Kennedy typically did not rely on LBJ for advice in these matters, however. Overall, Johnson was frustrated as vice president, particularly when the New Frontiersmen around Kennedy ignored him and refused to take advantage of his expertise.
In late November , Kennedy decided to travel to Texas to shore up support for his upcoming reelection bid. Johnson was riding two cars behind Kennedy's in the motorcade when the bullets struck the young President. By the time Johnson reached the hospital, Kennedy was dead.
When the plane landed, he gave a brief speech to his dazed nation, promising, "I will do my best—that is all I can do. One adviser never forgot the image of a mover packing Kennedy's trademark rocking chair—while another carried in Johnson's cowboy saddle.
He kept Kennedy's cabinet and top aides, telling them that he and the nation needed them to provide continuity. Within days, Johnson firmly grasped the reins of government. His grief at Kennedy's tragedy was balanced by the demands and responsibilities of the Oval Office. Grant Rutherford B. Hayes James A. Garfield Chester A. Roosevelt Harry S. Truman Dwight D. Eisenhower John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Bush Bill Clinton George W. Help inform the discussion Support the Miller Center.
University of Virginia Miller Center. Lyndon B. Johnson: Life Before the Presidency. Breadcrumb U. Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon B. Marriage and Congressional Career As a baby, Claudia's nanny had described her as "pretty as a lady bird," and the nickname stuck. Senator par Excellence As a senator, Johnson found his true calling. A Heartbeat from the Presidency Being from the South was still a handicap to a presidential candidate in ; the region had not yet assumed the kind of power that would put Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton in the White House in later years.
More Resources Lyndon B. Johnson Presidency Page. Johnson Essays Life in Brief. Life Before the Presidency Current Essay. Campaigns and Elections. Domestic Affairs. Foreign Affairs. Life After the Presidency. Family Life. The American Franchise. Impact and Legacy. In-Depth Exhibits Scroll left to right to view a selection of exhibits. He withdrew troops from the Reconstruction states in order to restore local control and good will, a decision that many perceived Andrew Johnson , the 17th U.
Johnson, who served from to , was the first American president to be impeached. A tailor before he entered politics, Johnson grew up poor and He began his career as a teacher. Johnson was born in in Stonewall, Texas, as the oldest of five children. Though his father had served in the state legislature, he had lost money in cotton speculation, and the family often struggled to make ends meet.
The young Johnson Eliza Johnson was an American first lady and the wife of Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the United States. Richard Nixon , the 37th U. Nixon stepped down in , halfway through his second term, rather than face impeachment over his efforts to cover up illegal activities by members of his John Bell Hood was a U. A graduate of West Point, Hood joined the Confederacy in and gained a reputation as a talented field commander during the Peninsula Campaign and the Second Battle Elected in as the 35th president of the United States, year-old John F.
Kennedy became one of the youngest U. Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. Johnson in the Senate In , Johnson was elected to the U. Indeed, along with Richard Nixon, who followed him as President, Johnson is seen as a complex figure involved in many significant initiatives and events that have marked modern American history. So how did someone born into poverty in Texas and who started out as a school teacher become one of the pivotal figures of the twentieth century?
Johnson was indeed from humble origins. He was born on August 27, , in Stonewall, Texas. As Senator and President, Johnson had a chance to translate his sympathy for the less fortunate into real social policy laws.
As a student at Southwest Texas State Teachers College, Johnson was assigned to a tiny Hispanic school in a deeply impoverished area on the Mexican border. Johnson left his brief career as a teacher after four years to pursue politics during the Great Depression. Kennedy, who was nominated for president on the first ballot at the Democratic Convention.
Kennedy realized that he could not be elected without the support of traditional Southern Democrats, most of whom had backed Johnson, so he offered the Texas senator the role of vice president. As vice president, Johnson headed the space program, oversaw negotiations on the nuclear test ban treaty and worked to push through equal opportunity legislation for minorities. He also strongly supported Kennedy's decision to send American military advisors to South Vietnam to help fight off a communist insurgency.
However, Johnson was never in Kennedy's inner circle and was frustrated by his lack of influence, particularly on legislative issues.
On November 22, , President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, while traveling in a motorcade. Johnson was only two cars behind Kennedy when the shots rang out. Just a few hours later, Johnson was sworn in as the 36th president aboard Air Force One on its return to Washington, D.
Over the next year, he endorsed the late president's programs and pushed a few of his own through Congress. Lyndon B. With the public seemingly having little appetite for Goldwater's staunch conservatism, Johnson won in a landslide; he received 61 percent of the popular vote, the largest margin of victory in U. Johnson used his election mandate to wage war on poverty in the United States and communism in Southeast Asia.
As the civil rights movement gained momentum following the landmark decision in the Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education , which ruled racial segregation in schools to be unconstitutional, and Martin Luther King Jr. The legislation prohibited racial discrimination in employment and education and outlawed racial segregation in public places and laid the groundwork for the Voting Rights Act of The Civil Rights Act passed the House and the Senate after a lengthy debate in July and was soon after signed by Johnson in a televised ceremony with hundreds of guests.
In , Johnson pushed an ambitious, sweeping legislative agenda coined the term " Great Society. Great Society legislation included:. The escalating Vietnam War soon consumed Johnson's presidency. Critics in the media blasted his administration's handling of the conflict, and anti-war protests were springing up on college campuses and in major cities.
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