On November 22, 1963 President Kennedy was riding in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas when he was shot twice, once in the head, and once in the back. Vice President Johnson was riding one car behind President Kennedy in the motorcade at the time of the shooting. Immediately after President Kennedy was officially pronounced dead, Vice President Johnson traveled to the Dallas Airport where he boarded Air Force One with the intention of returning to Washington D.C. for his inauguration. Johnson, however, chose not to wait, and Judge Sarah F. Hughes administered the oath of office to him on Air Force One while it was parked on the runway of the Dallas Airport. Lyndon Baines Johnson became the thirty-sixth President of the United States on November 22, 1963.
Railroad Strike
In April 1964 a railroad strike. Management refused to negotiate because they felt that old labor contracts forced them to hire workers for jobs that were no longer necessary. President Johnson invited both labor and management to the White House for a conference to settle the dispute. The conference lasted twelve days before a settlement was reached.
Gulf of Tonkin Incidents
On August 2, 1964 the American destroyer U.S.S. Maddox was sailing in the Gulf of Tonkin when it was approached by North Vietnamese gunboats. The Maddox opened fire, sinking one of the North Vietnamese boats. When the fighting subsided the Maddox had only sustained minor machine gun damage. A second attack on the Maddox was reported, but later it was discovered that no attack had actually occurred, the mistake was attributed to a malfunctioning radar system.
Legislation
Kennedy Tax Cut
Thanks largely to the efforts of President Johnson, Congress passed the late President Kennedy's across-the-board tax cut early in 1964.
Civil Rights Act of 1964
On July 2, 1964 Congress approved the Civil Rights Act, making it illegal for employers, labor unions, and public institutions to discriminate on the basis of race or sex. The bill also provided for the creation of a Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to ensure that the provisions of the law were carried out.
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
On August 2, 1964 North Vietnamese gunboats fired on the American destroyer U.S.S. Maddox stationed in the Gulf of Tonkin. President Johnson pushed for, and received a blank check from Congress to take any measures necessary to repel attacks, prevent aggression, and protect American security. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was ratified by Congress on August 7.
Manpower Development and Training Act
Congress passed the Manpower Development and Training Act in 1964 to help equip the poor with the skills they would need to obtain better, higher paying jobs.
Economic Opportunity Act of 1964
Congress passed the law establishing the Office of Economic Opportunity in 1964. The Office of Economic Opportunity provided education and vocational training for poor and unskilled youth. It also established a system of volunteer oriented programs which offered direct assistant to the nations poor, and created a number of community action programs through which the poor could work to improve their own neighborhoods.
Head Start
Congress approved President Johnson's Head Start program in 1964. Head Start was a program designed to prepare children for elementary school. The program also helped improve the health of poor children by providing proper meals on a regular basis, and by providing medical examinations.
Lyndon Baines Johnson 1965-1969
Second Term
Events
Inauguration
President Johnson delivered his second inaugural address on January 20, 1965.
U.S. Begins Bombing North Vietnam
In February of 1965 Vietcong forces attacked the American base at Pleiku. President Johnson used the attack to justify the commencement of air strikes against North Vietnam. The air strike campaign lasted until 1973. When it was over 6,162,000 tons of explosives had been dropped on North Vietnam.
Watts Riots
On August 11, 1965 a 21 year old African American male was driving through the Watts section of Los Angeles when he was pulled over by a police officer for alleged drunk driving. The incident escalated into a race riot which lasted five days. When the violence subsided 34 people had been killed, more than 850 had been wounded, and a section of city measuring 20 sq. miles lay in ruin. During the next four summers similar riots broke out in cities around the United States. In 1968 President Johnson created a commission to investigate the cause of the rioting. The commission reported that the United States was becoming "two societies, one black, one white- separate and unequal."
Malcom X Assassinated
On February 21, 1965 Muslim activist Malcom X was giving a speech in New York City when he was shot and killed. The assassination was blamed on the Nation of Islam, the radical Muslim organization with which Malcom X had recently split.
Thurgood Marshall Appointed to the Supreme Court
In 1967 Thurgood Marshall became the first African American justice to serve on the Supreme Court.
Tet Offensive
North Vietnamese forces launched a major offensive against targets throughout South Vietnam on the morning of January 30, 1968, a date which corresponded with Tet, the Vietnamese holiday celebrating the lunar new year. American forces repelled the invasion, but at great cost. To retake the cities Hue and Saigon large portions of the cities had to be leveled by artillery. Tet marked the turning point in the war, it proved to the United States that the war in Vietnam was unwinable.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Assassinated
On April 4, 1968 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was in Memphis, Tennessee working with striking sanitation workers when he was shot and killed by James Earl Ray, a white man. Rioting erupted in 168 cities around the United States. When the violence subsided 46 had been killed, 3,500 had been wounded, and $40 million worth of property had been destroyed.
President Johnson Declines to Run in the 1968 Election
On March 31, 1968 President Johnson went on television and made the surprise announcement that he would not run for another term as President.
Robert Kennedy Assassinated
On June 5, 1968 Robert Kennedy, former Attorney General and brother of the late President Kennedy, was in Los Angeles celebrating his victory in the California presidential primary when he was shot and killed. The assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, was an Arab nationalist disturbed by Kennedy's support for the state of Israel.
1968 Chicago Democratic Convention
In July of 1968 the Democratic National Convention convened in Chicago. With President Johnson's refusal to run, and the assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy, the Democratic nomination was secured by Vice President Hubert Humphrey. When anti-war protesters outside the convention began to make their dissatisfaction with Humphrey's nomination known Democratic Chicago Mayor Richard Daley responded by allowing the police to use physical force to put down the disturbance. A widely televised riot ensued.
Legislation
Twenty-fourth Amendment
Congress ratified the Twenty-fourth amendment, outlawing the practice of excising a poll tax in federal elections, on January 23, 1965.
Voting Rights Act
President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law on August 6, 1965. The Voting Rights Act outlawed literacy tests as a prerequisite for voting.
Medicare Act
Congress passed the Medicare Act in 1965. The Medicare Act used social security funds to provide people over the age of 65 with medical insurance. A part of the bill called Medicaid provided state governments with grants to help poor residents under the age of 65 pay their medical bills.
Elementary and Secondary Education Act
Congress passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1965 to provide public schools with funds to improve the education of poor children.
Department of Housing and Urban Development
The Department of Housing and Urban Development was established in 1965. Robert C. Weaver was appointed its director, making him the first African American cabinet member in history.
Immigration Act of 1965
The Immigration Act of 1965 discontinued the quota system as it existed under the National Origins Act of 1924. The new law set the total number of immigrants admitted to the United States in one year at 290,000, allowing for a little less than half of that number to have originated from countries in the Western Hemisphere.
Higher Education Act
Congress passed the Higher Education Act in 1965 to provide loans and scholarships to students who would be otherwise unable to finance a college education.
Clean Air Act
Congress passed the Clean Air Act in 1965 to regulate automobile emission.
Department of Transportation
The Department of Transportation was established in 1966 to create and institute national transportation policies and programs.
Appalachia Bill
Congress passed the Appalachia Bill in 19-- to provide economic aid to impoverished regions of the United States which had been left behind by the industrial revolution.
Model Cities Act
Congress passed the Model Cities Act in 1966 to improve impoverished urban areas.
Civil Rights Act of 1968
The Johnson administration passed a second Civil Rights Act in 1968 to outlaw racial discrimination in regards to housing built with federal funds.
Educational Opportunity Act of 1968
Congress passed the Educational Opportunity Act of 1968 to provide loans and scholarships to students who would be otherwise unable to finance a college education.
Child Health Improvement and Protection Act of 1968
Congress passed the Child Health Improvement and Protection Act in 1968 to make prenatal and postnatal care available for mothers who would not otherwise be able to afford it.
Medicaid Act of 1968
Congress passed the Medicaid Act in 1968 to extend the Medicaid system established under the Medicare Act of 1965.
