![]() ![]() The Johnson family had been in Texas for generations. He left to his successor the problems of Vietnam, racial unrest, and unresolved issues of income inequality and erratic economic performance. In 1968, facing strong opposition to his renomination, Johnson declined to seek a second term. President Johnson was unable to devise a strategy for victory, withdrawal, or peace with honor. ![]() Vietnam-perhaps the most divisive event in American life since the Civil War-polarized the country and transformed political, strategic, and moral debates. As a President, Johnson revealed that he was even more complex and ambitious, unveiling a sweeping collection of legislative and social initiatives he called "The Great Society." Elected in his own right by a landslide victory in 1964, he seemed unsinkable but soon floundered amid the Vietnam War. He was a natural politician, and to many people who knew him, he seemed larger than life. He died four years later, a few hundred feet from the place of his birth.Īs a man, Lyndon Johnson was obsessed with his place in history, consumed by a voracious appetite for life, and often cast between emotional extremes. The man who had risen from the poor Hill Country of Texas to become the acknowledged leader of the United States Senate and occupant of the Oval Office would return to Texas demoralized and discredited. A man widely considered to be one of the most expert and brilliant politicians of his time, Johnson would leave office a little more than five years later as one of the least popular Presidents in American history. The event thrust Lyndon Johnson into the presidency. Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas, Texas. ![]()
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