Lyndon b johnson fun facts
Lyndon B. Johnson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Lyndon B. Johnson | |
---|---|
Johnson in | |
36th President of the United States | |
In office November 22, – January 20, | |
Vice President | |
Preceded by | John F.
Kennedy |
Succeeded by | Richard Nixon |
37th Vice President of the United States | |
In office January 20, – November 22, | |
President | John F. Kennedy |
Preceded by | Richard Nixon |
Succeeded by | Hubert Humphrey |
Senate Majority Leader | |
In office January 3, – January 3, | |
Whip | Earle C.
Clements |
Preceded by | William F. Knowland |
Succeeded by | Mike Mansfield |
Senate Minority Leader | |
In office January 3, – January 3, | |
Whip | Earle C. Clements |
Preceded by | Styles Bridges |
Succeeded by | William F.
Knowland |
Chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus | |
In office January 3, – January 3, | |
Preceded by | Ernest McFarland |
Succeeded by | Mike Mansfield |
Senate Majority Whip | |
In office January 3, – January 3, | |
Leader | Ernest McFarland |
Preceded by | Francis J.
Myers |
Succeeded by | Leverett Saltonstall |
United States Senator from Texas | |
In office January 3, – January 3, | |
Preceded by | W. Lee O'Daniel |
Succeeded by | William A. Blakley |
Member of the U.S.
House of Representatives | |
In office April 10, – January 3, | |
Preceded by | James P. Buchanan |
Succeeded by | Homer Thornberry |
Personal details | |
Born | Lyndon Baines Johnson ()August 27, Gillespie County, Texas, U.S. |
Died | January 22, () (aged 64) Gillespie County, Texas, U.S. |
Resting place | Johnson Family Cemetery |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | |
Relations | Philip Bobbitt (nephew) |
Children | |
Parents |
|
Education | |
Occupation | |
Civilian awards | Presidential Medal of Freedom (posthumously, ) |
Signature | |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States |
Branch/service | United States Navy |
Years of service |
|
Rank | Commander |
Battles/wars | |
Military awards | Silver Star |
Lyndon Baines Johnson ( August 27, – January 22, ), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States from to He became president after the assassination of John F.
Kennedy. He also served as the 37th vice president from to
Johnson's administration passed many major laws that made substantial changes in civil rights, health care, welfare, and education. He was strongly criticized for his foreign policy, especially for American involvement in the Vietnam War.
Early life
Lyndon Baines Johnson was born on August 27, , near Stonewall, Texas, in a small farmhouse on the Pedernales River.
He was the eldest of five children born to Samuel Ealy Johnson Jr. and Rebekah Baines. Johnson had one brother, Sam Houston Johnson, and three sisters, Rebekah, Josefa, and Lucia.
Johnson grew up poor, with his father losing a great deal of money. Biographer Robert Caro described him as being raised "in a land without electricity, where the soil was so rocky that it was hard to earn a living from it."
Education
Johnson graduated in from Johnson City High School.
Lyndon b johnson president biography for kids video The film includes rarely seen footage, secret White House tapes, and personal testimony from LBJ's advisors, biographers, friends, and family. Cite this article:. Johnson initially sought to run for re-election; however, following disappointing results in the New Hampshire primary he withdrew his candidacy. Gunderson This biography introduces readers to the life of Lyndon B.In , he enrolled at SWTSTC. The college years refined his skills of persuasion and political organization. For nine months, from to , Johnson paused his studies to teach Mexican–American children at the segregated Welhausen School in Cotulla, 90 miles ( km) south of San Antonio. The job helped him to save money to complete his education, and he graduated in with a Bachelor of Science in history and his certificate of qualification as a high school teacher.
He briefly taught at Pearsall High School in Pearsall before taking a position teaching public speaking at Sam Houston High School in Houston.
When he returned to San Marcos in , after signing the Higher Education Act of , Johnson reminisced:
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.
Active military duty (–)
Johnson was called to active duty three days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December He received the Silver Star for gallantry in action.
He was also awarded the American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.
Political career
Johnson won election to the U.S.
House of Representatives in In , he became a senator, rising to the positon of the Senate Democratic leader in and majority leader in In , Johnson ran for presidency. Ultimately, Senator Kennedy made Johnson his vice presidential running mate.
When was lyndon b johnson president Johnson won election to the U. The film includes rarely seen footage, secret White House tapes, and personal testimony from LBJ's advisors, biographers, friends, and family. Johnson was a teacher but later served in Washington as secretary to Congressman, Robert Kleberg. Cecil Stoughton's iconic photo showed the world that the smooth and orderly transfer of power called for in the U.The Kennedy–Johnson ticket won the general election. Vice President Johnson assumed the presidency in , after President Kennedy was assassinated.
Main article: Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson
Johnson was sworn in as the nation's 36th president aboard Air Force One at Dallas Love Field two hours and eight minutes after Kennedy's assassination.
During his tenure, Johnson sought to expand civil rights, public broadcasting, access to health care, aid to education and the arts, urban and rural development, and public services.
He aimed to create better living conditions for low-income Americans by spearheading the war on poverty. As part of these efforts, Johnson signed the Social Security Amendments of , which resulted in the creation of Medicare and Medicaid.
During the Johnson administration, national poverty declined significantly, with the percentage of Americans living below the poverty line dropping from 23 to 12 percent.
Johnson made the Apollo program a national priority; enacted the Higher Education Act of , which established federally insured student loans; and signed the Immigration and Nationality Act of , which laid the groundwork for U.S.
immigration policy today.
His civil rights legacy was shaped by the Civil Rights Act of , the Voting Rights Act of , and the Civil Rights Act of His foreign policy prioritized containment of communism, including in the ongoing Vietnam War. He launched a full-scale military intervention in Southeast Asia, dramatically increasing the number of American military personnel deployed; casualties soared among U.S.
soldiers and Vietnam civilians. In , the communist Tet Offensive inflamed the anti-war movement and public opinion turned against America's involvement in the war.
Johnson began his presidency with near-universal support, but his approval declined throughout his presidency as the public became frustrated with both the Vietnam War and domestic unrest.
Johnson initially sought to run for re-election; however, following disappointing results in the New Hampshire primary he withdrew his candidacy.
Space program
During the Johnson administration, NASA conducted the Gemini crewed space program, developed the Saturn V rocket and its launch facility, and prepared to make the first crewed Apollo program flights.
On January 27, , the nation was stunned when the entire crew of Apollo 1 was killed in a cabin fire during a spacecraft test on the launch pad, stopping Apollo in its tracks. Rather than appointing another Warren-style commission, Johnson accepted Administrator James E. Webb's request for NASA to do its own investigation.
Johnson maintained his staunch support of Apollo through Congressional and press controversy, and the program recovered.
The first two crewed missions, Apollo 7 and the first crewed flight to the Moon, Apollo 8, were completed by the end of Johnson's term.
He congratulated the Apollo 8 crew, saying, "You've taken all of us, all over the world, into a new era." On July 16, , Johnson attended the launch of the first Moon landing mission Apollo 11, becoming the first former or incumbent U.S. president to witness a rocket launch.
Vietnam War
Further information: United States in the Vietnam War
At Kennedy's death, there were 16, American military personnel in Vietnam supporting South Vietnam in the war against North Vietnam.
Vietnam had been partitioned at the Geneva Conference, with North Vietnam led by a Communist government. Johnson subscribed to the Domino Theory and to a containment policy that required America to make a serious effort to stop all Communist expansion. On taking office, Johnson immediately reversed Kennedy's order to withdraw 1, military personnel by the end of In late summer , Johnson seriously questioned the value of staying in Vietnam but, after meeting with Secretary of State Dean Rusk and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Maxwell D.
Taylor, declared his readiness "to do more when we had a base" or when Saigon was politically more stable. He expanded the numbers and roles of the American military following the Gulf of Tonkin Incident.
In what was termed the October surprise, Johnson announced to the nation on October 31, , that he had ordered a complete cessation of "all air, naval and artillery bombardment of North Vietnam", effective November 1, should the Hanoi Government be willing to negotiate and citing progress with the Paris peace talks.
A week later, on November 5, Republican candidate Richard Nixon won the presidential election.
After leaving the presidency in January , Johnson went home to his ranch in Stonewall, Texas, accompanied by former aide and speechwriter Harry J.
Middleton, who would draft Johnson's first book, The Choices We Face, and work with him on his memoirs, The Vantage Point: Perspectives of the Presidency –, published in That year, the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum opened on the campus of The University of Texas at Austin.
Lyndon b johnson president biography for kids pdf He often took a break to swim nude during the day and demanded that his workers do the same. Suggest an edit. Grant Rutherford B. When three astronauts successfully orbited the moon in December , Johnson congratulated them: "You've takenHe donated his Texas ranch in his will to the public to form the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park, with the provision that it "remain a working ranch and not become a sterile relic of the past".
Death and funeral
Johnson died on January 22, from a heart attack.
Johnson was honored with a state funeral. He was buried in his family's private cemetery at the house in which he was born.
Memorials
See also: List of memorials to Lyndon B.
Johnson
The Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston was renamed the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in , and the United States Department of Education headquarters was named after Johnson in The Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin was named in his honor, as is the Lyndon B. Johnson National Grassland.
Also named for him are schools in Austin and Laredo, Texas; Melbourne, Florida; and Jackson, Kentucky. Interstate in Dallas is named the Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway. The Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove on the Potomac was dedicated in
Johnson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously in Texas created a state holiday on August 27 to mark Johnson's birthday, known as Lyndon Baines Johnson Day.
Major legislation signed
- Clean Air Act
- Higher Education Facilities Act
- Vocational Education Act
- Civil Rights Act
- Urban Mass Transportation Act
- Wilderness Act
- Nurse Training Act
- Food Stamp Act
- Economic Opportunity Act
- Housing Act
- Higher Education Act
- Older Americans Act
- Coinage Act
- Social Security Act
- Voting Rights Act
- Immigration and Nationality Services Act
- Animal Welfare Act
- Freedom of Information Act
- Age Discrimination in Employment Act
- Public Broadcasting Act
- Architectural Barriers Act
- Bilingual Education Act
- Civil Rights Act
- Gun Control Act
Significant regulatory changes
- FCC creates national emergency number
Works
- National Aeronautics and Space Act ()
- Choices We Face ()
- The Vantage Point ()
Images for kids
Johnson as U.S.
senator from Texas
Senate Desk X, used by all Democratic leaders, including Johnson, since Joseph Taylor Robinson
Opening Day of the baseball season. President Kennedy throws out the first ball at Griffith Stadium, the home field of the Washington Senators, as LBJ and Hubert Humphrey look on.
President Lyndon Johnson (left), alongside Illinois AFL-CIO President Reuben Soderstrom (center) and Vice President Stanley Johnson (right), speaks to the delegates of the Illinois AFL-CIO convention.
President Johnson signs the Immigration and Nationality Act of as Sen.
Edward Kennedy, Sen. Robert Kennedy, and others look on
Former President Lyndon B. Johnson (center left) and Vice President Spiro Agnew (center right) witness the liftoff of Apollo
Aftermath from a race riot in Washington D.C., April
Awarding a medal to a U.S.
soldier during a visit to Vietnam in
Philippines President Marcos hosting the leaders of SEATO nations during the Manila Conference on the Vietnam War
Johnson greeting a crowd,
Vietnam War protestors march at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
on October 21, Support for the war was dropping and the anti-Vietnam War movement strengthened.
Countries visited by Johnson during his presidency
Johnson wearing a cowboy hat at his ranch in Texas,
Johnson with his family in the Yellow Oval Room, Christmas
Entrance to the Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove on the Potomac
See also
In Spanish: Lyndon B.
Johnson para niños