherwise would have occurred.

Johnson took on numerous minor diplomatic missions, which gave him limited insights into international issues. He was allowed to observe Cabinet and [[National Security Council]] meetings. Kennedy did give Johnson control over all presidential appointments involving Texas, and he was appointed chairman of the [[President's Ad Hoc Committee for Science]]. When, in April 1961, the Soviets beat the U.S. with the first manned spaceflight Kennedy tasked Johnson with coming up with a 'scientific bonanza' that would prove world leadership. Johnson knew that [[Project Apollo]] and an enlarged [[NASA]] were feasible, so he steered the recommendation towards a program for landing an American on the moon.

==Presidency 1963–1969==
===Assassination of President John F. Kennedy===
[[Image:Lyndon B. Johnson taking the oath of office, November 1963.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Lyndon B. Johnson being sworn in aboard ''Air Force One'' by Federal Judge [[Sarah T. Hughes]], following the [[John F. Kennedy assassination|assassination of John F. Kennedy]]. To the right of Johnson (from the viewer's point of view) is [[Jacqueline Kennedy]], widow of Kennedy; to his right (our left) is Mrs. [[Lady Bird Johnson]].]]

An hour and 39 minutes after [[John F. Kennedy assassination|President Kennedy was shot]] two cars in front of him in a [[Dealey Plaza]] motorcade, Johnson was sworn in as President on ''[[Air Force One]]'' in [[Dallas, Texas|Dallas]] at [[Love Field Airport]] on [[November 22]], [[1963]]. He was sworn in by Federal Judge [[Sarah T. Hughes]], a very close friend of his family, making him the first President sworn in by a woman. He is also the only President to have been sworn in on Texas soil. Johnson was not sworn on a Bible, as none could be found aboard ''Air Force One''; a Roman Catholic [[missal]] was discovered in Kennedy's desk, and this book was used during the swearing-in ceremony.<ref> Transcript, Lawrence F. O'Brien Oral History Interview XIII, 9/10/86, by Michael L. Gillette, Internet Copy, LBJ Library. See: Page 23 at [http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/oralhistory.hom/OBrienL/OBRIEN13.PDF]</ref>

To investigate Kennedy's murder, Johnson created a special panel called the [[Warren Commission]]. This panel, headed by Chief Justice [[Earl Warren]], conducted hearings about the assassination and concluded that Oswald did indeed shoot the President without conspiring with anyone. Not everyone agreed with the Warren Commission, however, and numerous public and private investigations continued for decades after Johnson left office.<ref> The [[Assassination Records Review Board]] noted in 1998 that Johnson became skeptical of some of the Warren Commission findings. See: Final Report, chapter 1, footnote 17 at http://www.fas.org/sgp/advisory/arrb98/index.html</ref>

The wave of national grief and soul-searching following the assassination gave enormous momentum to Johnson's promise to carry out Kennedy's programs. He retained the senior Kennedy appointees, some for the full term of his presidency. Even the late President's brother, [[Attorney General]] [[Robert F. Kennedy]], with whom Johnson had an infamously difficult relationship, remained in office until leaving in 1964 to run for the Senate.<ref> Dallek, Robert (1998). Chapter 2</ref>

===1964 Presidential election===

{{main|U.S. presidential election, 1964}}
On [[September 7]], [[1964]], Johnson's campaign managers for the [[United States presidential election, 1964|1964 presidential election]] broadcast the "[[Daisy (television commercial)|Daisy ad]]." It portrayed a little girl picking petals from a daisy, counting up to ten. Then a baritone voice took over, counted down from ten to zero and a nuclear bomb exploded. The message was that [[Barry Goldwater]] meant nuclear war. Although it was soon pulled off the air, it escalated into a very heated election. Johnson won by a sweeping landslide.
Johnson won the presidency with 61 percent of the vote and the then-widest popular margin in the 20th century — more than 15 million votes (this was later surpassed by Nixon's defeat of [[George McGovern|McGovern]] in 1972).<ref> Dallek, Robert (1998). Chapter 3</ref>

In the summer of 1964, the [[Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party]] (MFDP) was organized with the purpose of challenging Mississippi's all-white and anti-civil rights delegation to the Democratic National Convention of that year as not representative of all Mississippians. At [[1964 Democratic National Convention|national convention]] in [[Atlantic City, New Jersey|Atlantic City]], [[New Jersey]] the MFDP claimed the seats for delegates for Mississippi, not on the grounds of the Party rules, but because the official Mississippi delegation had been elected by a primary conducted under [[Jim Crow laws]] in which blacks were excluded because of poll taxes, literacy tests, and even violence against black voters. The national Party’s liberal leaders supported a compromise in which the white delegation and the MFDP would have an even division of the seats; Johnson was concerned that, while the regular Democrats of Mississippi would probably vote for Goldwater anyway, if the Democratic Party rejected the regular Democrats, he would lose the Democratic Party political structure that he needed to win in the South. Eventually, [[Hubert Humphrey]], [[Walter Reuther]] and black civil rights leaders (including [[Roy Wilkins]], [[Martin Luther King]], and [[Bayard Rustin]] worked out a compromise with MFDP leaders: the MFDP would receive two non-voting seats on the floor of the Convention; the regular Mississippi delegation would be required to pledge to support the party ticket; and no future Democratic convention would accept a delegation chosen by a discriminatory poll. When the leaders took the proposal back to the 64 members who had made the bus trip to Atlantic City, they voted it down. As MFDP Vice Chair [[Fannie Lou Hamer]] said, "We didn't come all the way up here to compromise for no more than we’d gotten here. We didn't come all this way for no two seats, 'cause all of us is tired." The failure of the compromise effort allowed the rest of the Democratic Party to conclude that the MFDP was simply being unreasonable, and they lost a great deal of their liberal support. After that, the convention went smoothly for LBJ without a searing battle over civil rights.<ref> Evans and Novak (1966), pp. 451–456; Taylor Branch. ''Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years 1963–65'', pp. 444–470</ref> Johnson carried the South as a whole in the election, but he lost the white voters to Goldwater in the [[Deep South]] states of [[Louisiana]], Alabama, Mississippi, [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] and [[South Carolina]].

===Civil rights===
[[Image:Martin Luther King, Jr. and Lyndon Johnson 2.jpg|left|thumb|250px|President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] meets with King in the White House Cabinet Room in 1966]]
[[Image:Lyndon Johnson signing Civil Rights Act, 2 July, 1964.jpg|thumb|250px|right|President Johnson signs the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964]]
In conjunction with the [[American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968)|civil rights movement]], Johnson overcame southern resistance and convinced Congress to pass the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]], which outlawed most forms of racial segregation. Johnson signed it into law on [[July 2]], [[1964]]. Legend has it that, as he put down his pen, Johnson told an aide, "We have lost the South for a generation," anticipating a coming backlash from Southern whites against Johnson's Democratic Party.<ref>{{cite news |last=Risen |first=Clay |title=How the South was won |publisher=[[The Boston Globe]] |date=[[2006-03-05]] |url=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2006/03/05/how_the_south_was_won/|accessdate=2007-02-11}}</ref> In 1965, he achieved passage of a second civil rights bill, the [[Voting Rights Act]], that outlawed discrimination in voting, thus allowing millions of southern blacks to vote for the first time.

In 1967, Johnson nominated civil rights attorney [[Thurgood Marshall]] to be the first [[African American]] [[Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States|Associate Justice]] of the Supreme Court. After the murder of civil rights worker [[Viola Liuzzo]], Johnson went on television to announce the arrest of four [[Ku Klux Klan]]smen implicated in her death. He angrily denounced the Klan as a "hooded society of bigots", and warned them to "return to a decent society before it's too late." He turned the themes of Christian redemption to push for civil rights, thereby mobilizing support from churches North and South.<ref> Woods, Randall (2006), pp. 759–787</ref> At the [[Howard University]] commencement address on [[June 4]], [[1965]], he said that both the government and the nation needed to help achieve goals:
''...To shatter forever not only the barriers of law and public practice, but the walls which bound the condition of many by the color of his skin. To dissolve, as best we can, the antique enmities of the heart which diminish the holder, divide the great democracy, and do wrong — great wrong — to the children of God...'''.<ref> ''Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1965.'' Volume II, entry 301, pp. 635–640 (1966)</ref>

===Great Society===
The [[Great Society]] program became Johnson's agenda for Congress in January 1965: aid to education, attack on disease, Medicare, [[urban renewal]], beautification, conservation, development of depressed regions, a wide-scale fight against poverty, control and prevention of crime, and removal of obstacles to the [[right to vote]]. Congress, at times augmenting or amending, enacted many of Johnson's recommendations.

====Federal aid to education====
Johnson had a lifelong commitment to the belief that education was the cure for both [[ignorance]] and poverty, and was an essential component of the [[American Dream]], especially for minorities who endured poor facilities and tight-fisted budgets from local taxes. He made education a top priority of the Great Society, with an emphasis on helping poor children. After the 1964 landslide brought in many new liberal Congressmen, he had the votes for the ''[[Elementary and Secondary Education Act]]'' (ESEA) of 1965. For the first time large amounts of federal money went to public schools. In practice ESEA meant helping all public school districts, with more money going to districts that had large proportions of students from poor families (which included all the big cities). However, for the first time private schools (most of them Catholic schools in the inner cities) received services, such as library funding, comprising about 12% of the ESEA budget. As Dallek reports, researchers soon found that poverty had more to do with family background and neighborhood conditions than the quantity of education a child received. Early studies suggested initial improvements for poor kids helped by ESEA reading and math programs, but later assessments indicated that benefits faded quickly and left students little better off than those not in the programs. Johnson’s second major education program was the “Higher Education Act of 1965," which focused on funding for lower income students, including grants, work-study money, and government loans. He set up the [[National Endowment for the Humanities]] and the [[National Endowment for the Arts]], to support humanists and artists (as the [[Works Progress Administration|WPA]] once did). Although ESEA solidified Johnson's support among K12 teachers' unions, neither the Higher Education act nor the Endowments mollified the college professors and students growing increasingly uneasy with the war in [[Vietnam]].<ref>Woods, Randall (2006), pp. 563–68; Dallek, Robert (1988), pp. 196–202</ref>

====War on poverty====
In 1964, upon Johnson's request, Congress passed a tax-reduction law and the [[Economic Opportunity Act]], which was in association with the [[war on poverty]].

====Medicare and Medicaid====
Millions of elderly people were aided by the 1965 Medicare amendment to the [[Social Security Act]]. Poor people received medical care funded by the government through the Medicaid program.<ref>Patricia P. Martin and David A. Weaver. "Social Security: A Program and Policy History," ''Social Security Bulletin'', volume 66, no. 1 (2005), see also [http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v66n1/v66n1p1.html online version]</ref>
[[Image:Lyndon Johnson signing Medicare bill, with Harry Truman, 30 July, 1965.jpg|thumb|250px|left|President Johnson signing the Medicare amendment; Harry Truman observes while Vice President Hubert Humphrey and Truman's wife, [[Bess Truman|Bess]], look on]]

====Space race====
[[NASA]] made spectacular explorations in the space program Johnson had championed since its start. When three astronauts successfully orbited the moon in December 1968, Johnson congratulated them: "You've taken … all of us, all over the world, into a new era …."

===Urban riots===
Major riots in black [[ghetto]]s caused a series of "long hot summers." They started with a violent disturbance in [[Harlem]] in 1964 and the [[Watts Riots|Watts district]] of [[Los Angeles]] in 1965, and extended to 1970. The biggest wave came in April, 1968, when riots occurred in over a hundred cities in the wake of the assassination of [[Martin Luther King]]. [[1967 Newark riots|Newark burned]] in 1967, where six days of rioting left 26 dead, 1500 injured, and the inner city a burned out shell. In [[12th Street riot|Detroit in 1967]], Governor [[George W. Romney|George Romney]] sent in 7400 national guard troops to quell fire bombings, looting, and attacks on white-owned businesses and on police. Johnson finally sent in federal troops with tanks and machine guns. Detroit continued to burn for three more days until finally 43 were dead, 2250 were injured, 4000 were arrested; property damage ranged into the hundreds of millions; much of inner Detroit was never rebuilt. {{Fact|date=October 2007}} Johnson called for even more billions to be spent in the cities and another federal civil rights law regarding housing, but his political capital had been spent and his Great Society programs lost support. Johnson's popularity plummeted as a massive white political backlash took shape, reinforcing the sense Johnson had lost control of the streets of major cities as well as his party.<ref> Woods, Randall (2006), pp. 790–795; Michael W. Flamm. ''Law And Order: Street Crime, Civil Unrest, and the Crisis of [[Liberalism]] in the 1960s'' (2005)</ref>

[[Image:Harold Holt and Lyndon Johnson.jpg|thumb|right|250px|President Johnson with [[Prime Minister of Australia|Australian Prime Minister]] [[Harold Holt]].]]

===Backlash against Johnson: 1966–67===
Johnson's problems began to mount in 1966. By year's end the Democratic governor of Missouri warned that Johnson would lose the state by 100,000 votes, despite a half-million margin in 1964. "Frustration over Vietnam; too much federal spending and . . . taxation; no great public support for your Great Society programs; and . . . public disenchantment with the civil rights programs" had eroded the President's standing, the governor reported. There were bright spots, however. In January 1967 Johnson boasted that wages were the highest in history, unemployment was at a thirteen-year low, and corporate profits and farm incomes were greater than ever; however a 4.5% jump in consumer prices was worrisome, as well as the rise in interest rates. Johnson asked for a temporary 6% surcharge in income taxes to cover the mounting deficit caused by increased spending. Johnson's approval ratings stayed below 50 percent; by January 1967 the number of his strong supporters had plunged to 16% from 25% four months before. He ran about even with Republican George Romney in trial matchups that spring. Asked to explain why he was unpopular, Johnson responded, "I am a dominating personality, and when I get things done I don't always please all the people." Johnson also blamed the press, saying they showed "complete irresponsibility and lie and misstate facts and have no one to be answerable to." He also blamed "the preachers, liberals and professors" who had turned against him.<ref> Dallek, Robert. ''Flawed Giant'', pp. 391–396; quotes on pp. 391 and 396</ref>
In the [[United States House election, 1966|congressional elections of 1966]] the Republicans gained three seats in the Senate and 47 in the House, reinvigorating the [[Conservative coalition]] and making it impossible for Johnson to pass any additional Great Society legislation.

===Vietnam War===
President Johnson increasingly focused on the American military effort in Vietnam. He firmly believed in the [[Domino Theory]] and that his [[containment]] policy required America to make a serious effort to stop all Communist expansion. At Kennedy's death, there were 16,000 American military advisors in Vietnam. Johnson expanded their numbers and roles following the [[Gulf of Tonkin Incident]] (less than three weeks after the [[Republican Convention of 1964]], which had nominated Barry Goldwater for President). [[Image:RwrSep64LBJ.jpg|thumb|left|LBJ visits Shriners Hospital in [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]], [[Oregon]], in September 1964]] The [[Gulf of Tonkin Resolution]], which gave the President the exclusive right to use military force without consulting the Senate, was based on a false pretext, as he later admitted.<ref>[[Gulf of Tonkin Incident|''LBJ tape 'confirms Vietnam war error','' Martin Fletcher, The Times, Nov 7th, 2001]]</ref>. It was Johnson who began America's direct involvement in the ground war in Vietnam. By 1968 there were 550,000 American soldiers inside Vietnam; in 1967 and 1968 they were being killed at the rate of over 1000 a month.<ref>[http://siwmfilm.net/Vietnam_War/Military_Casualty_Information.html siwmfilm.net]</ref>

Politically, Johnson closely watched the public opinion polls. His goal was not to adjust his policies to follow opinion, but rather to adjust opinion to support his policies. Until the [[Tet Offensive]] of 1968, he systematically downplayed the war: few speeches, no rallies or parades or advertising campaigns. He feared that publicity would charge up the hawks who wanted victory, and weaken both his containment policy and his higher priorities in domestic issues. Jacobs and Shapiro conclude, "Although Johnson held a core of support for his position, the president was unable to move Americans who held hawkish and dovish positions." Polls showed that beginning in 1965, the public was consistently 40-50% hawkish and 10-25% dovish. Johnson's aides told him, "Both hawks and doves [are frustrated with the war] ... and take it out on you."<ref> Lawrence R. Jacobs and Robert Y. Shapiro. "Lyndon Johnson, Vietnam, and Public Opinion: Rethinking Realist Theory of Leadership." ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' 29#3 (1999), p. 592</ref>

It was domestic issues that were driving his polls down steadily from spring 1966 onward. Analysts report that "Vietnam had no independent impact on President Johnson's popularity at all after other effects, including a general overall downward trend in popularity, had been taken into account."<ref> John E. Mueller. ''War, Presidents and Public Opinion'' (1973), p. 108</ref>

He often privately cursed the Vietnam War, and in a conversation with [[Robert McNamara]], Johnson assailed "the bunch of commies" running the [[New York Times]] for their articles against the war effort.<ref>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061117/ap_on_re_us/lbj_tapes</ref>Johnson believed that America could not afford to lose and risk appearing weak in the eyes of the world. In a discussion about the war with former President [[Dwight Eisenhower]], Johnson said he was "trying to win it just as fast as I can in every way that I know how" and later stated that he needed "all the help I can get."<ref>[http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/Press.hom/tape_release_11_2006.shtm LBJ Library releases telephone conversation recordings]</ref> Johnson escalated the war effort continuously from 1964 to 1968 and the number of American deaths rose. In two weeks in May 1968 alone American deaths numbered 1,800 with total casualties at 18,000. Alluding to the ''[[Domino Theory]]'', he said, "If we allow Vietnam to fall, tomorrow we’ll be fighting in [[Hawaii]], and next week in [[San Francisco]]." When reporters repeatedly pressed Johnson in late 1967 on why he was so committed to the war, Johnson exposed an old war wound to them and said, ''That is why''.<ref>
{{cite book
|last=Dallek
|first=Robert
|year=1998
|title=Flawed Giant: Lyndon B. Johnson and his Times, 1961–1973
|publisher=Oxford University Press
|location=Oxford
|id=ISBN 0–19-505465-2
|pages=754
}}
</ref>

[[Image:L B Johnson Model Khe Sanh.jpeg|thumb|300px|right|[[Walt Whitman Rostow]] showing President Lyndon B. Johnson a model of the [[Battle of Khe Sanh|Khe Sanh]] area in February 1968]]
After the Tet offensive of January 1968, his presidency was dominated by the Vietnam War more than ever. As casualties mounted and success seemed further away than ever, Johnson's popularity plummeted. College students and others protested, burned [[Conscription in the United States|draft]] cards, and chanted, "Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?" Johnson could scarcely travel anywhere without facing protests, and was not allowed by the Secret Service to attend the [[1968 Democratic National Convention]], where hundreds of thousands of hippies, yippies, Black Panthers and other opponents of Johnson's policy both in Vietnam and in the ghettoes converged to protest. Thus by 1968, the public was polarized, with the "hawks" rejecting Johnson's refusal to win the war, and the "doves" rejecting his continuation of containment. Support for Johnson's middle position continued to shrink until he finally rejected containment and sought a peace settlement. By late summer, however, he realized that Nixon was closer to his position than Humphrey.<ref>Lewis L. Gould (1993), p. 98</ref>

===1968 Presidential election===
{{main|U.S. presidential election, 1968}}
Entering the 1968 election campaign, initially, no prominent Democratic candidate was prepared to run against a sitting President of his own party. Only [[United States Senate|Senator]] [[Eugene McCarthy]] of [[Minnesota]] challenged Johnson as an anti-war candidate in the [[New Hampshire]] [[primary election|primary]], hoping to pressure the Democrats to oppose the war. On [[March 12]], McCarthy won 42% of the primary vote to Johnson's 49%, an amazingly strong showing for such a challenger. Four days later, Sen. [[Robert F. Kennedy]] of [[New York]] entered the race. Internal polling by Johnson's campaign in [[Wisconsin]], the next state to hold a primary election, showed the President trailing badly. Johnson did not leave the White House to campaign.

[[Image:Lyndon Johnson Richard Nixon 1968.jpg|thumb|right|275px|President Johnson meets with candidate Richard Nixon in July 1968]]
Johnson had lost control of the Democratic party, which was splitting into four factions, each of which despised the other three. The first comprised Johnson (and Humphrey), labor unions, and local party bosses (led by Chicago Mayor [[Richard J. Daley]]). The second group comprised students and intellectuals who were vociferously against the war, and rallied behind McCarthy. The third group comprised Catholics and blacks; they rallied behind [[Robert Kennedy]]. The fourth group was traditional white Southerners, who rallied behind [[George C. Wallace]] and his third party. Vietnam was one of many issues that splintered the party and Johnson could see no way to unite the party long enough for him to win reelection.<ref> Lewis L. Gould (1993). ''1968: The Election that Changed America''.</ref>

In addition, Johnson was concerned that he might not make it through another term.{{Fact|date=July 2007}} Therefore, at the end of a [[March 31]] speech, he shocked the nation when he announced he would not run for re-election: "I shall not seek, and I will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your President" [http://millercenter.virginia.edu/scripps/diglibrary/prezspeeches/johnson/lbj_1968_0331.html Text and audio of speech]. He did rally the party bosses and unions to give Humphrey the nomination. In what was termed the [[October surprise]], Johnson announced to the nation on [[October 31]], [[1968]], that he had ordered a complete cessation of "all air, naval and artillery bombardment of [[North Vietnam]]", effective November 1, should the [[Hanoi]] Government be willing to negotiate and citing progress with the [[Paris Peace Accords|Paris peace talks]].

LBJ was not disqualified from running for a second term under the provisions of the [[22nd Amendment]]; he had served less than 24 months of President Kennedy's term. Had he stayed in the race and won and served out the new term, he would have been president for 9 years, second only to [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]].

===Legislation and programs===
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
[[Image:LBJCabinet68-enhanced.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Lyndon B. Johnson and his cabinet in 1968]]
====Major legislation signed====
*1964: [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]]
*1964: [[Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964]]
*1964: [[Wilderness Act]]
*1964: [[Nurse Training Act]]
*1964: [[Food Stamp Program|Food Stamp Act of 1964]]
*1964: [[Economic Opportunity Act of 1964|Economic Opportunity Act]]
*1965: [[Higher Education Act of 1965]]
*1965: [[Social Security Act of 1965]]
*1965: [[Voting Rights Act]]
*1965: [[Immigration and Nationality Services Act of 1965]]
*1967: [[Age Discrimination in Employment Act]]
*1967: [[Public Broadcasting Act of 1967]]
*1968: [[Bilingual Education Act]]
*1968: [[Fair housing]]

===Administration and Cabinet===
''(All of the cabinet members when Johnson became President in 1963 had been serving under John F. Kennedy previously.)''
[[Image:Lyndon B. Johnson - portrait.gif|thumb|right|250px|Official [[White House]] portrait of Lyndon B. Johnson]]
{|cellpadding=1 cellspacing=4 style="margin:3px; border:3px solid #000000;"
|bgcolor=#000000 colspan=3|
|-
|OFFICE
|NAME
|TERM
|-
|bgcolor=#000000 colspan=3|
|-
|[[President of the United States|President]]
|'''Lyndon B. Johnson'''
|1963–1969
|-
|[[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]]
||''None''||align="left"|1963–1965
|-
| 
|'''[[Hubert Humphrey]]'''
|1965–1969
|-
|bgcolor=#000000 colspan=3|
|-
|[[United States Secretary of State|State]]
|'''[[Dean Rusk]]'''
|1963–1969
|-
|[[United States Secretary of the Treasury|Treasury]]
|'''[[C. Douglas Dillon]]'''
|1963–1965
|-
| 
|'''[[Henry H. Fowler]]'''
|1965–1968
|-
| 
|'''[[Joseph W. Barr]]'''
|1968–1969
|-
|[[United States Secretary of Defense|Defense]]
|'''[[Robert McNamara]]'''
|1963–1968
|-
| 
|'''[[Clark M. Clifford]]'''
|1968–1969
|-
|[[Attorney General of the United States|Justice]]
|'''[[Robert F. Kennedy]]'''
|1963–1964
|-
| 
|'''[[Nicholas deB. Katzenbach]]'''
|1964–1966
|-
| 
|'''[[Ramsey Clark]]'''
|1966–1969
|-
|[[Postmaster General of the United States|Postmaster General]]
|'''[[John A. Gronouski]]'''
|1963–1965
|-
| 
|'''[[Larry O'Brien]]'''
|1965–1968
|-
| 
|'''[[W. Marvin Watson]]'''
|1968–1969
|-
|[[United States Secretary of the Interior|Interior]]
|'''[[Stewart Lee Udall]]'''
|1963–1969
|-
|[[United States Secretary of Agriculture|Agriculture]]
|'''[[Orville Lothrop Freeman]]'''
|1963–1969
|-
|[[United States Secretary of Commerce|Commerce]]
|'''[[Luther Hartwell Hodges]]'''
|1963–1965
|-
| 
|'''[[John Thomas Connor]]'''
|1965–1967
|-
| 
|'''[[Alexander Buel Trowbridge]]'''
|1967–1968
|-
| 
|'''[[Cyrus Rowlett Smith]]'''
|1968–1969
|-
|[[United States Secretary of Labor|Labor]]
|'''[[W. Willard Wirtz]]'''
|1963–1969
|-
|[[United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare|HEW]]
|'''[[Anthony Celebrezze]]'''
|1963–1965
|-
| 
|'''[[John William Gardner]]'''
|1965–1968
|-
| 
|'''[[Wilbur Joseph Cohen]]'''
|1968–1969
|-
|[[United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development|HUD]]
|'''[[Robert Clifton Weaver]]'''
|1966–1968
|-
| 
|'''[[Robert Coldwell Wood]]'''
|1969
|-
|[[United States Secretary of Transportation|Transportation]]
|'''[[Alan Stephenson Boyd]]'''
|1967–1969
|}

===Supreme Court appointments===
Johnson appointed the following Justices to the [[Supreme Court of the United States]]:

* '''[[Abe Fortas]]'''–1965
** Fortas was also nominated to be [[Chief Justice of the United States]] in 1968, but he withdrew.
* '''[[Thurgood Marshall]]'''–1967
**Marshall was the first [[African-American]] to be appointed to the Supreme Court.

==Post-presidency==
After leaving the presidency in 1969, Johnson went home to his ranch in Johnson City, Texas. In 1971, he published his memoirs, ''The Vantage Point''. That year, the [[Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum]] opened near the campus of [[University of Texas at Austin|The University of Texas at Austin]]. He donated his Texas ranch in his will to the public to form the [[Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park]], with the provision that the ranch "remain a working ranch and not become a sterile relic of the past".<ref>{{cite journal |first=Marvin |last=Harris |url=http://www2.nature.nps.gov/parksci/vol19/vol19(2)/08–1harris.htm |title=Taming the wild pecan at Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park |volume=19|issue=2|journal=Park Science |year=1999|month=December}}</ref>

==Death==
[[Image:Lyndon Baines Johnson grave cropped.jpeg|thumb|A memorial wreath at the grave of former U.S. President Lyndon Baines Johnson, [[August 27]], [[1999]].]]
Johnson died at 4:33 p.m. on [[January 22]], [[1973]], from a third [[myocardial infarction|heart attack]] at his ranch, at age 64. His health was ruined by years of heavy [[tobacco smoking|smoking]] and [[stress (medicine)|stress]]; the former President had severe [[heart disease]]. He was found by Secret Service agents, in his bed, with a phone in his hand.

Johnson was honored with a [[state funeral]] in which Texas Congressman [[J. J. Pickle]] and former Secretary of State [[Dean Rusk]] [[eulogy|eulogized]] him at the [[United States Capitol|Capitol]].

The final services took place on [[January 25]]. The funeral was held at the National City Christian Church in Washington, D.C., where he worshiped often when president. The service, presided over by President Richard Nixon and attended by foreign dignitaries, led by former Japanese Prime Minister [[Eisaku Sato]], was the first presidential funeral to feature [[eulogy|eulogies]], and they were given by the Rev. Dr. George Davis, the church's pastor and [[W. Marvin Watson]], former postmaster general. Nixon did not speak, though he attended, as customary for presidents during state funerals, but the eulogists turned to him and lauded him for his tributes, as Rusk did the day before.

Johnson was buried in his family cemetery (which can be viewed today by visitors to the Lyndon B. Johnson National Park in Stonewall, Texas), a few yards from the house in which he was born, with eulogies by [[John Connally]] and Reverend [[Billy Graham]]. The state funeral, the last until [[Death and state funeral of Ronald Reagan|Ronald Reagan's]] in 2004, was part of an unexpectedly busy week for the [[Military District of Washington]] (MDW), beginning with Nixon's second inauguration.<ref>Elsen, William A. "Ceremonial Group Had Busy 5 Weeks". ''[[The Washington Post]]'', [[January 25]], [[1973]].</ref>

[[Lady Bird Johnson]] died 34 years later on [[July 11]] [[2007]], at her home in Austin, Texas, at the age of 94.

==Legacy==
[[Image:Johnson Lyndon CoatofArms.jpg|right|thumb|The [[coat of arms]] granted to President Johnson in 1968]]
The Manned Spacecraft Center in [[Houston, Texas|Houston]], [[Texas]], was renamed the [[Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center]], and Texas created a legal state holiday to be observed on [[August 27]] to mark LBJ's birthday. It is known as [[Lyndon Baines Johnson Day]]. The [[Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove on the Potomac]] was dedicated on [[September 27]], [[1974]].

Johnson was awarded the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] posthumously in 1980.

On [[March 23]], [[2007]], President [[George W. Bush]] signed legislation naming the [[United States Department of Education]] headquarters after President Johnson.<ref>[http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/16963081.htm McClatchy Washington Bureau | Homepage]</ref>

Runway 17R/35L at [[Austin-Bergstrom International Airport]] is known as the LBJ Runway.

2008 is the celebration of the LBJ Centennial featuring special programs, events, and parties across Texas and in Washington, D. C. LBJ would have been 100 years old on August 27, 2008.

==In popular culture==
===Movies===
* ''[[LBJ (film)|LBJ]]'' (1968): subject of Cuban [[propaganda film]].
* ''[[The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover]]'' (1977): played by [[Andrew Duggan]].
* ''[[King (TV miniseries)|King]]'' (1978, TV): played by [[Warren Kemmerling]].
* ''[[Hair (film)|Hair]]'' (1979): The song "Initials/LBJ" mentions Johnson in the lyrics repeatedly.
* ''[[Kennedy (film)|Kennedy]]'' (1983, TV): played by [[Nesbitt Blaisdell]].
* ''[[The Right Stuff (film)|The Right Stuff]]'' (1983): played by [[Donald Moffat]].
* ''[[Robert Kennedy & His Times]]'' (1985, TV): played by [[G.D. Spradlin]].
* ''[[J. Edgar Hoover (TV movie)|J. Edgar Hoover]]'' (1987, TV): played by [[Rip Torn]].
* ''[[LBJ: The Early Years]]'' (1987, TV): played by [[Randy Quaid]].
* ''[[JFK (film)|JFK]]'' (1991): played by [[Tom Howard]] and [[John William Galt]]. (voice)
* ''[[Forrest Gump (film)|Forrest Gump]]'' (1994): archive footage, voice-over by [[John William Galt]].
* ''[[Thirteen Days (film)|Thirteen Days]]'' (2000): played by [[Walter Adrian]].
* ''[[Path to War]]'' (2002): played by [[Michael Gambon]].
* ''[[RFK (film)|RFK]]'' (2002): played by [[James Cromwell]].

==Electoral history<ref>[http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=4039 Our Campaigns - Candidate - Lyndon Baines Johnson]</ref>==

'''Democratic primary for United States Senate, 1948'''
*[[Coke Stevenson]] - 477,077 (39.68%)
*[[Lyndon B. Johnson]] - 405,617 (33.73%)
*[[George E. B. Peddy]] - 237,195 (19.73%)
*[[Otis Myers]] - 15,330 (1.28%)
*[[Frank G. Cortez]] - 13,344 (1.11%)
*[[Roscoe Collier]] - 12,327 (1.03%)
*[[Alton B. Davis]] - 10,871 (0.90%)
*[[Jim Alford]] - 9,117 (0.76%)
*[[F. B. Clark]] - 7,420 (0.62%)
*[[Jesse Sandauers]] - 7,401 (0.62%)
*[[Terrell Seldge]] - 6,692 (0.56%)

'''Democratic primary for United States Senate, 1948 (runoff)'''
*[[Lyndon B. Johnson]] - 494,191 (50.004%)
*[[Coke Stevenson]] - 494,104 (49.996%)

'''[[Texas United States Senate election, 1948]]'''
*[[Lyndon B. Johnson]] (D) - 702,985 (66.22%)
*[[Jack Porter]] (R) - 349,665 (32.94%)
*[[Samuel N. Norris]] ([[Prohibition Party|Prohibition]]) - 8,913 (0.84%)

'''[[Texas United States Senate election, 1954]]'''
*[[Lyndon B. Johnson]] (D, Inc.) - 538,417 (84.59%)
*[[Carlos Watson]] (R) - 95,033 (14.93%)

'''[[1956 Democratic National Convention]]'''
*[[Adlai Stevenson]] - 906 (65.89%)
*[[W. Averell Harriman]] - 210 (15.27%)
*[[Lyndon B. Johnson]] - 80 (5.82%)
*[[Stuart Symington]] - 46 (3.35%)
*[[Happy Chandler]] - 37 (2.69%)
*[[John S. Battle|John Battle]] - 33 (2.40%)
*[[James C. Davis]] - 33 (2.40%)
*[[George Bell Timmerman]] - 24 (1.75%)
*[[Frank J. Lausche]] - 6 (0.44%)

'''[[1960 Democratic National Convention]]'''
*[[John F. Kennedy]] - 806 (52.89%)
*[[Lyndon B. Johnson]] - 409 (26.84%)
*[[Stuart Symington]] - 86 (5.64%)
*[[Adlai Stevenson]] - 80 (5.25%)
*[[Robert B. Meyner]] - 43 (2.82%)
*[[Hubert Humphrey]] - 42 (2.76%)
*[[George Smathers]] - 30 (1.97%)
*[[Ross R. Barnett]] - 23 (1.51%)
*[[Herschel C. Loveless]] - 2 (0.13%)
*[[Pat Brown]] - 1 (0.07%)
*[[Orval E. Faubus]] - 1 (0.07%)
*[[Albert Dean Rosellini]] - 1 (0.07%)

'''[[United States presidential election, 1960]]'''
*[[John F. Kennedy]]/[[Lyndon B. Johnson]] (D) - 34,220,984 (49.7%) and 303 electoral votes (22 states carried)
*[[Richard Nixon]]/[[Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.]] (R) - 34,108,157 (49.5) and 219 electoral votes (26 states carried)
*[[Harry F. Byrd]]/[[Strom Thurmond]] - 14 electoral votes ([[Alabama]] and [[Mississippi]] unpledged electors)

'''[[United States presidential election, 1964]]'''
*[[Lyndon B. Johnson]]/[[Hubert Humphrey]] (D) - 43,127,041 (61.1%) and 486 electoral votes (44 states and D.C. carried)
*[[Barry Goldwater]]/[[William E. Miller]] (R) - 27,175,754 (38.5%) and 52 electoral votes (6 states carried)

==See also==
*[[History of the United States (1945–1964)]]
*[[History of the United States (1964–1980)]]
*[[Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum]] on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin
*[[Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs]]
*[http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/johnson.silver.star/story/storypage.html Johnson's Silver Star award evaluated]

==References==
{{see|Lyndon B. Johnson Bibliography}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{wikisource author}}
{{Commons|Lyndon B. Johnson}}
*[http://www.lbj100.org Lyndon Baines Johnson Centennial, commemorating the 100th birthday (August 27, 1908) of the 36th President and a year-long tribute to the LBJ legacy.]
*[http://www.conelrad.com/daisy/index.php CONELRAD's definitive history of the Daisy ad]
*[http://www.millercenter.virginia.edu/index.php/academic/americanpresident/lbjohnson Extensive essay on Lyndon B. Johnson and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs]
*[http://millercenter.virginia.edu/scripps/digitalarchive/speechDetail/28 Full audio of Johnson speeches via the Miller Center of Public Affairs (UVa)]
*[http://millercenter.virginia.edu/scripps/digitalarchive/presidentialrecordings/johnson/index Johnson's Secret White House Recordings via the Miller Center of Public Affairs (UVa)]
*[http://millercenter.virginia.edu/scripps/digitalarchive/oralhistories/lbj The Johnson Library's extensive oral history collection in searchable PDF's via the Miller Center of Public Affairs (UVa)]
*[http://www.pbs.org/presidents/2008 PBS American Experience Video Biography of Lyndon B. Johnson]
*[http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/ Lyndon B. Johnson Library]
*[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1929769365635576415&q=lbj+mistress&hl=en Interview with Lyndon Johnson’s supposed mistress, (the late) Madeleine Duncan Brown, lasting 1 hour and 21 minutes]
*[http://www.utexas.edu/lbj/index.php Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, The University of Texas at Austin]
*[http://www.mrpophistory.com/samples.htm The 1960s Week-By-Week: follows Lyndon Johnson through the 1960s, including press conferences and other news]
*[http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/lj36.html White House biography]
*[http://www.quotes-famous.com/person/Lyndon-B.-Johnson-quotes.html Lyndon B. Johnson Quotes]
*[http://texashistory.unt.edu/search/?q=Johnson%2C+Lyndon+B.&t=dc.subject Photos of Lyndon B. Johnson], hosted by the [http://texashistory.unt.edu/ Portal to Texas History]
*[http://educatetheusa.com/LBJ36.html Lyndon B. Johnson article on educatetheusa.com]
*[http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/johnson.htm Inaugural Address]
*[http://vvl.lib.msu.edu/showfindingaid.cfm?findaidid=JohnsonLB Audio recordings of Johnson's speeches]
*[http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1507155 ''White House Tapes: Eavesdropping on LBJ'', NPR Weekend Edition audio archives]
*[http://home.nyc.rr.com/alweisel/outwalterjenkins.htm Walter Jenkins Scandal]
*[http://www.texasobserver.org/article.php?aid=855 LBJ: Master, or Puppet? The 'Texas Observer' story on Lyndon B. Johnson]
*[http://tigger.uic.edu/~rjensen/vietnam.html Vietnam War: bibliography and guide to online and printed sources]
*{{gutenberg author|id=Lyndon+B.+Johnson|name=Lyndon B. Johnson}}
*{{handbook of Texas|id=JJ/fjo19|name=Lyndon Baines Johnson}}

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{{Persondata
|NAME=Johnson, Lyndon Baines
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=LBJ (common referent)
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=[[President of the United States]]
|DATE OF BIRTH=[[August 27]], [[1908]]
|PLACE OF BIRTH=[[Stonewall, Texas|Stonewall]], [[Texas]], [[United States]]
|DATE OF DEATH=[[January 22]], [[1973]]
|PLACE OF DEATH=[[Stonewall, Texas|Stonewall]], [[Texas]], [[United States]]
}}
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[[Category:1908 births]]
[[Category:1973 deaths]]
[[Category:American anti-communists]]
[[Category:American Disciples of Christ]]
[[Category:American military personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:American people of the Vietnam War]]
[[Category:American ranchers]]
[[Category:American schoolteachers]]
[[Category:Cold War leaders]]
[[Category:Deaths by myocardial infarction]]
[[Category:Democratic Party (United States) presidential nominees]]
[[Category:United States presidential candidates, 1956]]
[[Category:United States presidential candidates, 1960]]
[[Category:United States presidential candidates, 1964]]
[[Category:United States presidential candidates, 1968]]
[[Category:United States vice-presidential candidates, 1956]]
[[Category:Democratic Party (United States) vice presidential nominees]]
[[Category:English Americans]] 
[[Category:History of the United States (1964–1980)]]
[[Category:John F. Kennedy assassination]]
[[Category:Lyndon B. Johnson| ]] 
[[Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas]]
[[Category:People from Austin, Texas]]
[[Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients]]
[[Category:Presidents of the United States]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Silver Star medal]]
[[Category:Texas Democrats]]
[[Category:Texas State University–San Marcos alumni]]
[[Category:Time magazine Persons of the Year]]
[[Category:United States Senators from Texas]]
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