LBJ Library

Lyndon Baines Johnson 1908-1963

From the time Lyndon Baines Johnson was born in 1908, to the time that he passed away in 1973, the world never once stopped changing. President during one of the most significant and controversial periods in US history, Johnson left behind a legacy that many have tried to live up to throughout the past generations. When I entered the LBJ Library and Museum, I had no idea what a truly influential man Johnson was, but when I left, I had found a new respect and admiration for this Texan man and hope that someday I might be as successful a leader as he was.

Growing up, Lyndon was intelligent and determined. His grades reflected the promise of a leader in the making and a life full of success in an era of innovation and growth. LBJ's grades reflected his promise at becoming somebody.

Not only was he intelligent, but also he was a family man. He cherished his time with his sisters Rebekah and Lucia and hi brother Sam Houston, and never hesitated to express his love for them. LBJ and his sister.

Similarly, during this time, Lady Bird Johnson, his future wife, excelled in her schoolwork and graduated at the young age of fifteen. With the emerging ideas of realists such as Hemingway, the carefree spirit of the 1920’s in the air, and the Great Depression looming on the horizon, Lyndon made his way to college at the University of Texas at Austin where he surpassed all expectations in all that he did. After being a prominent member of the debate team and graduating, Johnson went on to be a teacher to underprivileged kids.LBJ as a teacher at Welhausen Grade School.

It was during this time that Lyndon was first submerged in poverty and despair and which inspired him to strive towards his lifetime goal of uniting a divided country. He believed that all men should be able to justly aspire to live their dignity and this was the principle that guided him through his time in Congress and the Presidency.

Following his time as a teacher, LBJ was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1937, the U.S. Senate in 1948, the Vice President in 1960, and became the President in 1963 and again in 1964. Johnson was a man of action. He believed in building the nation up and enticing it to grow. In a time with heroes such as Martin Luther King Jr., JFK, and Rosa Parks, Johnson was dominant force behind all of their causes. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks.

Through his charismatic prescience, knowledge of the legislation, tireless energy, powers of persuasion, and determination to succeed where others had failed, Johnson was able to help secure bills regarding such topics as minimum wage, federal housing, social security benefits, and creating an interstate high way system while also forming NASA and introducing the first Civil Rights legislation in 1875. A quote from the Book of Isaiah in the Bible, “Come now and let us reason together,” proved to be a very prominent idea throughout his time in office.

With the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963, Johnson was appointed President. During a time of utter crisis, Johnson stepped up and took charge without any hesitations. Although these circumstances were not ideal to become President, Johnson took on all responsibilities and went on to govern the nation through quite an eventful period. Johnson’s Presidency is marked with a both a peaceful time of exploration and discovery and a time of violence and controversy. From the first men to orbit the moon in 1968, to the advancement of American efforts in Vietnam, Johnson participated in all aspects of his country with a full heart. At the time of the Vietnam War, his enemies were communism and the atomic bomb, and his actions were the only way he saw to save his country from these threats. Even though Johnson made many mistakes throughout his Presidency and has received much criticism, he was a man of action and was willing to do anything in his power that he thought would benefit his country. With a nation on the brink of revolution, Johnson had to overcome many obstacles. From riots to the assassination of MLK, the country began to separate and crumble right in Johnson’s hands. In a final act heroic desperation and honor, Johnson declared that he would not seek renomination in the 1968 election. This seemed to reunify the nation for just a little while and achieve the goal that Johnson had been trying to accomplish all along. With his motto “We Shall Overcome” resounding in the distance, Johnson left the Presidency while managing to shape the modern vision of America.

Lyndon B. Johnson once said, “any jack ass can tear down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.” Johnson was a carpenter. He was a man of visualization and honor and loved his country above all else. His devotion, dream, and determination are reflected in his book “The Vantage Point” which he published in 1969 after retiring to his ranch in the beloved hill country and in the LBJ Library and Museum in Austin, Texas. Lyndon B. Johnson still lives on today through the American people living the American dream and his vision continues to guide us into the future.
LBJ's legacy lives on today inspiring many through hid leeadership characteristics.