The attitude to the figure of Lyndon Johnson in American and world history is ambiguous. Some believe that he was a great man and an outstanding politician, others see the thirty-sixth president of the United States as a figure obsessed with power, adapting to any circumstances. It was hard for Kennedy's successor to shake off the constant comparisons, but Lyndon Johnson's domestic politics helped boost his ratings. Everyone spoiled relations in the foreign policy arena.
Childhood and youth
Lyndon B. Johnson was born at the end of August 1908 in Texas. Samuel Johnson Jr., Lyndon's father, was a farmer, and his mother, Rebecca Baines, built a journalistic career before marriage, but left the profession to raise children. Lyndon B. Johnson often spoke of the hardships he endured as a child. This was clearly an exaggeration, since the family did notwas poor. However, parents who raised five children had to count every cent. When Lindon grew up, they took out several loans so that his son could get an education in a teacher's college.
During his studies, the future politician showed his abilities in practice in the city of Cotull. Success in a segregated school in a small Texas town marked the beginning of his successful career in politics. The young teacher coped well with his duties, which attracted the attention of the administration and leaders. When rancher and MP Richard Kleber was looking for a secretary to work in the capital in 1931, he turned his attention to the energetic Johnson.
The beginning of a political career
After two years as secretary to a congressman, Lyndon Johnson was appointed Commissioner of Youth Affairs from Texas. He was elected to the House of Representatives from the state's tenth congressional district and received an appointment to a Congressional committee. This is how Lyndon B. Johnson became an active supporter of the announced New Deal. Before World War II, he helped Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany resettle in the United States of America.
Lyndon Johnson entered his first election race in 1941. He ran for a seat in the Senate. He was supported by Roosevelt, but Johnson came second out of twenty-nine candidates. The following year, the young politician was appointed to the House Committee on the Navy, and in 1947 became a member of the armaments committee. Lyndon Johnson served on the Defense Policy Task Force.
In the Senate, Johnson became close to influential Democrat R. Russell of Georgia. As a result, he received two posts: he was appointed to the committee on trade (foreign and interstate) and to the arms committee. In 1951 he was elected deputy leader of the party, in 1955 he became its head. In 1954 he was re-elected to the Senate.
After a few years, Lyndon Johnson decided to fight for the presidency of the party. He was actively supported by Harold Hunt. A few days before the national convocation, Johnson formally announced his candidacy. In the first round, he suffered a serious defeat, and then lost to John F. Kennedy and was appointed vice president in 1960.
Tragic introduction to post
On Friday, November 22, 1963, the thirty-fifth President of the United States was mortally wounded by a rifle while riding in a motorcade with his wife Jacqueline during a visit to Dallas to prepare for the next presidential election. The first bullet hit John Kennedy's back, passed through his neck, and through the right wrist and left thigh of John Connally, who was sitting in front. The second bullet hit the president in the head, making a large enough exit hole (parts of the brain scattered around the cabin).
After the death of John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson automatically became president. An interesting fact: from the moment of Kennedy's death to Johnson's entry into office, only a few hours passed. He took the oath of office aboard the President's plane at Dallas Airport.before leaving for the capital and immediately began his new duties.
Three women surround Lyndon Johnson's famous swearing-in photo. On the right is the widowed Jacqueline Kennedy, left in her fatal pink suit, stained with blood. Her right glove was hardened with her husband's blood. To the left of the president is his own wife, nicknamed Lady Bird. Judge Sarah Hughes stands before him, Bible in hand. She became the only person to be sworn in by the president.
Period of presidency
Lyndon Johnson began his career as president with a speech after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He voiced the grim statistics of crimes in the United States. Johnson said that since 1885, one in three US presidents has been assassinated and one in five has been killed. The message to Congress said that almost every thirty minutes in the country one rape is committed, every five minutes - a robbery, every minute - a car theft, every twenty-eight seconds - one theft. The material losses of the state from crime amount to 27 billion dollars a year.
In the 1964 election, Lyndon Johnson was elected President of the United States by a wide margin. This has not happened since the victory of James Monroe in the presidential election in 1820. At the same time, the backbone of the Democratic Party in the South - whites dissatisfied with the abolition of segregation - voted for the Republican Barry Goldwater for the first time in the last century. Goldwater, with his extreme right views, was presented to the Americans as a threat to the world, which onlyplayed into the hands of Johnson.
Domestic policy
US President Lyndon Johnson began his work in office by strengthening social policies and improving the lives of ordinary Americans. In the first official statement from the government, which was made on November 8, 1964, he announced the beginning of the war on poverty. The Great Society course provided for a series of major social reforms aimed at eliminating racial segregation and poverty. The program promised profound changes in he alth care and education systems, solving transportation problems and other important changes.
The significance of Lyndon Johnson's reforms in domestic politics cannot be challenged even by his ardent opponents. Americans of color in the South were given the opportunity by civil rights to vote regardless of gender. He alth insurance and supplementary benefits were established, and social insurance payments and subsidies for low-income families increased. Measures were actively taken to combat water and air pollution, and road works were widely deployed.
Later, the Great Society building program was closed due to US intervention in the Vietnam War. At this time, the aggravation of problems related to the rights of blacks began. In 1965, there were riots in Los Angeles that killed thirty-five people. Two years later, the largest demonstrations by the African American population took place. Twenty-six people died in New Jersey, and forty in Detroit, Michigan. In 1968 when he was killedMartin Luther King, black riots have begun.
Claudia Johnson, the first lady of the United States, during the presidency of her husband was actively engaged in the improvement of cities and the preservation of the natural resources of the state. After the death of her husband, she took up business.
Johnson's foreign policy
The main event in the foreign policy arena during the presidency of Lyndon Johnson was the fighting in Vietnam. The United States supported the government of South Vietnam in the fight against the communist guerrillas, who enjoyed the support of the northern part of the country. In the late summer of 1964, the President ordered strikes against North Vietnam to prevent further aggression in Southeast Asia.
In 1964, the US government overthrew the objectionable regime of João Goulart in Brazil. The following year, as part of the Johnson Doctrine, US troops were sent to the Dominican Republic. The president justified the intervention by saying that the communists were trying to control the rebel movement. At the same time, it was decided to increase the American contingent in Vietnam to 540,000 soldiers (under Kennedy there were 20,000).
In the summer of 1967, a diplomatic meeting between Johnson and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union A. Kosygin took place in New Jersey. The following year, an American reconnaissance vessel with a crew of eighty-two people was captured off the coast of the DPRK. A week later, the guerrillas simultaneously attacked the cities and important installations of South Vietnam. The largest city of Hue was captured, the partisans penetratedterritory of the American embassy. This attack called into question American reports of success in Vietnam. The commander of the US forces asked to send an additional 206,000 troops to Vietnam.
1968 election
Due to his low rating among the population, Johnson did not run for office in the 1968 elections. The Democratic nominee was Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated in June of that year. Another candidate, Eugene McCarthy, was also not nominated. The Democrats nominated Humphrey, but Republican Richard Nixon won. After Nixon's inauguration, Johnson went to his own Texas ranch.
After the presidency
After a period of presidency, Lyndon Johnson retired from politics, writing his memoirs and occasionally giving lectures to students at the University of Texas. In 1972, he sharply criticized anti-war Democratic candidate George McGovern, although he had previously supported the politician.
The thirty-sixth president died on January 22, 1973 in his hometown. The cause of Lyndon Johnson's death was a heart attack. Johnson's widow, better known as Lady Bird, died in 2007. US President Lyndon Johnson's birthday has been declared a holiday in Texas, but government agencies are open, and private entrepreneurs can choose whether to give employees an extra day off or not.
Johnson in culture
In 2002A film about Lyndon Johnson called "The Road to War" was released, where the role of the president was played by Michael Gambon. In 2011, Johnson's image could be seen in the mini-series The Kennedy Clan. The role of Johnson was played by Woody Harrelson (LBD movie, 2017), John Carroll Lynch (Jackie, 2016), Lev Schreiber (The Butler, 2013).
