Johnson, Lyndon (1908–1973)

The Hill Country Legacy

Lyndon Johnson was born in the rural Texas Hill Country, where people set high expectations for him as a future political leader from childhood. His father was a member of the Texas Legislature, and his mother hoped that her son might rise to be a U.S. senator. Although he later liked to stress his family's poverty, young Lyndon grew up in decent circumstances with connections to the state's political hierarchy. When he attended Southwest Texas State College in San Marcos, he was active in campus politics and ingratiated himself with the college's president. By 1930, he was running political campaigns for legislative candidates in Texas, coaching high school debating teams, and eying a career in elective affairs. Soon he was hired as an aide to Congressman Richard Kleberg and was off to Washington.

During the next four years, Johnson's energy and determination carried him to a position of influence on Capitol Hill beyond his years. He was elected head of the “Little Congress,” an association of congressional aides, and made valuable contacts within the Texas congressional delegation. Friendship with Congressman Sam Rayburn was especially useful. In 1934 Johnson married Claudia Alta “Lady Bird” Taylor. A year later he was offered the position of director of the Texas branch of President Franklin Roosevelt's National Youth Administration (NYA), which was established to provide work for unemployed youths.

From Texas To Washington

Johnson used the NYA position to construct a statewide organization of friends and political allies. He impressed President Franklin D. Roosevelt with his administrative ability. Within the limits of a segregated society, he sought to assist black Texans with NYA programs. Then, in February 1937, the death of the representative for the Tenth Congressional District near Austin gave Johnson his chance. In a special election, he defeated seven other rivals to gain a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. At the age of twenty-eight, he had the chance he coveted to exercise power on the national stage.

The next eleven years were frustrating for an aspiring leader such as Lyndon Johnson. He was an excellent representative in obtaining appropriations and contracts for his central Texas constituents. The slower pace of the House and the difficulty of moving into an influential position caused Johnson to [Page 777]look toward a move to the Senate. When a special election occurred for a vacancy in the Senate in 1941, Johnson made a strong campaign for the seat but lost to the popular governor, W. Lee “Pappy” O'Daniel. When war broke out in December 1941, Johnson went on active duty with the Navy and flew as an observer on one combat mission in the Pacific, for which he was awarded the Silver Star. Throughout the remainder of the war and into the peace that followed, Johnson prepared himself for another Senate race in 1948.

...