Youngest Senate Minorty and Majority Leader

Lyndon Baines Johnson was born in 1908 in Stonewall, Texas. He grew up relatively poor and worked his way through Southwest Texas State Teacher's College. After spending time teaching students of Mexican descent, he became interested in politics and successfully campaigned for the House of Representatives with the help of his wife, Lady Bird Johnson, in 1937. Johnson served six terms in the House of Representatives and spent time as a lieutenant commander during World War II. In 1948, he was elected to the Senate and soon became the youngest minority leader in Senate history. He then became the youngest majority leader.

Ascension to Presidency

Known as a master manipulator of Congress, he helped President Eisenhower gain passage of several key bills. In 1960, John F. Kennedy chose him to be his running mate in his presidential campaign. On November 22, 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated, and Johnson was sworn in as America’s 36th president.

"Great Society" and the Onset of the Vietnam War

During his presidency, Johnson successfully advocated a tax cut for the public and a new Civil Rights Bill. He also spoke to the populace of a “Great Society” in which the meaning of life and the “marvels” of man’s labor were one and the same. In 1964, Johnson was reelected by the widest margin in American history. Johnson’s next term included improvements to the education system and social security, measures to reverse widespread poverty, disease, and crime, as well as measures to facilitate foreign relations and conservation. Johnson’s second term, however, was plagued by the escalating situation in Vietnam, which soon became the Vietnam War. Despite his popularity, Johnson decided not to run for a third term as president so he could devote all of his time to establishing peace.

United States Presidents
1. George Washington	16. Abraham Lincoln	32. Franklin D. Roosevelt
2. John Adams	17. Andrew Johnson	33. Harry S. Truman
3. Thomas Jefferson	18. Ulysses S. Grant	34. Dwight D. Eisenhower
4. James Madison	19. Rutherford B. Hayes	35. John F. Kennedy
5. James Monroe	20. James A. Garfield	36. Lyndon B. Johnson
6. John Quincy Adams	21. Chester A. Arthur	37. Richard Nixon
7. Andrew Jackson	22/24. Grover Cleveland	38. Gerald R. Ford
8. Martin Van Buren	23. Benjamin Harrison	39. Jimmy Carter
9. William Henry Harrison	25. William McKinley	40. Ronald Reagan
10. John Tyler	26. Theodore Roosevelt	41. George H.W. Bush
11. James K. Polk	27. William Howard Taft	42. Bill Clinton
12. Zachary Taylor	28. Woodrow Wilson	43. George W. Bush
13. Millard Fillmore	29. Warren G. Harding	44. Barack Obama
14. Franklin Pierce	30. Calvin Coolidge	45. Donald J. Trump
15. James Buchanan	31. Herbert Hoover