This informative post will be published on Saturday in place of my regular one.  You are invited to participate with the opening question.

Brain Teaser Question

When I was four, my sister was twice my age.  Now I’m 50.  How old is my sister?

(answer found at the end of this post)

Featured Facts

Hailing from the state of Texas, Lyndon Baines Johnson becomes America’s 36th President upon the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963.  He will finish Kennedy’s term of office as well as being elected to one of his own.

Here are a few interesting facts about President Johnson:

• Nickname:  LBJ
• Political Party:  Democratic
• Birth:  August 27, 1908 in Stonewall, Texas
• Death:  January 22, 1973 in Johnson City, Texas
• Occupations:  Teacher, rancher
• College Attended:  Southwest Texas State
• Spouse:  Claudia Alta “Lady Bird” Taylor Johnson

Johnson is elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1936.  He serves until 1948 when he is elected to the United States Senate.  In 1941, he enters active duty with the U.S. Navy, but he is recalled along with other members back to Congress.  He is awarded a Silver Star for gallantry when he survives an attack by Japanese aircraft.

In 1948, Johnson successfully campaigns to be a U.S. Senator.  He earns the nickname of “Landslide Lyndon” following the election.  Of the 988,000 ballots cast, he wins by a margin of only 87 votes.  History later proves that he will be elected with the mandate of a true landslide.  

In the U.S. Senate, Johnson’s powers of persuasion come into play.  He becomes the youngest-ever Senate Majority Leader in 1955.  Many will experience the “Johnson Treatment” as he shepherds vital legislation through the Senate.

The Presidential Election of 1960 arrives, and Johnson has aspirations to become President.  He eventually settles to be the running mate of John F. Kennedy, a fellow Senator from Massachusetts.  Following a successful campaign, whose success is aided by Johnson’s name on the ticket, Kennedy is elected President.

One of the darkest days in American history occurs when Kennedy is killed in Dallas, Texas.  At the age of 55, Johnson is sworn in as the new President.  He sets an ambitious legislative agenda to achieve his dream of America’s Great Society. 

Johnson declares a war on poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, and racial discrimination.  In 1964, he signs the landmark Civil Rights Act into law.  In 1965, the federal programs of Medicare and Medicaid are established. 

Johnson campaigns in 1964 for a term of his own in the Oval Office.  His monumental landslide victory over Republican Barry Goldwater brings out these eye-opening statistics:  more than 61 percent of the popular vote, 44 states carried, and an Electoral College margin of 486-52.

As Johnson’s term of office begins in 1965, the focus on his Great Society reforms slides into the background.  The Vietnam War escalates with troop strength growing from about 16,000 to over 500,000.  As the war becomes more and more of a stalemate, a national outcry rises up against it.  Eventually Johnson decides to suspend his campaign for re-election in the early months of 1968.

Top left and moving clockwise.  LBJ’s imposing stature, signing civil rights legislation with martin luther king at his side, campaigning in 1960, with fellow senator john f. Kennedy, world war II naval officer, with daughters (linda and luci) and wife (Lady bird), johnson ranch near johnson city, and swearing in ceremony aboard aircraft in dallas (JACQUELINE kennedy stands at his side).   (All images courtesy of Pinterest)

Answer to Brain Teaser Question