Lyndon Johnson: Complicated
2023-11-05
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1VOA Learning English presents America's Presidents.
2Today we are talking about Lyndon Johnson.
3He was the vice president under John F. Kennedy.
4Many Americans recognize Johnson from a photograph of his swearing-in on November 22, 1963.
5Kennedy had just been shot during a visit to Dallas, Texas.
6Johnson and his wife also were visiting the city.
7After doctors announced that Kennedy had died, the Johnsons were taken to the presidential airplane.
8There, Johnson took the oath of office as president.
9Men wearing suits look on, while three women stand around him.
10His wife, Lady Bird Johnson, is at one side.
11Former first lady Jackie Kennedy is at the other.
12She is still wearing clothing covered with her husband's blood.
13The judge who is administering the oath, Sarah Hughes, stands in front of Lyndon Johnson.
14She holds a prayer book on which Johnson places one hand and swears to follow the Constitution.
15The photograph showed the American people that the federal government could and would continue in an orderly way.
16But Johnson's position was difficult.
17Many people were shocked and in mourning for the assassinated president.
18But as the conflict in Vietnam increased, and some Americans rejected Johnson's reforms, he found his position difficult again.
19In the next election, Johnson was elected president in his own right.
20Lyndon Baines Johnson was born in Texas, where his family had lived for generations.
1VOA Learning English presents America's Presidents. 2Today we are talking about Lyndon Johnson. He was the vice president under John F. Kennedy. 3Many Americans recognize Johnson from a photograph of his swearing-in on November 22, 1963. 4Kennedy had just been shot during a visit to Dallas, Texas. Johnson and his wife also were visiting the city. 5After doctors announced that Kennedy had died, the Johnsons were taken to the presidential airplane. There, Johnson took the oath of office as president. 6Men wearing suits look on, while three women stand around him. His wife, Lady Bird Johnson, is at one side. Former first lady Jackie Kennedy is at the other. She is still wearing clothing covered with her husband's blood. The judge who is administering the oath, Sarah Hughes, stands in front of Lyndon Johnson. She holds a prayer book on which Johnson places one hand and swears to follow the Constitution. 7The photograph showed the American people that the federal government could and would continue in an orderly way. 8But Johnson's position was difficult. Many people were shocked and in mourning for the assassinated president. 9But as the conflict in Vietnam increased, and some Americans rejected Johnson's reforms, he found his position difficult again.In the next election, Johnson was elected president in his own right. 10Early life 11Lyndon Baines Johnson was born in Texas, where his family had lived for generations. A town called Johnson was even named after his relatives. 12Lyndon was the oldest of five children. His mother was a teacher and writer, and his father was a farmer and political leader. 13In time, the Johnson family experienced financial difficulties. They had little money to give their children much of an education, but Lyndon was able to attend a teaching college. 14Johnson excelled as a teacher. He also learned from his students. Many were even poorer than he was. They also faced discrimination because they came from Mexican families. Johnson promised to help them. 15But he found he could do more to improve people's lives as a politician than as a teacher. 16He volunteered for some political campaigns, became an aide to a member of the United States Congress, and in time became a member of Congress himself. 17Along the way, he married a woman named Claudia Taylor. But everyone called her Lady Bird. They went on to have two daughters. 18Johnson served for 12 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1948, he was narrowly elected to the Senate, becoming one of the two senators from the state of Texas. 19From there, Johnson rose quickly. He took on increasingly important jobs in the Senate. By 1954, he was the Senate majority leader - the Democratic Party's top spokesman in the Senate. 20The Senate website notes that the person with that job needs to be able to work well with others, especially members of other parties. 21Historians also note that Johnson worked very hard, and was always prepared. 22A well-known biography of Johnson is called "Master of the Senate." The book describes Johnson as extremely ambitious, sometimes cruel, and often willing to praise others to get what he wanted. At the same time, he could be very concerned about other people's well-being. 23In other words, the picture of Johnson is a complicated one. 24In 1960, he competed against John F. Kennedy for the Democratic presidential nomination. Johnson lost that race - but the party asked him to be their vice presidential candidate instead. 25Johnson agreed, not knowing that in a little more than three years, he would enter the White House as president. 26Presidency 27After being sworn-in, Johnson used his political experience in the Senate to pass a number of reforms. They were aimed at carrying on, in his words, a "War on Poverty." 28The new laws created healthcare and education programs. They also used federal money to make food less costly for some people, and to train workers for jobs. 29Johnson also continued the work Kennedy began by signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The act made segregation because of race, religion, or national origin illegal. 30The Civil Rights Act also made it illegal for employers to discriminate against someone because of race, religion, national origin, or gender. 31The reforms had their critics, then and today. But in the presidential election of 1964, Johnson won "by the widest margin of popular votes in American history." Historian Kent Germany says that vote gave the Democrats a rare opening "to pass a comprehensive liberal program." 32Presidency after 1964 33Johnson had a name for such a program. He called it the "Great Society." He said the United States should aim not only to be a rich and powerful society, but also to "end poverty and racial injustice." 34Johnson followed his earlier reforms with others. They sought to prevent crime, reduce pollution, support the arts, make roads safer, and protect American consumers against bad products. His administration also created an immigration policy that valued family members, skilled workers, and refugees. 35Johnson also signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It sought to lift the barriers that had long prevented African-American men and women from exercising their right to vote. 36Later, Johnson removed legal discrimination in the process of buying and renting homes. 37Together, these actions have linked Johnson to the civil rights movement in the minds of many Americans. Yet Johnson is also strongly linked to another part of U.S. history, often known simply as "Vietnam." 38Earlier presidents had ordered U.S. military action in the conflict between North and South Vietnam. Since 1950, Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy had slowly increased the American intervention. Their goal was to prevent the spread of communism in Southeast Asia. 39President Johnson continued Kennedy's policies. He also received the support of Congress to do whatever was necessary to protect U.S. forces and "prevent further aggression" by North Vietnam's communist government. 40Yet, when he was a presidential candidate in 1964, Johnson promised not to increase U.S. involvement and send young Americans to fight in Vietnam. 41The opposite happened. 42Over the next four years, Johnson called on hundreds of thousands of additional U.S. troops to fight on the ground and in the air. The North Vietnamese fought back, both on the battle field and politically. 43In time, the American public withdrew their support of the struggle and their support for the president. 44By early 1968, Johnson had become deeply unpopular with voters. His party lost seats in Congress, and Johnson lost his ability to persuade lawmakers to support the measures he proposed. 45In addition, the U.S. economy was showing signs of weakness, partly because of the costs of the conflict in Vietnam and government spending at home. 46As the presidential nominating process began in early 1968, Johnson was permitted to seek another four-year term. But he announced that he would not seek or accept his party's nomination. 47Shortly after, civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and killed. Angered by his murder, people in more than 100 cities rioted. 48Then, in June, John Kennedy's brother, Robert Kennedy, was also assassinated. Kennedy had been competing for the Democrats' nomination for president. 49His death, and Johnson's withdrawal, added to the divisions in the Democratic Party. Several groups gathered to protest at the party's nominating convention in Chicago. The meeting ended in violent clashes between protesters and police. 50By the time Johnson left office in January 1969, his party had lost control of the White House, and many Americans believed the country was in disarray. 51Legacy 52After he left the presidency, Johnson returned to his home in Texas. He wrote his memories about his White House years, and made preparations for his presidential library. 53But he did not live much longer. He died in 1973, hours before the U.S. involvement in Vietnam officially came to a close. 54Johnson was a complex person, and his image in the mind of many Americans is just as complicated. His policies opened new paths for many people, but also led to years of death and destruction in Vietnam. 55As a president, he acted powerfully and often independently, and succeeded in passing an unusually large number of reforms. But he also failed to persuade many Americans to accept some of those measures. 56Supporters of the free market especially strongly rejected the government controls Johnson enacted. 57Even some in his Democratic Party, which Johnson had controlled for years, lost faith in him. In 1964, anti-war activists changed his campaign slogan, "All the way with LBJ." Instead, they said, "Part of the way with LBJ." 58And by 1968, they were saying, "Hey, Hey, LBJ. How many kids did you kill today?" 59I'm Kelly Jean Kelly. 60Kelly Jean Kelly wrote this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. 61________________________________________________________________ 62See how well you understand the article by taking a listening quiz. Play each short video, then choose the best answer. 63______________________________________________________________ 64Words in This Story 65assassinate - v. to kill (someone, such as a famous or important person) usually for political reasons 66ambitious - adj. having a desire to be successful, powerful, or famous 67cruel - adj. causing or helping to cause suffering 68segregation - n. the practice or policy of keeping people of different races, religions, etc., separate from each other 69gender - n. the state of being male or female 70consumer - n. a person who buys goods and services 71disarray - n. a lack of order; a confused or messy condition