History UsefulNotes / LyndonJohnson

* In ''Film/ForrestGump'', the title character moons President Johnson. In the book, Gump and Johnson were sharing the stories of their respective surgical scars--Johnson from gallbladder surgery, Gump from being "wounded in the buttocks." A photographer just happened to walk by at the inopportune moment and spun the story.

Johnson grew up the oldest of five children in the desperately poor Hill Country of central Texas. His father, Samuel, came from a long line of farmers. Sam Johnson had big dreams of being a lawyer but never finished high school because of an illness and lack of money. He was able to get certified as a teacher and even served in the Texas state legislature at two different points [[note]] He served in his mid-twenties but couldn’t afford to go back and forth to Austin so he didn’t run again and then he served a decade later during World War II when they needed someone to fill the seat when the representative got drafted[[/note]] but was held back from climbing further out of lack of a formal education. His mother, Rebekah, was from a family of Baptist ministers and had a college degree, a rarity at the time for a woman. She was a teacher as well. Both of his parents instilled a love of learning and politics into him from a young age that stayed with him for the rest of his life.

By the time he graduated high school at 16, he applied to college but was rejected. He moved to California for a couple of years to work for an uncle to save money to go to college, reapplied, and was accepted. He taught for a few years after graduating but, after getting assigned to a desperately poor school for the children of Mexican migrant workers, decided his talents lay elsewhere and got a job working for his Congressman. It was also during this time that Johnson encountered UsefulNotes/HueyLong, who he would later on describe as being a major influence in his political career. He then served in state government, and when the seat in Congress opened up, he ran and won in 1937. He was the first member of Congress to volunteer to fight in World War II and was stationed in the South Pacific. He was released from active duty in 1942 but stayed on as a member of the reserves until he was president.

Johnson's health history was complicated: he was very aware of a strong legacy of male heart disease and early death in his family, and it played a large part in his relentless ambitions and drive to get things done. He even commissioned an actuarial study while he was still in the White House to see how much time he had left; the results (along with guilt and stress from Vietnam) led him to ''resume'' smoking almost as soon as he left office, having originally quit many years before, after being hospitalized for a heart attack. He therefore knowingly contributed to his relatively young death in January 1973, when he suffered his third one. The famously gregarious Johnson was also terrified of ever being left alone, due to his fear of DyingAlone. However, when he finally suffered the fatal heart attack, he was in his bedroom – alone.

He became the youngest Senate Majority Leader at 48, after only eight years there, and has been called perhaps the most effective Senate Majority Leader in history.

* In ''Film/TheRightStuff'', Donald Moffat gives a compelling portrayal of LBJ. "''You know what the Russians want?''"

Lyndon Baines Johnson (August 27, 1908 – January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials of LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States [[TheSixties (1963–69)]]. The [[ThirteenIsUnlucky thirteenth]] President from the Democratic Party, he inherited the office following the tragic assassination of UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy, and was followed by UsefulNotes/RichardNixon. He managed to be both incredibly good for his domestic reforms (legislation upholding civil rights, Medicare, Medicaid, aid to education, the arts, urban and rural development and public services) and horrendously bad for what he did abroad (escalating American involvement in UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar). Ultimately his foreign policy mistakes came to threaten or even negate his domestic achievements, to the chagrin of liberals throughout the USA who continue to fight for much of what Johnson fought for.

Johnson grew up the oldest of five children in the desperately poor Hill Country of central Texas. His father, Samuel, came from a long line of farmers. Sam Johnson had big dreams of being a lawyer but never finished high school because of an illness and lack of money. He was able to get certified as a teacher and even served in the Texas state legislature at two different points [[note]] He served in his mid twenties but couldn’t afford to go back and forth to Austin so he didn’t run again and then he served a decade later during World War II when they needed someone to fill the seat when the representative got drafted[[/note]] but was held back from climbing further out of lack of a formal education. His mother, Rebekah, was from a family of Baptist ministers and had a college degree, a rarity at the time for a woman. She was a teacher as well. Both of his parents instilled a love of learning and politics into him from a young age that stayed with him for the rest of his life.

Johnson was also known to be a heavy smoker, and this habit almost certainly contributed to his relatively young death in January 1973 when he suffered his third heart attack. Ironically, Johnson was terrified of ever being in a room all alone in case the big one happened. Well, when he finally suffered the fatal heart attack, he was in his bedroom. Alone.

Johnson was also known to be a heavy smoker, and this habit almost certainly contributed to his relatively young death in January 1973 when he suffered his third heart attack.

Johnson grew up the oldest of five children in the desperately poor Hill Country of central Texas. His father, Samuel, came from a long line of farmers. Sam Johnson had big dreams of being a lawyer but never finished high school because of an illness and lack of money. He was able to get certified as a teacher and even served in the Texas state legislature at two different points [[note]] He served in his mid twenties but couldn’t afford to go back and forth to Austin so he didn’t run again and then he served a decade later during World War I when they needed someone to fill the seat when the representative got drafted[[/note]] but was held back from climbing further out of lack of a formal education. His mother, Rebekah, was from a family of Baptist ministers and had a college degree, a rarity at the time for a woman. She was a teacher as well. Both of his parents instilled a love of learning and politics into him from a young age that stayed with him for the rest of his life.

He became the youngest Senate Majority Leader at 48 and was vert effective in bullying Senators into voting how he wanted.

Johnson grew up the oldest of five children in the desperately poor Hill Country of central Texas. His father, Samuel, came from a long line of farmers. Sam Johnson had big dreams of being a lawyer but never finished high school because of an illness and lack of money. He was able to get certified as a teacher and even served in the Texas state legislature at two different points [[note]] He served in his mid twenties but couldn’t afford to go back and forth to Austin so he didn’t run again and then he served a decade later during World War II when they needed someone to fill the seat when the representative got drafted[[/note]] but was held back from climbing further out of lack of a formal education. His mother, Rebekah, was from a family of Baptist ministers and had a college degree, a rarity at the time for a woman. She was a teacher as well. Both of his parents instilled a love of learning and politics into him from a young age that stayed with him for the rest of his life.

Johnson grew up the oldest of five children in the desperately poor Hill Country of central Texas. His father, Samuel, came from a long line of farmers. Sam Johnson had big dreams of being a lawyer but never finished high school because of an illness and lack of money. He was able to get certified as a teacher and even served in the Texas state legislature at two different points [[note]] He served in his mid twenties but couldn’t afford to go back and forth to Austin so he didn’t run again and then he served a decade later during World War I when they needed someone to fill the seat when the representative got drafted[[/note]] but was held back from climbing further out of lack of a formal education. His mother, Rebekah, was from a family of Baptist ministers and had a college degree, a rarity at the time for a woman. She was a teacher as well. Both of his parents instilled a love of learning and politics into him from a young age that stayed with him for the rest of his life.

By the time he graduated high school at 16, he applied to college but was rejected. He moved to California for a couple of years to work for an uncle to save money to go to college, reapplied, and was accepted. He taught for a few years after graduating but, after getting assigned to a desperately poor school for the children of Mexican migrant workers, decided his talents lay elsewhere and got a job working for his Congressman. He then served in state government, and when the seat in Congress opened up, he ran and won in 1937. He was the first member of Congress to volunteer to fight in World War II and was stationed in the South Pacific. He was released from active duty in 1942 but stayed on as a member of the reserves until he was president.

* Creator/WoodyHarrelson played him in ''LBJ'', a biopic directed by Creator/RobReiner.
* Creator/RandyQuaid portrayed him in the TV movie ''LBJ: The Early Years'', which details LBJ's early political career leading up to his presidency. Quaid would win the Golden Globe Award for his performance.

Johnson was a [[BunnyEarsLawyer colorful figure]] whose rough-edged Texan demeanor contrasted strongly with Kennedy's elegant image. One incident had him exposing his appendicitis scar to the public; in another he picked up his pet beagle by the ears, assuring the onlookers, "He lahks it!" He had odd eating habits, eating quickly and, if someone near him hasn't finished eating yet, taking ''their'' food to eat, as if it was nothing out of the ordinary. From his time in the Senate, he had a rather bullying and forceful personality when he wanted to make somebody come to his point of view. Perhaps his oddest habit was conducting meetings on the toilet (one of the best nonsexual examples of CoitusUninterruptus). Or maybe his oddest habit was pulling his penis--[[ICallHimMisterHappy named "Jumbo"]]--out in front of the White House Press Corps and waving it around. Still, he sometimes had moments of sympathy that shocked those close to him: After he was sworn in on Air Force One, he called Kennedy's mother to try and comfort her. Satirical portrayals in media usually focused on playing up his Texan-ness to a comical degree. Oh, he was also a big fan of Music/SimonAndGarfunkel's ''Music/BridgeOverTroubledWater''.

Lyndon Baines Johnson (August 27, 1908 – January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials of LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States [[TheSixties (1963–69)]]. The [[ThirteenIsUnlucky thirteenth]] President from the Democratic Party, he inherited the office following the tragic assassination of the young and inspirational UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy and was followed by the [[SarcasmMode honest and lovable]] UsefulNotes/RichardNixon. He managed to be both incredibly good for his domestic reforms (legislation upholding civil rights, Medicare, Medicaid, aid to education, the arts, urban and rural development and public services) and horrendously bad for what he did abroad (escalating American involvement in UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar). Ultimately his foreign policy mistakes came to threaten or even negate his domestic achievements, to the chagrin of liberals throughout the USA who continue to fight for much of what Johnson fought for.

[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3GT9UN7nDo Here]], he [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment orders pants]].

* A lot of other works set in the Vietnam era, such as ''Film/AcrossTheUniverse'', usually mention him in a big protest scene.

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' opens with a tense conversation between Johnson and Premier Khrushchev. The latter is preparing to be overthrown by Brezhnev and is no mood to cut deals. Johnson bestows the code name "Big Boss" unto the hero in the ending sequence.

[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lbj2_5549.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:310:''"Being president is like being a jackass in a hailstorm. There's nothing to do but to stand there and take it."'']]

'''Lyndon Baines Johnson''' (August 27, 1908 – January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials of LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States [[TheSixties (1963–69)]]. The [[ThirteenIsUnlucky thirteenth]] President from the Democratic Party, he inherited the office following the tragic assassination of the young and inspirational UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy and was followed by the [[SarcasmMode honest and lovable]] UsefulNotes/RichardNixon. He managed to be both incredibly good for his domestic reforms (legislation upholding civil rights, Medicare, Medicaid, aid to education, the arts, urban and rural development and public services) and horrendously bad for what he did abroad (escalating American involvement in UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar). Ultimately his foreign policy mistakes came to threaten or even negate his domestic achievements, to the chagrin of liberals throughout the USA who continue to fight for much of what Johnson fought for.

'''Lyndon Baines Johnson''' (August 27, 1908 – January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials of LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States [[TheSixties (1963–69)]]. The [[ThirteenIsUnlucky thirteenth]] President from the Democratic Party, he inherited the office following the tragic assassination of the young and inspirational UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy and was followed by the [[SarcasmMode honest and lovable]] UsefulNotes/RichardNixon. He managed to be both incredibly good for his domestic reforms (legislation upholding civil rights, Medicare, Medicaid, aid to education, the arts, urban and rural development and public services) and horrendously bad for what he did abroad (escalating American involvement in the Vietnam War). Ultimately his foreign policy mistakes came to threaten or even negate his domestic achievements, to the chagrin of liberals throughout the USA who continue to fight for much of what Johnson fought for.