JOHNSON Lyndon

1908-73
Lyndon Baines Johnson was born August 27, 1908 near Stonewall, Texas, exactly 100 kilometers west of Austin. His father, Samuel Johnson, Jr., was a farmer, a stockbroker, and later employee of the railway. Temporarily - a deputy of the Democratic Party in the House of Representatives, Texas. Mother Rebecca Baines after her marriage had left the profession of journalist. Lyndon Johnson, his three younger sisters and brother did not grow up in poverty, as then, he always maintained. Conditions were modest, but electricity and running water was not in the first decades of the XX century anywhere in the rolling hills of Texas, to the landscape Johnson was tied all their lives. Years of youth have left their mark on him: a family's economic opportunities were limited, and she suffered from the continuing fall in prices of agricultural products. The family was forced into debt to Lyndon Johnson was able to get an education at Southwest Texas State Teacher's College. For the ambitious, intelligent, sensitive and insecure young man's need for self-affirmation, the college was an incentive ns. Results of specialization in history and English were average. Its almost boundless energy and indomitable working pressure, which until the end of life rarely let him sleep more than 4 hours a day, he first displayed during school practice in 1928-29. The highly successful teaching children of Mexican immigrants in a school segregation in Kotulle, Texas. At the local nobility and Teachers College, is impressed. When a Democratic member of the House of Representatives, Richard Kleber at the end of 1931 I was searching for an assistant, the choice fell on Lyndon Johnson. During the activity as bureau chief in Washington, who at that time was marked by the global economic crisis, he has accumulated considerable experience and numerous contacts tied. How would the way in September 1934 met with Claudia Altoy Taylor, who in the family called "Lady Bird". They were married at the urging of Johnson, two months later. In 1935 he was appointed director of the National Youth Administration in Texas institutions for unemployed youth. His reputation as an active and liberal supporter of the "new course" and a great organizer provided a 28-year-old Johnson, the by-election in 1937 a place in the House of Representatives. As an ardent advocate of the interests of his Texas constituency and area native, Johnson has sent more than $ 70 million for activities on employment and the dam project, having won it the sympathy of the entire population. At the same time Johnson received a personal benefit and. Revenue, which he supported the entire family, has increased significantly thanks to gifts and morally dubious guidance for investment. In 1941, he was unable to enter the Senate as a result of manipulating the election of his competitor.

As member of the armed forces of the House of Representatives and a senior lieutenant in the reserve in 1942, Johnson was awarded for fighting in the Pacific, which participated as an observer. In 1948, when a sudden change in the distribution of bare joint between the parties, he was able in a primary election to the Senate, which also involves illegal actions, to win by narrow margins in 87 votes of his rival. He managed in the program plan is nowhere cause discontent. Poor voters promised to expand social insurance and subsidies for agriculture, . oil industry offered himself as a defender of its interests, . Conservatives hinted at its opposition of the progressive civil rights policies of President Truman's,
. In foreign policy, distinguish by their categorical anti-communism, strongly advocated for increasing the defense budget and approved the Marshall Plan and NATO. This program was typical of Johnson's policy. He tried to amicably separate interests into account, find the middle path, and uniting as a senator and later as president, to be representative, and the servant of all Americans.

In September, Johnson quickly made a career. In 1951 he became the organizer of a democratic parliamentary faction, a year later - the leader of the minority, and after the congressional elections in November 1954 the leader of the majority. He thoroughly than anyone else, saw the complex interplay of power in Congress and the relationship between the Senate, the House of Representatives and the President. An outstanding tactician, he became one of the most influential persons in Washington. Respect for and the impact it created no public statements and actions behind the scenes. The main results of his work in the Senate were to discredit Senator Joseph McCarthy, . unleashed an anti-communist "witch hunt", . which has gone too far even from the standpoint of Johnson, . promulgation of a law on the space in 1958 and participated in the creation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA),
. As a special success of the Johnson regarding the implementation of the Civil Rights Act 1957. This proposed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and relatively ineffective law was to ensure that African-Americans in the South of suffrage, which previously prevented widespread. Without the active participation of Johnson was not done even this modest start toward full civil rights. He diluted the initial draft of Eisenhower, which provided a special venue, with which African-Americans could challenge their right to vote. Like other MPs from the South, Johnson saw it as a one-sided against the southern states of discrimination. When he crossed out the paragraph from the draft, has appeared as a supporter of long-overdue reforms of civil rights. His moderate position was widely supported in Congress, swelling defused the crisis between North and South, between conservative and liberal democracy, and paved the way to the first law on civil rights since Reconstruction.

. At the election of 1960 political observers diverted Johnson a good chance to nominate a presidential candidate from Democrats
. However, the calculation that he would wait and hope, while various contenders mutually exclude each other and in the end he remains the only winner, did not materialize. When July 5, 1960 for a few days before the Democratic convention, he put up his candidacy, it was already too late. Not he, as John F. Kennedy became the mouthpiece of the hopes of internally disunited conflict parties. In order to win votes in the South, Johnson was forced to settle for honorable but politically influential second vice-president under Kennedy. By this time he had a capital of 6 million. U.S.. Subsequent years were characterized by disappointment. A graduate of Harvard and confident, obviously enjoying his position, Kennedy called in Texas "cowboy from the policy of" considerable uncertainty and a feeling of inferiority. Compelled to pure representation, Johnson tried in vain to give his political positions shape. Kennedy did not use his contacts with the Senate and did not attract a few exceptions to the policy decision process. But in space and the issue of civil rights, Kennedy recognized for his own responsibility, a Vice. Also numerous foreign trips do not provide him an opportunity to turn politically, and served as a representation of the United States and its President. Among other trips, he August 19, 1961, several days after the erection of walls, visited West Berlin, to demonstrate the blockaded city's long and unstinting support to America. His enthusiasm took a million Berliners.

Kennedy's assassination immediately withdrew Johnson in the center of power. November 22, 1963 his car was directly behind the car Kennedy when the fatal shots were made in the President. Security officers threw him to the floor of a car that with the crazy speeds followed the dying Kennedy in hospital. In 14 hours, 39 minutes, about two hours after the tragic events, Johnson was sworn in aboard a military aircraft. The first action of the new president, swearing in which one thought it strange too quickly, while others - obespechivaniem American capacity, was an order: "go up". Like the vast majority of Americans, he was deeply shocked by the events in Dallas. In relation to the widow and former Kennedy staff members, he behaved with tact and magnanimity. Most successfully invited remain in government. But the personal involvement combined with a shrewd grasp of human power. The popularity of Kennedy, his myth and the atmosphere of lethargy after the assassination could well turn into political capital. Finally have a reason to be equal to the ideal of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Program Johnson was in personnel and political continuity. Beyond that, he strongly advocated the strengthening and expansion of existing social policy. Thus, in his first government statement on Jan. 8, 1964, he declared "unconditional war on poverty."

. Like no other president before him, Johnson understood the legislative process and the strengths and weaknesses of the American system of government
. Since Roosevelt was an active supporter of the federal government and a strong presidential institution. Not only the foreign policy he saw as a fiefdom of the president: in domestic politics has provided Congress a means of correcting the function of the political authorities, the ruling on the initiative of the president. Texas school teacher, reached in many years in Congress to the level of the majority leader, saw his government as a family as its property. In this area of personal power, which prevailed throughout the acronym "LBD", he ruled indefinitely. He drove himself and his staff to the extreme, controlled all government affairs, and personally watched every political process. The first two years of presidency, he has eclipsed all other constitutional bodies - one became the dominant political factor.



Kennedy presented yet, but stuck in Congress the Civil Rights Act, he was able to publish in the shortest time. Civil Rights Act of 1964, . which gave, . Finally, . Afro-Americans in the south of suffrage and introduced equal rights for men and women, . rightly identified as an important step towards gender equality and ethnic and religious minorities since the Bill of Rights 1791,
. The overwhelming election victory over Republican Barry Goldwater arhikonservativnym in November 1964 - Johnson won with 42 million votes (61, . 1% of voters) - gave him the opportunity to realize a dream of his life: to fulfill cherished since the time of the teachers hope to improve living conditions of all Americans,
. Flow laws that Congress at the initiative of the Johnson administration issued under the slogan "Great Society" for two consecutive years, does not find a single program structure and does not stem from any ideological model. Johnson was a pragmatist, understood himself to be. Unlike his predecessor, was able to finesse Congress. Masterfully won reluctant senators and waiting for the right moment to introduce a bill. No wonder the 89 th Congress entered into American history as "the implementation of Congress', . His intentions Johnson reacted to the ever-growing pressure from liberal America, . African-American civil rights movement, . women's movement and student protest,
. The Supreme Judicial Chamber under the leadership of Earl Warren as a number of significant decisions in the process of the Civil Rights signaled the need for extensive social reforms. But Johnson, not only swam with the current social development, and tried to influence it and control it.

Voting Rights Act of 1965 doubled within one year of participation in elections in the South African-Americans. Another milestone was the creation of the legislative health insurance for the elderly and poor, as well as activities for the development of schools, universities, museums and other educational institutions. Was to stimulate housing construction within the city, issued sweeping laws to protect the environment and established consumer protection. New immigration law abolished the discriminatory provision 20-ies against Asian immigrants and favored vneshneamerikanskoy Immigration. Against the backdrop of a thriving economy Johnson could even be planned even Kennedy's tax cuts for private traders and specialists. The average income of American families increased in the 60's really at 85%. But already in 1967 have been reduced numerous social programs and raised taxes again, because the Vietnam War absorbed huge amounts. Activities such as ration cards for the poor, in the long run proved to be a heavy burden for the federal budget. Despite all the shortcomings and deviations, . success of the "great society" are impressive: in 1965 exactly 90% in the southern African-Americans could not vote and only a few hundred of them have held high government posts throughout the country, . some twenty years later, the black part in the elections corresponded to the percentage participation of white Americans, . and 6000 African-Americans held significant public office,
. If in 1965 more than half of all pensioners do not have health insurance and a third of them lived below the official poverty line, then twenty years later, these social phenomena have been eliminated. The number of Americans living below the subsistence minimum decreased from 17% in 1965 to 11% in 1973, and given the state food allowance, then in 1973 the number was no more than 6,5%. Later, however, the trend turned back.

In foreign policy, Johnson was oriented in the direction of Kennedy. He cautiously advocated better cooperation with the Soviet Union. Despite considerable resistance in Congress, . but to the delight of American farmers, he gave Moscow more credits for the purchase of grain: in 1968 signed a treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, . at the end of his presidency was working on entering into negotiations on limiting nuclear armaments (SALT-1),
. However, the entry of American troops shaken by political crises in the Dominican Republic (1965) showed it, finally, as a champion of the traditional policy of deterrence and led to the loss of sympathy for the U.S. in Latin America. Johnson interpreted the call for reform as an attempt to undermine the communist controlled Cuba. Its known as the "doctrine of Johnson's justification for participation in hostilities proclaimed that the United States must always protect its citizens (May 2, 1965). US-German relations are increasingly weighed down with monetary compensation issues. Rejected claim of Johnson to the Federal Government under the leadership of Ludwig Erhard as a reward for the deployment of American troops heavily to buy weapons in the United States, . to stabilize the ratio of the exchange rate between dollars and DM, . contributed to the overthrow of the Chancellor's autumn 1966,
. In the Six Day War (5-10 June 1967), the Johnson administration sided with Israel and thus stronger than the Kennedy Administration, had deviated from the neutral line, which he tried to adhere to Eisenhower in the Middle East conflict.

. His ossified thinking "friend - the enemy" and the fear that he is opposed to the world communist conspiracy, were to Johnson's fatal
. No social, and foreign policy became the center of his presidency. Shouting erroneous decisions and information policy, which deliberately concealed the extent of American activities in Vietnam, resulted in 1967 and 1968 in a grave crisis of society from indiscriminate and bloody clashes. After the assassination of President Ngo Dinh Diem in November 1963, the Vietnamese military, which was held in conjunction with the CIA in South Vietnam worsened the political situation. National Liberation Front (JVP), an alliance of Communists and reform-minded bourgeois forces, could have political and military force to take power and threatened to take control of the country, ruled by successive military junta. Johnson responded by sending military advisers and regular arming the South Vietnamese troops. So far, not been clarified military incident in the Tonkin Gulf, . in which American warships were fired on North Vietnamese naval formations, . He used the August 7, 1964 as an excuse, . order to push through Congress with no opposition has already prepared a resolution on the Gulf of Tonkin,
. This decision gave the president the right to use "appropriate means" to repel attacks on American troops. The concepts of Congress as a solution to the defense in a separate case, . Tonkin resolution presented to Johnson and his key advisers, . Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dean Rusk, . Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and the Security Adviser McGeorge Bundy, a kind of "authority Blanco and the functional equivalent of a declaration of war,
. The number of American soldiers in South Vietnam grew steadily in subsequent years and reached the spring of 1968 550 000, although in the end of 1964 there were 23 000 U.S. military. Civil war in South Vietnam has become an international character and become a war the United States against the communist North Vietnam led by Ho Chi Minh and his associates in the South. The massive bombing, in which the North and South Vietnam had been dropped three times more explosive than in the second world war (of 7.5 million tons) were to bring victory to the Communists. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed, . completely destroyed the infrastructure and economy of the North, . but against the guerrilla tactics of the NLF and the legendary General Vo Nguyen Giap, . as against the confidence of the rural population, . means of a conventional war were powerless.,

. Since 1966, the war became the dominant theme of all the American media
. Every day, television broadcast pictures of the terrible events in millions of U.S. apartments. Own losses increased (up to 1969 more than 23 000 deaths), and Johnson's assertion that the United States are on the street winners, sounded like a joke. The credibility of the optimistic statements of President completely collapsed in the spring of 1968. If shortly before the commander, General William Westmoreland has ordered the "light at the end of the tunnel", the offensive in February 1968 proved indomitable fighting force of the enemy. With weeks of fierce fighting for the previously held by American and South Vietnamese troops of the city, and especially the battle of the protected area of the American Embassy in Saigon, deeply shocked the American public. For the NLF offensive was a military failure - the expected uprising in the cities did not take place, the losses in manpower were enormous, and since then the war was coordinated exclusively North Vietnam. The political impact on the United States was, however, very serious. Apostrophe Senator William Fulbright's "arrogance of power" has undermined the authority of the United States in the world, Americans' confidence in their strength and crossed Johnson's desire to enter into the history of a great president.

. After the March 12 Democratic opponent of the war and a critic of Johnson, Eugene F
. McCarthy unexpectedly won the primaries in Hampshire and promising Robert Kennedy four days later joined the fight for the presidency, . March 31, 1968 Johnson announced the cessation of the bombing of North Vietnam and the refusal to participate in the election as president,
. His hope, despite the war, to advance and funding of the "great society", was misleading and dangerous. In the eyes of many Americans, Johnson was unworthy of trust. To them, no longer consistent struggle against poverty in their own country and the war against the poor countries far from America. As defined views radicalized political atmosphere in 1968 the average position was now impossible. Johnson criticized from all sides. One thought his spendthrift public money that would have been better spent on poverty reduction, for another of his military policy in Vietnam was too indecisive and faint-hearted. How lame-duck president, he led threatened agony government.

. In foreign policy the United States were in a difficult situation due to the commitment of the international political responsibility - in Vietnam the U.S. government ran on its borders
. "Globalization" of American foreign policy significantly limited the actions of the United States in the suppression of "Prague Spring" Warsaw Pact troops (21 August 1968). Internal political in 1968 was characterized by severe disturbances. After the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. April 4, 1968 in 125 cities in the United States were serious race riots that had shaken the foundations of foundation of American society. Demonstrations of hundreds of thousands of Americans joined together with the protest movement of African-Americans, and eventually evolved into a general criticism of the younger generation of social disadvantages, social norms and the "system" as such.

. Johnson tried to protect his political legacy by supporting the nomination of his Vice-President Hubert Humphrey, who after the death of Robert Kennedy wanted to win the election verging on the ridiculous campaign "politics of joy"
. Five days before the presidential elections on 30 October 1968. Johnson announced the start of peace negotiations with North Vietnam. That he wanted to bring to Humphrey many voters, but for the Democratic election victory that was already enough.

. Johnson and his popular wife, Lady Bird, "which in the successful years of" Great Society "also strongly advocated the improvement of living conditions of poor Americans who returned in January 1969 at his ranch in Texas
. Physically tired, without illusions and mentally wretched, Johnson almost did not appear on the public scene until his death on Jan. 22, 1973. In the last years of his life he cared for her children, two daughters, wrote his memoirs and was engaged in the construction of libraries. Lyndon B. Johnson in Austin.

Historical descriptions right now, trying to assess his personality and his life's work. As a social reformer, Lyndon B. Johnson, along with Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt belongs to the great presidents of the United States. However, the man who for nearly twenty years as a senator, vice president and president of a large extent shaped the destiny of their country, will forever remain unloved figure. His name will remain inextricably linked with the collapse of the U.S. in Vietnam. As the Vietnam War, Johnson had long been eliminated from America's collective memory, and even his services have been criticized in conservative America, the 70's and 80-ies.

Source: Peoples.ru