1908 - 1973
Lyndon B. Johnson
We believe that all men have certain unalienable rights. Yet many Americans do not enjoy those rights. We believe that all men are entitled to the blessings of liberty. Yet millions are being deprived of those blessings—not because of their own failures, but because of the color of their skin. Remarks upon Signing the Civil Rights Bill
Overview
On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas, Texas. The event thrust Lyndon Johnson into the presidency. A man widely considered to be one of the most expert and brilliant politicians of his time, Johnson would leave office a little more than five years later as one of the least popular Presidents in American history. The man who had risen from the poor Hill Country of Texas to become the acknowledged leader of the United States Senate and occupant of the Oval Office would return to Texas demoralized and discredited. He died four years later, a few hundred feet from the place of his birth.
Fast Facts
Lyndon Baines Johnson
Johnson City, Texas
Southwest Texas State Teachers College (now Texas State University-San Marcos), graduated 1930; Georgetown Law School, attended 1934
Disciples of Christ
Teacher, Public Official
Democrat
“LBJ”
November 17, 1934, to Claudia Alta “Lady Bird” Taylor (1912–2007)
Lynda Bird (1944– ); Luci Baines (1947– )
36
Near Johnson City, Texas
Featured Insights
Featured Video
2015-10-27
LBJ and the agony of Vietnam
Professor Fredrik Logevall examines the U.S. involvement in Vietnam