Lyndon Baines Johnson
Lyndon was born on August 27, 1908, in Stonewall, Texas. His family wasnt very wealthy. After leaving school he did a variety of jobs before studying at the Texas State Teachers College at San Marcos. In 1930 Johnson began teaching at the Sam Houstan High School. A member if the Democratic Party Johnson became involved in politcs and in 1932 he went to Washington as a legislative assistant to Richard M. Kleberg. Lyndon was a strong supporter of Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal. In 1935 Lyndon was appointed director of the National Youth Administration. It was at this time Lyndom me Edward Clark who worked for the Governor of Texas. The two men became close friends. Later Clark became a lawyer in Austin and helped to guide Lyndon's political career. Clark aslo introduced Lyndon to important figure in the oil industry such as Clint Murchison and Haroldson Hunt. These men also helped to finance Lyndons political campaigns.
Lyndon was successfully elected into the House of Representitives in 1937. During his campaign Lyndon had promised that: "If the day ever comes when my vote was cast to send your boy to the trenches, that day Lyndon Johnson will leave his Senate seat and go with him." On April 4th, 1941 Morris Sheppard died. Tommy Cororan agreed to help Johnson in his campaign to replace Sheppard. This included helping Johnson obtain approval of a rural electrification project from the Rural Electrification Administaration. Corcoran also arranged to Franklin Roosevelt to make a speech on the eve of the polls criticizing Johnsons opponent, Wilbert O'Daniel. Despite the efforts of Corcoran, Wilbert defeated Johnson by 1.311 votes.
On the suggestion of Alvin Wirtz, Johnson decided to acquire KTBC. However it needed the approval of the Federation Communications Commission or the FCC. Johnson Tommy Corcoran for help with this matter. This wasnt difficult as the chairman of the FCC, James Fly, was appoionted by Frank Murphy as a favour for Corcoran. The FCC eventually approved the deal and Johnson was able to use KTBC to amass a fortune of more than $25 million. Johnson kept his pledge made during the 1937 election and when the US enetered WW2 in December, 1941, Johnson immediatly joined the USN. Commissioned as a Lieutenant Cammander, he served in the South Pacific. He left the army and was elected in 1963 to 1969 and died on January 22, 1973.
| Presidents in the 20th Century |
| Theodore Roosevelt |
| William Howard Taft |
| Woodrow Wilson |
| Warren Harding |
| Calvin Coolidge |
| Herbert Hoover |
| Franklin Roosevelt |
| Harry Truman |
| Dwight Eisenhower |
| John Kennedy |
| Lyndon Johnson |
| Richard Nixon |
| Gerald Ford |
| James Carter |
| Ronald Reagan |
| George H.W. Bush |
| William Clinton |
Last updated by Elvis on December 3, 2010.