When was lbj in office

After winning reelection in , President Johnson realized the need for significant voting rights legislation, but, as he explained to Martin Luther King, Jr. Still King and other civil rights leaders sought ways to bring the issue of voting rights to the attention of the American people. The city of Selma had 15, African Americans of voting age but only were registered to vote. Furthermore, the city's board of registers used blatantly racist tactics to keep African Americans off the voting rolls.

On March 7, , more than marchers attempted to cross the Edmund Pettis Bridge, when state troopers confronted them and demanded that they turn around. The marchers halted facing the troopers, and the troopers advanced on the marchers, attacking them with nightsticks and tear gas.

When police confronted them, however, they knelt in prayer and turned around. In his address to Congress on March 15, President Johnson used stirring oratory to create support for voting rights legislation.

The Voting Rights Act passed both houses of Congress with bipartisan support. The act outlawed practices, such as literacy tests, that had been used to keep African Americans from registering to vote. The Justice Department gained the power to intervene where discriminatory practices had kept less than 50 percent of eligible voters from registering to vote. If this intervention failed to fix the situation, federal registers could take over the local voting systems.

President Johnson, the master legislator, pushed for the passage of a strong bill to end the disenfranchisement of African Americans in the South. Led by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Johnson sends U. The U. Supreme Court finds a Connecticut law banning the use of contraceptives unconstitutional. Martin Luther King Jr.

Johnson increases the number of troops sent to Vietnam, indicating his determination to engage in a ground war. James Meredith, known for integrating the University of Mississippi as its first black student, is shot on his solo march from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi. While Meredith was hospitalized, other civil activists organized to complete his march, which Meredith rejoined along with 15, other marchers.

In Miranda v. Arizona, the U. The Twenty-Fifth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, providing rules of succession upon the death or incapacitation of the President, and enabling the President to appoint a new vice-president in the case of a vacancy.

He is best qualified by training and by very valuable service to the country. I believe it is the right thing to do, the right time to do it, the right man and the right place. He was one of the lawyers who argued before the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education , which was decided in and ruled that segregated education for blacks and whites was inherently unequal. In , at the request of President Johnson, Marshall resigned his judgeship to become the first black Solicitor General of the United States.

In this position, Marshall argued before the Supreme Court. The President viewed this position as a way of bolstering Marshall's legal reputation before he appointed him to the Supreme Court.

If Marshall was compared to the radical groups emerging from the Civil Rights Movement in the late s, he appeared quite conservative. As a lawyer, he valued upholding the law, and while he appreciated the attention that the protests of Martin Luther King, Jr. Marshall was also a firm integrationist, believing that equality was best achieved by integrating society. Still, among white southerners the man who had argued the Brown case was too radical and had no place on the Supreme Court.

President Johnson realized that this sentiment would make Marshall's confirmation difficult. After significant delays, Marshall finally received a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee and faced a barrage of hostile questions from southern senators. Some tried to paint him as a radical or a Communist, while Strom Thurmond of South Carolina tested Marshall with obscure legal and historical queries.

Despite this opposition, the Judiciary Committee voted Marshall's nomination to the full floor of the Senate. In the floor vote, Johnson used his influence to convince twenty southern senators not to vote on the matter. Their absence assured Marshall's confirmation. On October 2, , Marshall became the ninety-sixth justice of the Supreme Court. He was the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court.

Marshall remained on the court for twenty-four years, providing an increasingly unaccompanied liberal voice on the law. Marshall's appointment to the court was a symbolic and significant action in moving the nation toward racial equality. Riots break out in Newark, New Jersey, after racial tensions in the city were escalated by the police beating of a cab driver.

The riots lasted 5 days leaving 26 dead and hundreds injured. Racial tensions in the city of Detroit came to a head after a police raid of an unlicensed bar led to confrontations between police and patrons and escalated to 5 days of riots; the Michigan Army National Guard and two airborne divisions were sent in, 7, arrests were made, 43 people died and 1, were injured. North Korea refuses to release the crew of the ship until December. More than 80, troops and guerrillas attacked 44 provincial capitals, 64 district capitals, and 5 of South Vietnam's major cities.

While the South Vietnamese and United States troops reversed most of the offensive's gains in the following two weeks, some intense fighting continued for months after the attack. In the end, the Tet Offensive failed to deliver a military victory for the North Vietnamese, but it did create a crisis for the administration of President Lyndon B. For ten days before the attack, the U. American officers feared that this siege would turn into another Diem Bien Phu, the final siege before the French abandoned Vietnam in To protect Khe Sanh, U.

This move left cities and capitals vulnerable to the attacks of the offensive. After the Tet Offensive began, the North Vietnamese halted their siege of Khe Sanh, but managed to take other targets in the region like the ancient imperial capital of Hue. It took American and South Vietnamese troops almost a month to recapture Hue. Still, the United States managed to turn the Tet Offensive into a military victory.

While loses were high on both sides, the actions of the American military saved the South Vietnamese regime from collapse. Back in the United States, however, the American public had a very negative reaction. President Johnson, his administration, and U. After the offensive, they quickly lost their credibility. While in the Senate, he served as majority whip, minority leader, and majority leader.

Below is an abbreviated outline of Johnson's professional and political career: [1] [2]. He worked as a teacher until he moved to Washington, D. Kleberg D in Johnson won a seat in the United States House of Representatives in He became the first member of Congress to volunteer for active duty when the country joined World War II in He served as a lieutenant commander in the U.

Navy until the summer of Johnson served in the House until his election to the United States Senate in While in the Senate, Johnson served as majority whip, minority leader, and majority leader. At the age of 44, he was the youngest person to ever serve as minority leader. Johnson served in the Senate until he was sworn into office as President John F. Kennedy 's vice president in Johnson was sworn into office on November 22, , the same day President John F.

Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas, Texas. After taking office, Johnson declared a War on Poverty and called on Congress to pass legislation on education, employment, and race.

He signed the Civil Rights Act of into law on July 2, The act made it illegal for employers and educational institutions to discriminate based on race. It also prohibited racial segregation in public places. More Resources Lyndon B. Johnson Presidency Page. Johnson Essays Life in Brief. Life Before the Presidency. Campaigns and Elections. Domestic Affairs. Foreign Affairs. Life After the Presidency. Family Life. The American Franchise.

Impact and Legacy Current Essay. In-Depth Exhibits Scroll left to right to view a selection of exhibits. The energetic Johnson reshaped the role of Senate Majority leader.

Despite having a heart attack in , Johnson worked tirelessly to promote himself and his agendas, including civil rights legislation and the American space program. His ability to persuade politicians of both parties was legendary. Why did Johnson decide to become Vice President? One theory is that Johnson saw the position of Vice President as expanding his power base in the Senate. But after the election, Johnson was rebuffed when he tried to chair the Democratic conference in the Senate; his fellow Democrats saw the move as a violation of the separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches.

The Johnson presidency was incredibly active.