Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-1973)/biography

Lyndon Baines Johnson (, –, ), often referred to as LBJ, was the thirty-sixth  (1963–1969). Johnson served a long career in the, and in 1960 was selected by then-Presidential candidate to be his running-mate. Johnson became the thirty-seventh, and in 1963, he to the presidency following. He was a major leader of the and as President was responsible for designing his, comprising liberal legislation including ,  (health care for the elderly),  (health care for the poor), aid to education, and a "". Simultaneously, he escalated the American involvement in the, from 16,000 American soldiers in 1963 to 550,000 in early 1968.

He was elected President in his own right in a in, but his popularity steadily declined after  and his reelection bid in  collapsed as a result of turmoil in his party. He withdrew from the race to concentrate on peacemaking. Johnson was renowned for his domineering personality and the "Johnson treatment," his arm-twisting of powerful politicians.

Johnson suffered a massive in 1973, the third in his lifetime. He died,.

Early years
Johnson was maternally descended from a pioneer clergyman,, who pastored some eight churches in  as well as others in  and. Baines was also the president of, then in , in during the. George Baines was the grandfather of Johnson's mother, Rebekah Baines Johnson.

The President's grandfather,, was raised as a Baptist. Subsequently, in his early manhood, he became a member of the. 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 Church toward the end of his life.

Johnson was born in, on , , in a small in a poor area on the. His parents, and the former Rebekah Baines, had three girls and two boys: LBJ and his brother,  {1914-1978}, and sisters Rebekah (1910–1978), Josefa (1912–1961), and Lucia (1916–1997). The nearby small town of, was named after LBJ's father's cousin, James Polk Johnson, whose forebears had moved west from. 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. In 1925, he worked as an elevator operator in downtown,.

In 1926, Johnson enrolled in Teachers' College (now ). 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 children at the  in, some ninety miles south of  in. When he returned to San Marcos in 1965, after having signed the, 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."

Early political career
After graduation, Johnson briefly taught public speaking at and debate in a Houston high school, then entered politics. Johnson's father had served five terms in the and was a close friend to one of Texas's rising political figures, Congressman. In 1930, Johnson campaigned for Texas state Senator in his run for Congress. Hopkins recommended him to Congressman, 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, as well as fellow Texans such as Vice President. He became a surrogate son to Sam Rayburn.



Johnson married (already nicknamed "Lady Bird") of,  on ,  after having attended  Law School for several months. They had two daughters,, born in 1944, and , born in 1947. Johnson enjoyed giving people and animals his own initials; his daughters' given names are examples, as was his dog Little Johnson.

In 1935, he was appointed head of the Texas, which enabled him to use the government to create educational 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; he worked as hard as any of them.

House years
In 1937, Johnson ran for Congress in a special election for to represent,  and the surrounding Hill Country. He ran on a 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 and the machinations of Vice President Garner and House Speaker Sam Rayburn. Johnson was immediately appointed to the. He worked for rural electrification and other improvements for his district. Johnson steered the projects towards contractors that he personally knew, such as the Brothers, Herman and George, who would finance much of Johnson's future career. (The Brown & Root company would eventually be a subsidiary of .) In 1941, he ran for the in a special election against the sitting governor, radio personality. 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 for a combat assignment. 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. 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 in. Johnson and two Army officers went to the 22nd Bomb Group base, which was assigned the high risk mission of bombing the ese at  in. A colonel took Johnson's original seat on one bomber; it was shot down and everyone died. Reports vary on what happened to the Johnson was on. Some accounts say it was also attacked by Japanese fighters but survived, while others claim it turned back before reaching the objective and never came under fire. MacArthur awarded LBJ the, the military's third-highest medal, for his actions.

Johnson reported back to Roosevelt, to the Navy leaders, and to Congress, that conditions were deplorable and unacceptable. He argued the theater urgently needed a higher priority and a bigger 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 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 too often absent. Organized labor blocked the bill and denounced Johnson. Johnson's mission thus had a significant impact in upgrading the South Pacific theater and in helping along the entire naval war effort. 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."

1948 contested election
In, Johnson again ran for the Senate and won. This election was highly controversial: a three-way Democratic Party saw Johnson facing a well-known former governor,, 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 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 , who rushed back to Texas from a business trip in. There were many allegations of fraud on both sides. Thus one writer alleges that Johnson's campaign manager,, was connected with 202 s in that had curiously been cast in. argued in his 1989 book that Johnson had rigged the election in Duval County as well as rigging 10,000 ballots in alone.

However, the state Democratic convention upheld Johnson. Stevenson went to court, but — with timely help from his friend — Johnson prevailed. Johnson was elected senator in November, and went to tagged with the  "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, patrician leader of the 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, and later in 1950, he helped create the. 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 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. The senate majority leader, of, died ,. The Republicans elected of  as new senate majority leader. In, Johnson was re-elected to the Senate, and since the Democrats won the majority in the Senate, Johnson became majority leader. He was the youngest majority leader ever, and also the majority leader with the shortest time of service. Bill Knowland was elected Minority Leader. LBJ's duties were to schedule legislation and help pass measures favored by the Democrats. He, Rayburn and President worked smoothly together in passing Eisenhower's domestic and foreign agenda. As Majority Leader, Johnson was responsible for passage of the, the first civil rights legislation passed by the Senate since. In 1959, Knowland retired from the Senate. of was elected minority leader. 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. Central to Johnson's control was "The Treatment", described by two journalists:
 * 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
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, Johnson received 409 votes on the first and only ballot at the Democratic convention, which nominated.

, then a representative from Kennedy's home state of, 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."

During the convention, Kennedy designated Johnson as his choice for Vice President. Some later reports (such as 's) say that Kennedy offered the position to Johnson as a courtesy and did not expect him to accept. Others (such as ) say that the Kennedy campaign was desperate to win the against  and, and needed Johnson on the ticket to help carry.

While he ran for vice president with John F. Kennedy, Johnson also sought a third term in the U.S. Senate. His popularity was such that Texas law was changed to permit him to run for two offices at the same time. Johnson was reelected senator, with 1,306,605 votes (58 percent) to Republican 's 927,653 (41.1 percent). Fellow Democrat was appointed to replace Johnson as Senator, but Blakley lost a special election in May 1961 to Tower.

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, through which he worked with s and other minorities. Though Kennedy probably intended this to remain a nominal position, 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 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 meetings. Kennedy did give Johnson control over all presidential appointments involving Texas, and he was appointed chairman of the. 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 and an enlarged  were feasible, so he steered the recommendation towards a program for landing an American on the moon.

Assassination of President John F. Kennedy


Two hours after two cars in front of him in a  motorcade, Johnson was sworn in as President on  in  at  on,. He was sworn in by Federal Judge, 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 using a bible; none could be found aboard Air Force One. A Roman Catholic  was discovered in Kennedy's desk, and this book was used during the swearing-in ceremony.

To investigate Kennedy's murder, Johnson created a special panel called the. This panel, headed by Chief Justice, 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.

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 life of his presidency. Even the late President's brother,, with whom Johnson had an infamously difficult relationship, remained in office until leaving in 1964 to run for the Senate.

1964 Presidential election


On, , Johnson's campaign managers for the broadcast the "." 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 meant nuclear death. Although it was soon pulled off the air, it escalated into a continuously 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 in 1972).

At the in,  a black activist group calling itself the  (MFDP) demanded all the  seats, although it had not followed party rules and had few voters. To appease the MFDP, Johnson sent in, and the party's liberal leaders offered it two seats. The country's most prestigious civil rights leaders, including, and , all accepted the solution (as did all the states except Mississippi and ), but the MFDP, coming under control of Black Power radicals, rejected any compromise. It therefore lost liberal support and the convention went smoothly for LBJ without a searing battle over civil rights. Johnson carried the South as a whole in the election, but he lost the white voters to Goldwater in the states of, Alabama, Mississippi,  and.

Civil rights
In conjunction with the, Johnson overcame southern resistance and achieved passage of the , which effectively outlawed most forms of racial segregation. In 1965, he achieved passage of a second civil rights bill, the, that outlawed discrimination in voting, thus allowing millions of southern blacks to vote for the first time. Shortly thereafter, the bill passed the Senate by a vote of 73–27, and quickly passed through the House-Senate, which adopted the Senate version of the bill. The conference bill was passed by both houses of Congress, and was signed into law by President Johnson on,. 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.

In, Johnson nominated civil rights attorney to be the first   of the Supreme Court. After the murder of civil rights worker, Johnson went on television to announce the arrest of four 's men 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. At the commencement address on, , 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...'''.

Great Society
The program became Johnson's agenda for Congress in January 1965: aid to education, attack on disease, Medicare,, beautification, conservation, development of depressed regions, a wide-scale fight against poverty, control and prevention of crime, and removal of obstacles to the. 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 and poverty, and was an essential component of the, 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 propositions 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 and the, to support humanists and artists (as the  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.

War on Poverty
In 1964, upon Johnson's request, Congress passed a tax-reduction law and the, which was in association with the.

Medicare and Medicaid
Millions of elderly people were aided by the 1965 Medicare amendment to the. Poor people received federal money for medical care through the Medicaid program.

Space race
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 s caused a series of "long hot summers." They started with a violent disturbance in in 1964 and the  of  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. burned in 1966, where six days of rioting left 26 dead, 1500 injured, and the inner city a burned out shell. In in 1967, Governor  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 40 were dead, 2250 were injured, 4000 were arrested; property damage ranged into the hundreds of millions; much of inner Detroit was never rebuilt. 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.



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. In the the Republicans gained 47 seats, reinvigorating the  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 and that his  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 (less than three weeks after the, which had nominated Barry Goldwater for President). To this day, questions persist as to the legitimacy of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which gave the President the exclusive right to use military force without consulting the Senate. 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.

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 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."

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."

He often privately cursed the Vietnam War, and in a conversation with, Johnson assailed "the bunch of commies" running the for their articles against the war effort. 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, 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." 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 , he said, "If we allow Vietnam to fall, tomorrow we’ll be fighting in, and next week in ." 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.

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 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, 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.

1968 Presidential election
Entering the 1968 election campaign, initially, no prominent Democratic candidate was prepared to run against a sitting President of his own party. Only  of  challenged Johnson as an anti-war candidate in the , hoping to pressure the Democrats to oppose the war. On, McCarthy won 42% of the primary vote to Johnson's 49%, an amazingly strong showing for such a challenger. Four days later, Sen. of entered the race. Internal polling by Johnson's campaign in, the next state to hold a primary election, showed the President trailing badly. Johnson did not leave the White House to campaign.

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 ). 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 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.

Then, at the end of a 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" Text and audio of speech. (Not discussed publicly at the time was his concern that he might not make it through another term.) He did rally the party bosses and unions to give Humphrey the nomination. In what was termed the, Johnson announced to the nation on , , that he had ordered a complete cessation of "all air, naval and artillery bombardment of ", effective November 1, should the Government be willing to negotiate and citing progress with the.

LBJ was not disqualified from running for a second term under the provisions of the ; he had served less than 24 months of JFK'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.

Major legislation signed

 * 1964:
 * 1964:
 * 1964:
 * 1964:
 * 1964:
 * 1964:
 * 1965:
 * 1965:
 * 1965:
 * 1965:
 * 1967:
 * 1968:
 * 1968:

Administration and Cabinet
(All of the cabinet members when Johnson became President in 1963 had been serving under John F. Kennedy previously.)

Supreme Court appointments
Johnson appointed the following Justices to the :


 * –1965
 * Fortas was also nominated to be in 1968, but he withdrew.
 * –1967
 * Marshall was the first 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 opened near the campus of. He donated his Texas ranch in his will to the public to form the, with the provision that the ranch "remain a working ranch and not become a sterile relic of the past".

Death
Johnson died at 4:33 p.m. on, , from a third at his ranch, at age 64. His health was ruined by years of heavy and, and the former President had severe. He was found in his bed, reaching for his phone (a PBS documentary titled, "Lady Bird" showed a clip of CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite on the phone with LBJ chief of staff Tom Johnson, announcing the former president's death and stating that it had occurred on an ambulance plane on its way to San Antonio).

Johnson was honored with a in which Texas Congressman  and former Secretary of State   him at the.

The final services took place on. 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, was the first presidential funeral to feature , and they were given by the Rev. Dr. George Davis, the church's pastor and , 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 and Reverend. The state funeral, the last until in 2004, was part of a busy week for the  (MDW), beginning with Nixon's second inauguration.

Legacy
The Manned Spacecraft Center in, , was renamed the , and Texas created a legal state holiday to be observed on to mark LBJ's birthday. It is known as. The was dedicated on,.

Johnson was awarded the posthumously in.

On, , President signed legislation naming the  headquarters after President Johnson. 

His widow, (b. 1912), passed away on, , at the age of 94 at her home in Austin, Texas.

Trivia

 * Lyndon Johnson was 6 feet 3 inches (190 cm) tall and weighed about 216 pounds (98 kg), the, behind at 6 feet 4 inches (193 cm) tall.
 * LBJ's death, on, , followed the death of former President Truman by less than a month. This left the U.S. with no living former presidents until the resignation of Richard Nixon in.
 * President Johnson was granted a coat of arms by the in 1968.
 * He was baptized in the as a member of the  in 1923.
 * Johnson was famously frugal. Even as President, White House tapes recorded him asking a photographer to take his family portraits for free, saying he was a very poor man living on a weekly paycheck and had a very great deal of financial debt. In fact Johnson was a multimillionaire, but he still wasn't charged for the photographic portraits. The White House press corps made jokes at his expense regarding his habit of turning off all lights in the White House when the rooms were not in use. Johnson's secretary revealed years later that he would wash and reuse cups.
 * His favorite soft drink was, which he drank constantly. Johnson had a small control box installed in the writing desk in the small personal office adjacent to the . This control box contained two buttons, marked "Coffee" and "Fresca". Pushing one of these buttons would summon Johnson's military aide bringing the appropriate drink.
 * His codename was Volunteer.
 * Johnson, while using the White House bathroom, was known to insist that others accompany him and continue to discuss official matters or take dictation. Among those who received this "privilege" was, publisher of the .
 * Lake Granite Shoals, a of the  in central Texas was renamed  in 1965 in honor of the sitting President.
 * He was the only American President to have ever visited (1966). In Labu, state of, the village called  was named after him during his visit to the village, with , the first.
 * He was the first American President to visit Turkey and Australia while in office.
 * Robert F. Kennedy greatly disliked Johnson and the feeling was mutual. Kennedy felt that Johnson was not worthy of the vice presidency, while Johnson merely regarded Kennedy as "Jack's Little Brother", a spoiled brat who was riding his older brother's coattails to success.
 * Two Austin area broadcast radio stations using the call sign, ( and ), were once owned by the Johnson family before being sold to other commercial interests. The Johnsons also owned the first broadcast television station in the Austin area, (channel 7).
 * Born in 1908, LBJ was the second U.S. President born in the 20th century. John F. Kennedy, born in 1917, was the first.
 * He was one of only three southern Senators who refused to sign the.
 * When he was a young school teacher, Johnson petitioned the local for membership. He was accepted, and received his  degree, but never advanced beyond that.
 * wrote a notorious 1966 drama entitled , which  depicts then-President Lyndon Johnson as, the  king whose lust for power carried him to the throne.
 * The is a  initiated on  of . In 1964, they (invalidly) voted for Johnson as their assembly representative by way of protest against Australian.
 * It is also known that, when on a visit to the, Johnson was given a precious painting from the , while Johnson gave a sculpture of himself.
 * The one and only hospital in American Samoa was named after him, LBJ Hospital located in Fagaalu.

Movies

 *  (1968): subject of Cuban.
 *  (1977): played by.
 *  (1978, TV): played by.
 *  (1983, TV): played by.
 *  (1983): played by.
 *  (1985, TV): played by.
 *  (1987, TV): played by.
 * * '' (1991): played by and . (voice)
 *  (1994): archive footage, voice-over by.
 *  (2000): played by.
 *  (2002): played by.
 *  (2002): played by.

Fiction

 * In  (2004), Johnson awards the fictional title of "" and the . In the game, he was voiced by.
 * The fictional short story "Lyndon" (starting in 1990) in  by.
 * In an episode of  is asked by a friend who their baby looks like, the mother or the father, to which Kramer replies "Lyndon Johnson". In the episode "", George says that Lyndon Johnson is the ugliest world leader of all time.
 * In an episode of  named, consoles  over the death of his hero, , by saying "I remember feeling that way when Lyndon Johnson died."
 * In the film  (1991) one of the wears an LBJ face mask to conceal his identity.
 * A caricature of Johnson appeared in the  episode "Presidential People" as a guest on 's talk show, Ask Me if I Care. He manages to briefly capture Toast's interest by mentioning his scar, but Toast eventually jettisons him into space upon the revelation that Johnson was responsible for giving the world (Toast is apparently not keen on  and ). There was also a sketch in the same episode advertising a fictional toy called "Raggedy Lyndon Johnson" (a parody of ).
 * During the in 1998,  aired sex scandals (falsely) plaguing other U.S. Presidents. Johnson was one such leader; according to the program, he was "known to  interns as "El BJ."