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In 1931, Johnson moved to Washington, D.C., to serve as congressional secretary for newly elected U.S. Representative Richard Kleberg of Texas. Energetic and capable, Johnson began to meet influential people and learn about the national political process. On November 17, 1934, he married Claudia Alta “Lady Bird” Taylor, a fellow Texan with whom he ...

Johnson’s political career began in earnest in 1937, when he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat. Quickly earning respect as a smart and hardworking legislator, he was re-elected five times. After an unsuccessful run for a U.S. Senate seat in 1941, Johnson became the first member of Congress to volunteer for active duty i...

In 1948, Johnson was elected to the U.S. Senatefollowing a bruising Democratic primary. After crisscrossing Texas by helicopter, Johnson managed to eke out a victory in the primary by just 87 votes. Once he reached the Senate, Johnson showed a deft political touch. In 1953, at age 44, he became the youngest person ever to serve as minority leader o...

In 1960, John F. Kennedy, the Democratic presidential nominee, invited Johnson to be his vice-presidential running mate. Johnson’s presence on the ticket attracted the support of conservative Southern Democrats and helped lift Kennedy to a narrow victory over Republican candidate Richard M. Nixon. On November 22, 1963, Kennedy was shotand killed wh...

Soon after taking office, Johnson declared a “War on Poverty.” He actively pushed Congress to pass legislation attacking illiteracy, unemployment and racial discrimination. After routing Republican candidate Barry Goldwater by more than 15 million votes in the 1964 presidential election, Johnson introduced a slate of new reforms that he said would ...

Despite Johnson’s success in promoting his domestic reform policies, his presidency was also defined by the failure of his policies toward Vietnam. Like the three presidents before him, Johnson was determined to prevent North Vietnamese communists from taking over the U.S.-supported government of South Vietnam. A believer in the now-discredited “do...

Following the inauguration of Republican President Nixon, Johnson retired to his Texas ranch, where he spent the next few years establishing his presidential library (which opened in 1971 on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin) and writing his memoirs. Johnson died of a heart attack at age 64 on January 22, 1973, at his ranch.