Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson

Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson November 22, 1963 – January 20, 1969
Cabinet	See list
Party	Democratic
Election	1964
Seat	White House
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Seal of the president
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This article is part of a series about Lyndon B. Johnson
Early life Family Electoral history Public image Memorials Bibliography Senator from Texas Senate career 37th Vice President of the United States Transition Tenure Kennedy administration Inauguration 36th President of the United States Presidency timeline Executive actions Cannabis policy Foreign policy Johnson Doctrine international trips Cabinet appointments Judicial appointments Supreme Court candidates controversy First term First inauguration Let Us Continue Civil Rights Act (1964) Transportation Act (1964) Food Stamp Act (1964) War on poverty Timeline '63 '64 Second term Second inauguration Department of Housing and Urban Development Department of Transportation Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act Child Nutrition Act Non-Discrimination in Federal contracts Thurgood Marshall Supreme Court nomination Civil Rights Act (1968) Timeline '65 '66 '67 '68–'69 Presidential and Vice presidential campaigns 1960 primaries convention campaign election 1964 primaries convention campaign election 1968 primaries campaign withdrawal Post-presidency Presidential library Death
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Lyndon B. Johnson's tenure as the 36th president of the United States began on November 22, 1963, upon the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and ended on January 20, 1969. He had been vice president for 1,036 days when he succeeded to the presidency. Johnson, a Democrat from Texas, ran for and won a full four-year term in the 1964 presidential election, in which he defeated Republican nominee Barry Goldwater in a landslide. Johnson withdrew his bid for a second full term in the 1968 presidential election because of his low popularity. Johnson was succeeded by Republican Richard Nixon, who won the aforementioned election. His presidency marked the high tide of modern liberalism in the 20th century United States.

Johnson expanded upon the New Deal with the Great Society, a series of domestic legislative programs to help the poor and downtrodden. After taking office, he won passage of a major tax cut, the Clean Air Act, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. After the 1964 election, Johnson passed even more sweeping reforms. The Social Security Amendments of 1965 created two government-run healthcare programs, Medicare and Medicaid. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibits racial discrimination in voting, and its passage enfranchised millions of Southern African-Americans. Johnson declared a "War on Poverty" and established several programs designed to aid the impoverished. He also presided over major increases in federal funding to education and the end of a period of restrictive immigration laws.

In foreign affairs, Johnson's presidency was dominated by the Cold War and the Vietnam War. He pursued conciliatory policies with the Soviet Union, setting the stage for the détente of the 1970s. He was nonetheless committed to a policy of containment, and he escalated the U.S. presence in Vietnam in order to stop the spread of Communism in Southeast Asia during the Cold War. The number of American military personnel in Vietnam increased dramatically, from 16,000 soldiers in 1963 to over 500,000 in 1968. Growing anger with the war stimulated a large antiwar movement based especially on university campuses in the U.S. and abroad. Johnson faced further troubles when summer riots broke out in most major cities after 1965. While he began his presidency with widespread approval, public support for Johnson declined as the war dragged on and domestic unrest across the nation increased. At the same time, the New Deal coalition that had unified the Democratic Party dissolved, and Johnson's support base eroded with it. Though eligible for another term, Johnson announced in March 1968 that he would not seek renomination. His preferred successor, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, won the Democratic nomination but was narrowly defeated by Nixon in the 1968 presidential election.

Though he left office with low approval ratings, polls of historians and political scientists tend to have Johnson ranked as an above-average president. His domestic programs transformed the United States and the role of the federal government, and many of his programs remain in effect today. Johnson's handling of the Vietnam War remains broadly unpopular, but his civil rights initiatives are nearly-universally praised for their role in removing barriers to racial equality.