Life and Background

• Lyndon B Johnson was born on August 27th, 1908 near Johnson City, Texas.



• He grew up mostly in rural poverty.



• He attented Southwest Texas State Teachers college.



• During WWII he served a short time in the navy as a lituenat commander, winning a silver star in the South Pacific.



• He was elected to the Senetate in 1948.



• Johnson became the youngest minority leader in 1953.



• Then the following year he became the youngest majority leader.



• Johnson was sworn in on the plane after Kennedy's assination.



• In 1964 Johnson won presidency with 61% of the vote and with the largest popular vote margin in history over 15,000,000 votes.



• After having one of the biggest wins in electorial history he didn't run again in 1968.



• March 19th 1944 his first daughter Lynda Bird was born.



• Johnson was the first Texan to serve as president.



• Johnson had many victories in the seneta by such a big margin that he earned the nickname "Landslide Lyndon".



• After leaving presidency Johnson wrote his memoirs The Vantage Point.



• Johnson died on his ranch on January 22nd 1973 from a sudden heart attack.

Election

Johnson first became president when John F. Kennedy was assinated. This being the case he could run twice, but only ran one time. Johnson easily won over Goldwater, while riding the coatails of Kennedy's success. He easily won the popular vote by over 15 million, and earning over 61% of the popular vote. Electoral votes weren't even close Johnson had 9 times the amount of electoral votes than Goldwater. Johnson had 486 to Goldwater's 52.

Johnson ran on the platform for civil rights, and contuining the containment of communism. He called out Goldwater saying that he wanted to use nuclear weapons to try and end the vietnam war. This made many Americans weary of voting for him.

After success with the election of 1964 you would figure that Johnson would have no problem getting re-elected in 1968, but a decrease in his popularity made him withdraw his name from even getting nominated to run for president.

Foreign Policy and Affairs

While the Cold War was still in full swing while Johnson was president it was downplayed by many other foriegn events. The largest event of all was the Vietnam war. This was America's longest fought war to date. Almost 3 million americans served during the veitnam war. It is estimated that 2.5 million people were killed on both sides. almost 60,000 americans were killed during their duty in the veitnam war.

The vietnam war was a huge part of Johnson's presidency. Many americans felt that we were there without reasoniable cause. Still Johnson used the Selective Service Act to draft people into the army duty. This tarnished Johnson's reputation as a president making him look as if he continued fighting a war that no one wanted.

Johnson just like Kennedy and Wilson tried to stop the spread of communism. The USSR and America were like two brothers competing for attention. They tried to race to the moon costing billions of dollars and the time and effort sacraficed by many. When one nation was successful the other nation had to outdue the other. It did help discover many practical technologies still used today. Still though we built weapons of mass destruction just to show the Soviets that we were a better nation.

Domestic Policy and Affairs

Johnson had probably one of the times to be a president in history. While America was fighting the war over in Vietnam we had a war in our own backyard. Civil Rights the thought that all men are equal a simple thought now, but back then they were rarely if all accepted. The nation was in turmoil after the schools had just been desgregated, and racial protest were everywhere. Now Johnson handled this to the best of his ability.
Johnson did a lot for the poor to he put in to play medicaide and meicare which is still used today. It helps people in need to get the healthcare they deserve. He called his plan "The Great Society." He even instituted VISTA which was a program to try and train people into skilled labor jobs. He was also a teacher at poor schools always trying to encourage his students.


I Imagine this is what he would have looked like.....

Legacy

Johnson was one of America's most controversial presidents ever. He did a lot with health care, and civil rights in his presidency, for it only to be tarnished with what happened in the vietnam war. He is either in the top 10 presidents or the not top 10 presidents depending on when you grew up. Johnson was a very effective president when it came to domestic affairs and policy, but did little outside the country. All opions aside Johnson was a president that did a lot for this country and the people who need it to help them.
Johnson set up systems still used today to help the poor. Medicaid and Medicare. He was a great politician that was met with a hard time. Johnson accomplished what he felt needed to be accomplished while he was president. He inspired music, and chants most famous goes "HEY! HEY! LBJ How many kids did you kill today?"