Lyndon Johnson became President of the United States on November 22, 1963, immediately after the high-profile assassination of John F. Kennedy, and remained in this post until January 20, 1969. It was during his reign that American troops fought aggressively in Vietnam and also intervened in the Dominican Republic.
Early years and first steps in politics
Lyndon Johnson was born in 1908 on a farm in Stonewall, Texas. His father's name was Samuel, and his mother was Rebecca. Lyndon was not the only child in the family, he has one younger brother Sam Houston and three younger sisters - Joseph, Rebecca and Lucia.
Johnson did pretty well at school and did well in all subjects. In addition, as a teenager, he occasionally participated in school debates.
In 1926, the future US president became a student at Texas State University. In 1928–1929, he paused attending classes in order to teach at a school for Mexican children. This job allowed him to earn money to complete his education.
In 1930, Lyndon Johnson received a university diploma, and already in 1931, Congressman Richard Mifflin Kleberg took the ambitious young man as his secretary. While in this position, Johnson was able to get to know some of the influential people of the time, in particular with the then Vice President John Nance Garner and Congressman Sam Rayburn.
Johnson's career from 1935 to 1963
In the summer of 1935, Lyndon Johnson was appointed Texas Youth Commissioner.
A couple of years later, in 1937, he was elected from a Texas constituency to the lower house of Congress. Johnson was soon appointed to a number of influential congressional committees and established himself as a supporter of Roosevelt's New Deal.
In 1938 and 1939, he was involved in helping illegal Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany to resettle in the United States.
In 1942 he was made a member of the Committee on Navy Affairs, and in 1947 he became a member of the Committee on the Armed Forces.
In 1948, Johnson managed to get into the upper house of Congress - the Senate, and seven years later, in 1955, he became the leader of the Democratic faction in this legislative body.
In 1960, Lyndon Johnson tried (for the first time in his career) to run for the Democratic presidency. But according to the results of the party primaries, the victory was celebrated by another candidate - 43-year-old John F. Kennedy. It was he who eventually became president, overtaking his competitor from the conservatives, Richard Nixon, by literally a few tenths of a percent.
After that, Johnson was offered the post of vice president, and he decided to accept the offer. Of course, Kennedy and Johnson had to interact with each other on work issues, but personal relations between them were rather strained.
Lyndon Johnson as President
On November 22, 1963, a terrible tragedy occurred - President Kennedy was killed by a sniper while driving his motorcade through Dallas, Texas. They still argue about who could be behind this murder; a lot of versions have been put forward on this score. Literally on the same day, Lyndon Johnson took the oath of office on board number one, stationed at the airport in Dallas, and became acting president.
Soon after, Johnson announced the launch of the Great Society program, one of the goals of which was to overcome poverty. Congress has allocated approximately $ 1 billion for various projects under this program.
In 1964, Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, which effectively abolished racial segregation in the South of the United States. In addition, state health insurance was established by Lyndon.
In the same 1964, the next presidential elections were held. At them, he won by a significant margin from the competitor - Republican Barry Goldwater. Although in some southern states Johnson received fewer votes than the representative of the Republican Party. This was due to the dissatisfaction of voters from these states with the very abolition of segregation.
In 1966, Johnson, as president, signed laws to subsidize housing for needy families and increase social security payments, and launched programs to build improved highways, and to combat pollution.
These and other changes in the social sphere and in the economy led to the fact that the standard of living of Americans began to skyrocket.
However, at some point, the program of creating a "Great Society" was abandoned. And this is undoubtedly due to failures in foreign policy, which in Johnson's time was quite aggressive and costly.
In 1964, with the support of the United States, the government of João Goulart was dispersed in Brazil. In 1965, the US military was sent to the Dominican Republic. Johnson himself stated that this intervention was necessary to prevent the coming to power in this country of the Communists.
In the summer of 1965, Johnson decided to significantly increase the contingent of American troops in South Vietnam. Under Kennedy, this contingent numbered about 20,000, and by the end of Johnson's reign, it increased to 540,000. However, they did not succeed. Later, as you know, American troops left this country, and it came under the full control of the communist forces.
By 1968, the popularity of Johnson and his policies in the United States had declined markedly. Because of this, he decided not to take part in the next presidential elections. Senator Robert Kennedy was expected to be nominated by the Democratic Party, but he was shot dead in early June 1968. As a result, Hubert Humphrey became the Democratic nominee. The Republicans nominated Richard Nixon, and it was then that he became president.
On January 20, 1969, Nixon was inaugurated, after which Johnson left the Oval Office and settled in his ranch in Texas.
Personal life
In 1934 he married the daughter of a successful businessman Claudia Alta Taylor, whom everyone in America called "Lady Bird" (she received such a nickname in infancy). Lyndon was introduced to Claudia by her friend, and already on the first date he invited her to marry him. At first, Claudia considered this a joke, but in the end, ten weeks after they met, she agreed to become the wife of a promising politician. Their wedding ceremony took place at the Church of St. Mark in San Antonio.
Claudia Alta was Lyndon Johnson's only wife. And he lived with her in an official marriage for almost forty years. Claudia gave birth to two daughters from him - Linda Bird and Lucy Baines.
However, Lyndon Johnson cannot be called monogamous. He had a huge number of mistresses. One of the most famous novels of the president "on the side" is an affair with Madeleine Brown. They met at a party in Dallas and have been lovers for 21 years. And all this time Johnson provided Madeleine: he bought her a house, paid for the servants, gave expensive cars and jewelry.
Years later, the mistress announced that it was Lyndon Johnson who was the father of her son Stephen Brown. But in court this statement could not be proved.
Circumstances of death and funeral
After leaving the White House, Johnson put on over 11 kilograms. Also during this period, he again (after fifteen years of abstinence) began to smoke.
In addition, he developed serious heart problems. Johnson suffered his first attack in March 1970, and his second in April 1972.
On January 12, 1973, Lyndon Johnson gave his last interview - his interlocutor was TV journalist Walter Cronkite. In this interview, the former president spoke about his political legacy, primarily in the area of civil rights protection.
On January 22, that is, ten days later, Johnson suffered his third heart attack. At that moment he was at his ranch. Johnson was quickly flown to Brook Medical Center in San Antonio. But they could no longer help the former president: almost immediately after arriving at the center, cardiologist George McGranahan recorded his death.
Johnson's funeral took place in Washington, DC, at the National City Christian Church.
