Lyndon B. Johnson was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. Born on August 27, 1908, in Texas, he began his political career as a U.S. Representative and later became a powerful U.S. Senator. Johnson was elected vice president in 1960 under John F. Kennedy and assumed the presidency after Kennedy’s assassination in 1963. He is best known for his “Great Society” programs, which aimed to eliminate poverty and racial injustice, and for signing landmark civil rights legislation. Johnson also escalated U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, which overshadowed many of his domestic achievements. He did not seek reelection in 1968 and died on January 22, 1973.