On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy was assassinated and Lyndon B. Johnson became the 36th President of the United States.
After Kennedy's term ended, Johnson ran for president in his own right and won a landslide victory in the 1964 election.
Johnson was born on August 27, 1908 in Texas.
Johnson attended Southwest Texas State Teachers College, the predecessor to the University of Texas at San Marcos, and served as a lieutenant commander in the Navy during World War II, for which he was awarded the Silver Star Medal.
According to the LBJ Library website, Johnson married Claudia Alta “Lady Bird” Taylor in November, whom he met in September 1934. The couple had two daughters, Linda and Lucy, and both had guests at their own weddings at the White House.
Johnson served six terms in the House of Representatives before being elected to the Senate in 1948.
He served in the Senate for 12 years, during which time he was elected Democratic House Whip and became Democratic Minority Leader in 1953, according to the LBJ Library website.
In the 1960 presidential election, Kennedy asked Johnson to be his running mate, and Kennedy narrowly defeated the incumbent Republican Vice President, Richard Nixon, to win the White House.
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On November 22, 1963, Kennedy was assassinated and Johnson became president. Johnson held his inauguration aboard Air Force One, the presidential aircraft.
Once in office, Johnson made it a priority to pass legislation supported by Kennedy, focusing on tax cuts and civil rights legislation.
In 1964, Johnson ran for president with Hubert Humphrey as his running mate. Johnson defeated Republican opponent Barry Goldwater, winning 61% of the popular vote, or more than 15 million votes, according to the LBJ Library.
During his presidency, President Johnson signed several bills concerning the rights of African Americans, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
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He also signed into law the Medicare Amendments to the Social Security Act of 1965, providing health care to millions of seniors.
Johnson played a major role in space exploration during his time in the White House and during his presidency. During his presidency in 1968, astronauts orbited the moon aboard Apollo 8, becoming the first astronauts to leave Earth's orbit.
One of the biggest conflicts during Johnson's presidency was the Vietnam War, which Johnson was unable to end peacefully, causing a lot of protest and controversy in the United States.
Johnson died of a heart attack on January 22, 1973, at the age of 64.
