Lyndon B. Johnson was born to a farming family near Stonewall, Texas. In 1930 he graduated from Southwest Texas State Teachers College. He then taught public speaking and debate in a Houston high school. In 1932 he became a congressional secretary. Two years later he married Claudia Alta Taylor (known as Lady Bird). In 1935 he became the Texas director of the National Youth Administration, a New Deal program. Two years later, he was elected as a Democrat to the House of Representatives. He served there until 1949, when he won a seat in the U.S. Senate. In 1960 he was elected John F. Kennedy’s vice president. He became president after Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. Johnson was himself elected to the presidency in 1964. Johnson secured passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He declared war on poverty and promoted a significant program of economic and social welfare legislation. As the Vietnam War escalated, Johnson’s popularity decreased, and he chose not to run for re-election in 1968. Johnson then retired to Texas, where he published his autobiography, The Vantage Point, in 1971. Johnson died in Texas in 1973.
