(1908 – 1973) Elected vice-president in 1960, Lyndon Baines Johnson became president when John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, TX on November 22, 1963. Combining his legislative experience with public sympathy for the slain Kennedy, Johnson successfully guided many of Kennedy’s legislative programs through Congress in 1964 and 1965, such as tax cuts for both individuals and corporations. Legislation passed during this period also marked the beginning of Johnson’s “Great Society” programs. Early legislation included the Civil Rights Act of 1964, anti-discrimination legislation introduced by the Kennedy administration, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Paralleling Johnson’s accomplishments with domestic legislation was the United States’ growing involvement in Vietnam. North Vietnamese torpedo boats attacked a US destroyer in the Gulf of Tonkin in early August 1964 and, Johnson believed, launched another assault two days later. While the attack was never confirmed, Johnson asked Congress for the authority to take military action against North Vietnam. Congress approved these powers in the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which provided the legal foundation for American involvement in the Vietnam War.

With Minnesota Senator Hubert Humphrey as his running-mate, Johnson won the 1964 presidential election in a landslide, getting over 61 percent of the vote against Republican nominee and Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater. In 1965 and 1966, Johnson continued to pass “Great Society” programs. These included Medicare and Medicaid, which provided healthcare for the country’s senior citizens and for the poor. Two others, the Higher Education Act and the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965, gave aid to schools. Johnson labeled these programs the War on Poverty.

As Johnson’s domestic legislative successes increased, so did US engagement in the Vietnam War. In 1965 Johnson ordered American combat troops to South Vietnam. By 1968 there were over 500,000 US troops in South Vietnam, up from the approximately 16,000 military advisers there when Johnson became president.

From 1966 to 1968, Johnson continued his procivil-rights agenda. He appointed Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court, making Marshall the first African American to serve on the high court. However, Johnson faced heightened conflict at home as well as abroad. Opposition to the Vietnam War and racial unrest culminated in urban riots in slum areas of many American cities. To determine the causes of the riots, Johnson appointed a special commission, which issued its conclusions in the Kerner Commission Report. The report contended that the United States was moving towards two societies: black and white, separate and unequal.

The Tet Offensive in January 1968 revealed that an end to the Vietnam War was not imminent, and Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy’s strong finish against Johnson in the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary showed the president’s political weakness. Johnson surprisingly withdrew from the race in a televised address on March 31, 1968. On November 1, 1968, Johnson halted bombing on North Vietnam, temporarily spurring peace talks.