In the aftermath of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Lyndon B. Johnson was forced to respond to the escalating demands of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights movement for major civil rights reforms. Johnson and King engaged in a series of negotiations that led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but this spirit of cooperation was irrevocably damaged in 1967 when King made his public statement against the War in Vietnam.
Born in Stonewall, Texas, on 27 August 1908, Johnson was the first child of Sam Ealy Johnson, Jr. and Rebekah Baines Johnson. He graduated with a B.S. from Southwest Texas State Teachers College in 1930. On 17 November 1934, Johnson married Claudia Alta Taylor, “Lady Bird” as she was known to friends. Three years later, he won a seat in the House of Representatives. In 1948 he was elected to the U.S. Senate.
On 22 November 1963, Lyndon B. Johnson became the 36th president of the United States following the assassination of John F. Kennedy. In an address before a joint session of Congress on 27 November, Johnson pledged support for President Kennedy's legislative agenda, which included civil rights and education legislation.
Under Johnson, two landmark pieces of civil rights legislation were passed: the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed discrimination in public accommodations, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which provided for federal enforcement of voter registration and outlawed literacy tests. King did not give Johnson overwhelming credit for the legislation, stating that these resolutions were "written in the streets" by demonstrators.
A landmark of Johnson's presidency was the Great Society program. Initiated by Johnson in January 1965, this legislation aimed to alleviate poverty through programs for educational improvements, urban renewal, the development of impoverished areas, and crime prevention. Johnson believed this program would ultimately benefit the black community, but he told King and other civil rights leaders that he would have difficulty passing voting rights legislation. King disagreed and urged Johnson to make voting rights a priority.
Later that year, in a speech given at Howard University, Johnson restated his commitment to the struggle for civil rights when he outlined a new direction for his administration: "It is not enough to just open the gates of opportunity,” he said. “All our citizens must have the ability to walk through the gates. This is the next and more profound stage of the battle for civil rights. We seek not just freedom but opportunity—not just legal equity but human ability—not just equality as a right and a theory, but equality as a fact and as a result."
At the same time Johnson was charting new policies for civil rights domestically, his administration was overseeing a continuing escalation in Vietnam. In a move that drew criticism from both outside and inside the civil rights movement, King openly criticized the Johnson administration's policy toward Vietnam and called for an end to the military campaign in a speech delivered on 4 April 1967. "There may be others who want to go another way, but when I took up the cross, I recognized its meaning," King explained. "The cross may mean the death of your popularity. It may mean the death of your bridge to the White House . . . but take up your cross and just bear it." Already facing increasing protest against the Vietnam War, the Johnson Administration was infuriated by King's public criticism; and the already existing efforts by F.B.I. Director, J. Edgar Hoover, to destroy King were intensified.
On 31 March 1968, Johnson announced that he would not seek re-election for another term as president. In 1969, in his final press conference as president, Johnson cited passage of the Voting Rights Act as his greatest accomplishment. Johnson died of a heart attack at his Texas ranch on 22 January 1973.