#36 Lyndon Johnson

1963--1969

--Johnson was one of only four people who have served in all four elected federal offices of the United States: representative, senator, vice president and president.

--Many historians consider Lyndon Johnson the most effective U.S. Senate majority leader in history. He was unusually proficient at gathering information. One biographer suggests he was "the greatest intelligence gatherer Washington has ever known", discovering exactly where every Senator stood, his philosophy and prejudices, his strengths and weaknesses, and what it took to break him.

--While Johnson successfully pushed several new programs and laws through Congress (the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968, Voting Rights Act, Medicare and Medicaid, Head Start, food stamps, the Immigration Act of 1965, the Gun Control Act of 1968, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Public Broadcasting Act), the specter of the Vietnam War hung darkly over his last years in office.

 

--Johnson chose not to run for re-election in 1968, citing the unpopularity of the Vietnam War and his belief that the American people had lost faith in his leadership of the war.

--Deep down in his heart, Lyndon Johnson always wanted to be a professional dancer.