Nice biography of lyndon B johnson

Lyndon B. Johnson was a great man. He fought against racism and sexual discrimination.

He was a vice-president, president, and a senator. Some people say he was the best president we

have ever had. Others don't like him at all. Like him or dislike him either way he made a big

impact on the United Sates.

Johnson was born on Aug. 27, 1908, near Johnson City, Tex., the eldest son

of Sam Ealy Johnson, Jr., and Rebekah Baines Johnson. His father, a struggling

farmer and cattle speculator in the hill country of Texas, provided only an

uncertain income for his family. Politically active, Sam Johnson served five

terms in the Texas legislature. His mother had varied cultural interests and

placed high value on education; she was fiercely ambitious for her children.

Johnson attended public schools in Johnson City and received a B.S. degree

from Southwest Texas State Teachers College in San Marcos. He then taught for

a year in Houston before going to Washington in 1931 as secretary to a

Democratic Texas congressman, Richard M. Kleberg. During the next 4 years

Johnson developed a wide network of political contacts in Washington, D.C. On

Nov. 17, 1934, he married Claudia Alta Taylor, known as "Lady Bird." A warm,

intelligent, ambitious woman, she was a great asset to Johnson's career. They

had two daughters, Lynda Byrd, born in 1944, and Luci Baines, born in 1947. In

1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt entered the White House. Johnson greatly admired

the president, who named him, at age 27, to head the National Youth

Administration in Texas. This job, which Johnson held from 1935 to 1937,

entailed helping young people obtain employment and schooling. It confirmed

Johnson's faith in the positive potential of government and won for him a group

of supporters in Texas.

In 1937,