Fun Fact 2: Lyndon B. Johnson was raised in a small farmhouse and came from a family of ranchers and farmers, he was the oldest of five children and named after a family friend and local lawyer W.C. Linden, Baines was his mother’s maiden name
Fun Fact 3: LBJ was educated at Southwest Texas State Teachers College and Georgetown Law School, and he once told a fellow student "Someday, I am going to be president of the United States."
Fun Fact 4: Lyndon B. Johnson served in the military during WWII, his plane was attacked by Japanese aircraft and he received the Silver Star military award, the third highest military decoration, for courage and bravery
Fun Fact 5: On November 17, 1934 Lyndon B Johnson married Claudia "Lady Bird" Taylor. Lyndon had asked Lady Bird to marry him on their first date, she accepted 10 weeks later. They had 2 daughters and the whole family had the same initials, LBJ; Lyndon Bain Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson, Lynda Bird Johnson and Luci Baines Johnson. The dog was not left out; it was called Little Beagle Johnson!
Fun Fact 6: One of Lyndon B. Johnson famous campaign slogans was "All the Way with LBJ"
Fun Fact 7: Lyndon B. Johnson was 55 years of age when became the 36th President of America in 1963. He did not win an election but was sworn in after the assassination of President John F Kennedy who was shot in Dallas on November 22, 1963
Fun Fact 8: Lyndon B. Johnson President’s Swearing-In Ceremony was unique for two reason, he was the first President take oath onboard an aircraft, even though it was not in flight at the time. He was also the first President to be sworn by a woman, Federal District Judge Sarah Hughes
Fun Fact 9: Lyndon B. Johnson was the first president to appoint an African-American a Cabinet-level position in Constitution, Robert C. Weaver became US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in 1966. The following year in 1967, LBJ appointed African-American Thurgood Marshall from Baltimore, as the first black Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court
Fun Fact 10: The Vietnam conflict continued during the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson. The war between North and South Vietnam - who were supported by the US, had begun in 1954 but opposition to the war from US citizens grew throughout Lyndon B. Johnson's presidency into the 1970s
Fun Fact 11: Lyndon B Johnson made important civil rights and anti-poverty policies during his presidency. The Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964 which prohibited fundamental forms of discrimination including race, ethnic, religion and gender. He also devised The US state health program Medicare and Medicaid which supported his "War on Poverty" legislation
Fun Fact 12: Lyndon B Johnson, enjoyed giving gifts, he particularly liked to present friends with an electric toothbrush and even had them commissioned with the presidents seal printed on them! Once a White House intern asked “Why toothbrushes?” and he replied “I want people to think of me right away when they wake up and right before they go to bed”
Fun Fact 13: Lyndon B Johnson died in Johnson City, Texas on January 22, 1973; he was 64 years of age. He died just hours away from the ceasefire agreement in Vietnam
Fun Fact 14: Lyndon B Johnson was honoured with a state funeral which took place three days after his death. He was buried at the family cemetery, close to where he was born in Stonewall in Texas
Fun Fact 15: Lyndon B Johnson was once quoted a saying "Poverty has many roots, but the tap root is ignorance" |
