Lyndon Johnson Essay Research Paper The thirtysixth

Lyndon Johnson Essay, Research Paper

The thirty-sixth president of the United States, Lyndon Baines Johnson became president Nov. 22, 1963 shortly after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He was before long elected in 1964 for a full term. Deciding not to run for a second term, he was replaced as president by Richard M. Nixon in 1969. Lyndon was born on a farm near Stonewall, Tex., Aug. 27, 1908. The first of five children of Samuel Ealy Johnson, Jr. he was born to politics both his grandfathers and his father had served in the Texas legislature. When Lyndon was five years old, his parents moved to Johnson City, Tex. He pursued his studies unwillingly, although he was elected president of his seven-member class at Johnson City High School and won the county debating championship with a friend during his senior year. He considered his education finished when he graduated from high school in 1924. He left Texas for California, where for several months he worked in the law office of his cousin, Thomas Martin. After a year of working with his cousin, he cam e homes and gave in his parents. With a $75 loan, in February 1927 he entered Southwest Texas State Teachers College at San Marcos. On campus he worked both as a janitor and as secretary to the college president. After graduation, he taught debating and public speaking at Sam Houston High School in Houston, but a year later he turned to politics. In 1937 Johnson decided to run for the U.S. House of Representatives. One of 10 candidates, Johnson at first made little headway, but finally he gained attention when he came down hard in support of the New Deal. Also giving Johnson leadway was Roosevelt’ s attempt to increase the size of the Supreme Court, which all the other major candidates opposed. Johnson won with twice as many votes as his nearest rival. On Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor; and an hour after voting for a declaration of war, Johnson, who was a member of the Naval Reserve, was asked to to duty. Three days later he was a lieutenant commander, the first House member to go into uniform. Johnson was in active service until July 1942, when Roosevelt called all Congressmen in service back to their posts in Washington. Back in the House, Johnson went against waste in military manpower and war production. All the time, he was becoming an increasingly important congressional person; he became a member of the House Naval Committee, moving in 1947 to the Armed Services Committee. After the war Johnson began taking a different stance on some issues, he needed to do something drastic because it was necessary if he hoped to try again for statewide office. He also became preoccupied with a radio station his wife purchased in Austin. When the business began to flourish, he told friends he might leave public life. However, in 1948 he decided to run again for the Senate. There were 11 candidates. Johnson won it by only 87 votes, thanks to late returns from Jim Wells County, which went 202 to 1 for Johnson. In 1949 Johnson took his seat in the Senate under the nickname Landslide Lyndon, referring to his 87-vote primary win. Yet, he began a quick rise in the Senate. He developed a close friendship with Senator Richard B. Russell of Georgia, the Senate’s most powerful Democrat. In 1951, at the age of 42, and after only two years in the Senate, Johnson, by an incidental series of events, was elected majority whip, the second most important party position in the Senate. In 1953 the Republicans then gained control of the Senate, and Johnson was elected Democratic minority leader. Two years later, with the Democrats back in control, he became majority leader. In the meantime, in 1954, he had won reelection to the Senate. So at this point in time Johnson was on the rising he was gaining more power than anyone else has ever before. On July 2, 1955 Johnson suffered a massive heart attack. He slowly recuperated and returned to the Senate the following January. Continuing to build his power until 1960, when he went for the Democratic presidential nomination. He did not formally announce his candidacy until July 5, 1960, just a few days before the Democratic National Convention. Because of his identification as a Southerner and the three-year campaign for the nomination by Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts, Johnson was solidly defeated by Kennedy on the first ballot. Johnson did not enjoy the life of vice-president, removed as he was from the levers of power, even though President Kennedy kept Johnson informed on major policy decisions. Johnson served on the National Security Council and its executive committee. As chairman of the President’s Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity, he worked for broader job opportunities for blacks. In the fall of 1963, reports began to circulate that Kennedy would select a new running mate in 1964, a rumor Kennedy denied. The reports arose primarily from never-proved suggestions that Johnson was involved in the scandal surrounding his former Senate protege, Robert G. Baker. The Senate Democratic secretary who had been forced to resign after revelations that he had used his Senate position to build a personal business fortune. But politics began to occupy Kennedy and Johnson as they looked ahead to the 1964 elections. In November 1963 they traveled together to Texas, hoping to heal the split among Texas Democrats. On November 22 Kennedy was assassinated as he rode in a motorcade thro