Lyndon Baines Johnson's Presidency

Lyndon Baines Johnson made a very important decision before he ran for his second term of presidency, and it affected the voting outcome immensely. Why did he do it thought? LBJ had some very rough roots. He was born in Texas, then he started his career as a teacher at several different schools. After a while, he moved to Washington as a congressional aide. After a lot of patience and hard work, he ended up holding the esteemed position of Senate Majority Leader. During this time, he voted against integration every chance he got. A bit after that, he was the Vice President to John F. Kennedy. Not that many people were aware of this fact, as he was basically shunned. After JFK was assassinated, LBJ rose to the mantle of president, and made his …show more content…
Roy Wilkins, who was a strong supporter of integration. When Wilkins questioned Johnson on why he was suddenly a major supporter of civil rights, as opposed to his views during his senate years, Johnson responded with a quote from Martin Luther King Jr's “I Have a Dream” speech. The specific quote LBJ used was this, “Free at last, free at last. God almighty, I’m free at last.” The meaning Johnson put behind those words lies along the lines of legislative restrictions. As a senator, he was required to represent the interests of his state, which, in the case of Texas, was segregation. As the president, he represented national interests, which were more firmly founded on integration. This shows that all of his previous actions that were pro-segregation happened because Johnson was simply doing his job, and now he was “Free at last” to pursue interests that he held much closer to his heart. His Cotulla past had stayed with him the entire time. (Doc. …show more content…
My opinion is still that he made the decision he did because of principle, not politics, however. There is a lot of evidence which supports this opinion, and some of the best among that selection is represented in this DBQ. Aside from the famous Civil Rights Act, LBJ also set up the “Great Society,” a series of programs based off “The New Deal.” Among these programs was the Head Start Act, which helped impoverished children start on an even footing with other students. He also started Medicare, which was a guaranteed health care program for the elderly. These are just a few of the great things LBJ was able to do with his “Great Society.” All in all, he made America a much better and much more integrated place because of principle, not