Lyndon B Johnson Essay

Lyndon B. Johnson's, a man who was raised from humble beginnings was able to rise up in politics from a Representative, to a Senator, to Vice President, and finally becoming our nation’s 36th President. Starting off his presidency with tragedy due to John F. Kennedy’s assassination, he took the position of extending the legacy of JFK’s visions and making them his own during his time in office. Although Lyndon B. Johnson is not viewed as one of our greatest presidents due to his foreign policies and involvement in the Vietnam War, his achievements in domestic policies in my opinion has had the greatest developmental impact on politics in the US since 1945.

Johnson (August 27, 1908) was the first born son to Sam and Rebekah Baines Johnson. Stonewall, Texas was the home to the Johnson family. Sam B. Johnson had served five years as a Texas legislator, until he decided to solely make a living off of farming. Unfortunately, the family could not survive off the means of the farm and abandoned it. The financial issues of his family and his personal experiences of poverty gave Lyndon B. Johnson the fuel to make a change in the system. His brief one-on-one experience as a teacher in a segregated Hispanic school in a poor, neglected area could perhaps be another reason to why Johnson was so adamant in making domestic changes during his presidency to help the impoverished. (Miller Center, 2014)

Johnson wanted to continue with Kennedy’s unfinished work of the “New Frontier” after Kennedy’s term. The “Great Society” a term that Johnson coined, was one of the greatest reform agendas since Roosevelt’s “New Deal”. (US History, 2014) The great society included ideas to help put an end to poverty and of racial injustice, as well as major spen...

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...vironment. Johnson argued the air, water, soil, and wildlife were endangered by poisons and chemicals being produced by industrial by-product. In order to preserve the beauty of the nation he took measures into his hands to innovatively preserve and restore conservation. Legislation passed many acts from 1964 to 1969 which contributed to the well being of our environment such as Clear Air, Water Quality and Clean Water Restoration Acts and Amendments, Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966, Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965 and National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. (Boundless, 2014)

Despite the unpopular opinions of his foreign policies, his domestic policies greatly benefited the American people. His actions towards change for the Civil Rights Movement, War on Poverty and the environment has had great impact on the Unites States then and till this day.