Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) dreamed of "A Great Society" for the American people. In his first years as president he won passage of one of the most far-reaching legislative agendas in the nation's history. Maintaining collective security, he carried on the rapidly growing struggle to restrain communist encroachment in South Vietnam.
Johnson was born on August 27, 1908, in central Texas, not far from Johnson City, which his family helped to settle. He lived the pain of rural poverty as he grew up, working his way through Southwest Texas State Teachers College (now known as Texas State University at San Marcos). He learned compassion for others when he taught poor students.
In 1937, Johnson campaigned successfully for the House of Representatives on a New Deal platform, effectively aided by his wife, the former Claudia "Lady Bird" Taylor, whom he had married in 1934.
During World War II Johnson served briefly in the Navy as a lieutenant commander, winning a Silver Star in the South Pacific. Following six terms in the House, Johnson was elected to the Senate in 1948. In 1953, he became the youngest Minority Leader in Senate history, and the following year, when the Democrats won control, Majority Leader. With canny ability, he gained passage of key Eisenhower measures.
In the 1960 campaign, Johnson, as John F. Kennedy's running mate, was elected vice president. When Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, Johnson was sworn in as president.
First he obtained enactment of the measures President Kennedy had been urging near the time of his death: a new civil rights bill and a tax cut. Next he urged the nation "...to build a great society, a place where the meaning of man's life matches the marvels of man's labor." In 1964, Johnson won the presidency with 61 percent of the vote and had the widest popular margin in American history — more than 15,000,000 votes.
The Great Society program became Johnson's agenda for Congress in January 1965: