LBJ Background & Presidency

Question 1

When did LBJ take office?

Answer 1

November 22, 1963, after JFK’s assassination

Question 2

When was LBJ elected?

Answer 2

Won a landslide victory in 1964 (61% of the popular vote) against Republican Barry Goldwater

Question 3

What was LBJ’s political background?

Answer 3

Senate Majority Leader (1955–1961), Vice President (1961–1963)

Question 4

What was LBJ’s personality?

Answer 4

• Intimidating- berating staff, but also less conventional ways
• ‘Johnson Treatment’: he would position his face right next to someone and use a range of emotions and techniques to beat them down to agree with him
• Determined to improve the lives of ‘the poor and the blacks’

Question 5

What job had LBJ had before getting into politics?

Answer 5

Taught 5th, 6th, and 7th grades at an impoverished, segregated Mexican-American school in the South Texas town of Cotulla.

Question 6

How did Kennedy’s legacy impact Johnson?

Answer 6

• Assasination of JFK left the American people wanting to see something done in his honour and a change in the US
• It helped him win in 1964 due to sympathy for him and Kennedy’s party
• Kennedy had increased involvement in Vietnam- Johnson continued this
• Johnson pushed the Civil Rights Act as a legacy to JFK
• Johnson presented the War on Poverty as a continuation of Kennedy’s policies, but in reality,y they were more radical