We explain to you who was Lyndon B. Johnson and how he became president of the United States. In addition, the Civil Rights Law and the growing involvement of the US. UU. In Vietnam.
Who was Lyndon B. Johnson?
Lyndon B. Johnson was an American politician originally from Texas, in the southern United States. He was elected vice president of the United States by the Democratic Party in the elections that led to the presidency of John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1961-1963). The day of Kennedy murder, in November 1963, Johnson swore as president. In the 1964 elections he was chosen to fulfill a new mandate, so He held the presidency between 1963 and 1969 .
Johnson stood out for his progressive internal policy (known as the great society), with the impulse to the Civil Rights Law (1964) and the Law of Voting Law (1965) that prohibited discriminatory practices against the African -American population. He also implemented Measures aimed at making the “war on poverty” but the difficult social situation in the African -American districts caused great protest movements during their second term.
Johnson's foreign policy was characterized by the increase in American involvement in the Vietnam War which caused manifestations contrary to war, especially between youth and pacifist sectors of the United States. Given the growing discredit of his image, Johnson decided not to run for re -election in 1968. He concluded his mandate in 1969 and died on January 22, 1973.
Lyndon B. Johnson's personal life
Lyndon B. Johnson was born in Stonewall, Texas, on August 27, 1908 . He was the first of five children of businessman Sam Ealy Johnson Jr. and Rebekah Baines. Sam was a member of the Texas Representatives Chamber but lost a lot of money with cotton speculation and Lyndon B. Johnson grew up in poverty .
Johnson graduated from high school in 1924 and then entered the Southwest Texas State Teachers College (current Texas State University), in San Marcos. In those years, he taught at a Cotulla School (Texas) integrated mainly by US students of Mexican descent.
After graduating, he married in 1934 Claudia Alta Taylor (nicknamed “Lady Bird”), graduated from the University of Texas, who accompanied Johnson in his political career and had an active role as the first lady when he came to the presidency. They had two daughters: Lynda and Luci.
The beginnings of Lyndon B. Johnson in politics
In the 1930s, Lyndon B. Johnson was linked to the Democratic Party and began his career as a congressman . He appeared as a supporter of the New Deal implemented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and managed to enter the House of Representatives of Texas in 1937, a position he held for twelve years.
In 1948 he won the primary elections of the Democratic Party in Texas to enter the United States Senate and served as a senator between 1949 and 1961. In the 1960 Democratic Convention to decide the next presidential candidate of the party, he lost to the nomination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy but decided to accompany him as a candidate for vice president. November 8, 1960 The Kennedy-Johnson formula was a winner .
The arrival of Lyndon B. Johnson to the presidency of the United States
After being a congressman and senator, Lyndon B. Johnson served as vice president during the administration of Kennedy between January 1961 and November 1963. After the murder of the president In Dallas on November 22, 1963, Johnson agreed to the presidency And he served in office for almost six years (1963-1969), because he was chosen for a second term in the 1964 presidential elections.
Johnson implemented a progressive policy inside the United States, which he called “the great society”, with measures such as The impulse to the Civil Rights Law, which had been presented by Kennedy to Congress in 1963 and was approved during Johnson's presidency in 1964. This law established concrete rules for the prohibition of discrimination and racial segregation. Johnson also promulgated the Law on Voting Law in 1965, which prohibited discriminatory practices in the exercise of suffrage, and favored The extension of social security.
Lyndon B. Johnson's foreign policy
Outside, Johnson promoted an aggressively anti -communist policy. His first important act was the invasion of Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) in 1965 to prevent access to the power of a leftist coalition that feared that he could ally with the Fidel Castro regime in Cuba.
However, his great concern during his term was The Vietnam War in which promoted an escalation of American intervention . He accepted the so -called “Domino Theory” that stated that the fall of South Vietnam in communist hands would be the first piece of a wave of advancement of communism in Asia. When he reached the presidency in 1963 there were just over ten thousand American soldiers in Vietnam, three years later the number amounted to half a million soldiers.
This military escalation did not mean the US military victory and engendered A great movement contrary to the war between the United States youth in many cases in favor of pacifist ideas that developed especially in the “hippie” movement. Another factor that overshadowed Johnson's presidency was the broad social protests that took place in the African -American districts of cities, whose living conditions had not improved in those years.
The successful communist offensive of TET in Vietnam in January and February 1968 and the growing discontent in Congress before an increasingly expensive war decided Johnson to Not presenting to re -election in 1968 . Republican candidate Richard Nixon won in those elections and became the next president of the United States.
Johnson died of a heart attack on January 22, 1973, five days before the signing of ceasefire in Vietnam.
References
- Britannica, Encyclopaedia (2023). Lyndon B. Johnson. Britannica Encyclopedia. https://www.britannica.com/
- Dallek, R. (2005). Lyndon B. Johnson: Portrait of A President. Oxford University Press.
- Vandemark, B. (1995). Into the quagmire: Lyndon Johnson and the scale of the Vietnam War. Oxford University Press.
- Veiga, F., Da Cal, E. & Duarte, A. (2006). Simulated peace. A story of the Cold War. Alliance.
