American Experience

Who's Who: United States		return to index
	Lyndon B. Johnson			30 of 41

John F. Kennedy's vice president, Lyndon Johnson assumed the presidency when Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. Johnson's domestic initiatives pumped money into education, housing, transportation, and the environment. He easily won a second term, but despite campaign promises to the contrary, he steadily increased U.S. involvement in Vietnam, and his popularity plummeted. On March 31, 1968, Johnson publicly announced that he had reduced bombing campaigns in North Vietnam and that he would not seek reelection.