American Decades
Johnson, Lyndon Baines 1908-1973
VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, I961-1963;
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 1963-1969
Accepting the Second Slot.
In 1960 Sen. Lyndon Baines Johnson of Texas, a masterful and powerful Senate majority leader since 1954, surprised Democrats and Republicans alike by agreeing to accept the Democratic nomination for vice-president, a job his fellow Texan, Sam Rayburn, Speaker of the House of Representatives, described as not "worth a pitcher of warm spit." John F. Kennedy's choice of Johnson for his running mate was also somewhat surprising. Johnson and Kennedy had made bitter remarks about one another while they had battled for the presidential nomination, and Kennedy's staff heartily disliked the Texan. Kennedy himself, however, respected Johnson and admired his legislative skills. He also saw that Johnson could balance the ticket, helping to win votes in the South and West, where Kennedy was considered too liberal...
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1960's Government and Politics
- Overview
-
Topics in the News
- Assassination and Violent Protest
- The Cold War Continued: Crisis Years, 1960-1965
- The Cold War Continued: The Cuban Missile Crisis
- The Cold War Continued: Nuclear Arms Race, Arms Control, and Détente
- The Cold War Continued: The Vietnam War
- Domestic Policy: Government, Civil Rights, and Race Relations
- Domestic Policy: Government and the Economy
- Domestic Policy: The Great Society
- National Politics: 1960 Elections
- National Politics: 1962 Elections
- National Politics: 1964 Elections
- National Politics: 1966 Elections
- National Politics: 1968 Elections
- Radical Politics: Black Power
- Radical Politics: The Far Right
- Radical Politics: The New Left
- Headline Makers
- People in the News
- Deaths
- Publications
- Important Events in Government and Politics, 1960–1969
