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"A Great Society" for the American people and their fellow men elsewhere was the vision of Lyndon B. Johnson. In his first years of office he obtained passage of one of the most extensive legislative programs in the Nation's history. Maintaining collective security, he carried on the rapidly growing struggle to restrain Communist encroachment in Viet Nam.

Johnson was born on August 27, 1908, in central Texas, not far from Johnson City, which his family had helped settle. He felt the pinch of rural poverty as he grew up, working his way through Southwest Texas State Teachers College (now known as Texas State University-San Marcos); he learned compassion for the poverty of others when he taught students of Mexican descent.

In 1937 he campaigned successfully for the House of Representatives on a New Deal platform, effectively aided by his wife, the former Claudia "Lady Bird" Taylor, whom he had married in 1934.

During World War II he served briefly in the Navy as a lieutenant commander, winning a Silver Star in the South Pacific. After six terms in the House, Johnson was

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Lyndon B. Johnson

(1908-1973)

Who Was Lyndon B. Johnson?

Lyndon Baines Johnson (often referred to as “LBJ”) was elected vice president of the United States in 1960 and was sworn in as the 36th president of the United States in 1963 after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. As president, Johnson initiated the "Great Society" social service programs; signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law; and bore the brunt of national opposition to his vast expansion of American involvement in the Vietnam War.

Family, Early Life and Education

Born in Stonewall, Texas, on August 27, 1908, Lyndon Baines Johnson was the oldest child of Samuel Ealy Johnson Jr. and Rebekah Baines Johnson's five children. The Johnson family, known for farming and ranching, had settled in Texas before the Civil War, founding the nearby town of Johnson City in its aftermath. Johnson's father, a Texas congressman, proved better at politics than ranching, encountering financial difficulties before losing the family farm when Johnson was in his early teens.

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When Texas congressman Lyndon Johnson won election to the Senate in 1948, he took the hotly contested race by a margin of just 87 votes, earning the nickname “Landslide Lyndon.” Once in the Senate, he quickly allied himself with Senator Richard B. Russell, the Georgia Democrat who chaired the Senate Armed Services Committee and the powerful Southern Caucus. With Russell's support, Johnson became Democratic whip in 1951 and two years later was elected Democratic leader. When his party regained control of the Senate in 1955, Johnson became majority leader, a post he held until he resigned to become vice president. As leader, Johnson relied heavily on his powers of persuasion, a strategy known as the “Johnson Treatment,” which he used to guide to passage such legislation as the Civil Rights Act of 1957. He sought the presidency in 1960 but became the vice-presidential candidate when John F. Kennedy won the nomination. Kennedy's assassination on November 22, 1963, sent Johnson to the White House.

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