Lyndon Johnson, Research Writing Exercise from Nate

In the election campaign of 1960, Johnson was John F. Kennedy's running mate, and was elected as vice president. After Kennedy was assassinated, Johnson became the 36th president of the United States. He ended up winning the presidency again in 1964. Although Johnson had success in promoting domestic reform policies like the civil rights act of 1964 and the voting rights act of 1965, his presidency was mainly defined by the failure in Vietnam. Lyndon met with his top civilian advisors on Vietnam and told them to forget about the social, economic, and political reforms that Kennedy had wanted and to make the war their main priority. The Johnson administration used propaganda to encourage americans to care about the war in Vietnam and to justify their actions. Johnson was a firm believer in the domino theory and was determined to end communist aggression, which led to him increasing U.S. troop involvement in Vietnam. The number of troops in Vietnam went from 16,000 in 1963 to more than 500,000 in 1968. Sadly, the war stayed at a stalemate. As the war went on, casualties soared and soon Johnson's popularity plummeted even in his own party. In the 1968 Democratic presidential nomination, Johnson announced that he wouldn't be running for re-election.  Johnson told the public on national television that he wanted to focus on the peace process and furthering domestic policies during his final months instead of being distracted by a re-election campaign. The Vietnam war ended up lasting for another four years after Johnson had left office.

Lyndon B. Johnson's first inauguration

https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/lyndon-b-johnson#section_7

Word Count: 256