LBJ

Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) became the 36th president of the United States on November 22, 1963 when then President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.  A former United States Senator from Texas, he was elected Vice President in November 1960.

Under LBJ's leadership, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 became the law of the land.  It outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.  It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements, racial segregation in schools and public accommodations, and employment discrimination.

To me, the most important aspect of the Act relates to discrimination related to public accommodations.  Before the law, owners of businesses open to the public could legally not serve certain customers based upon their race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.  

I remember a scene from the film Gentlemen's Agreement (1947) in which a man claiming to be Jewish was denied access to a hotel and the film Giant (1956) in which a Mexican-American family was denied access to a restaurant.

Future governor of the State of Georgia, Lester Maddox, opened the Pickrick Restaurant in Atlanta in 1947.  It did not serve Black people.  After the Civil Rights Act of 1964 became law, Maddox closed his restaurant rather than serve them.  

US Senator Barry Goldwater (from Arizona) opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  While stating that he personally would not discriminate against anyone based upon their race, color, religion, sex, and national origin, he believed a business owner should have the right to do so.  I was very disappointed in Goldwater, a man I supported in his run for president in 1964 against LBJ.

When LBJ became president, there were 16,000 US troops in South Vietnam assisting that country's government in their struggle against communist insurgents.  By the end of his presidency in 1969, that number had risen to half a million in an effort to defeat Vietnamese communists.  

LBJ's military advisors convinced him the war was winnable if he had enough troops on the ground.  As more and more Americans became war casualties, LBJ became more and more unpopular and his political capital waned.   

On March 31, 1968 (a Sunday), I was sitting in my car in Flushing, Queens, New York City listening to an address to the nation by LBJ.  I was shocked, as was the rest of the American people (including the media) when he said,  "I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President."

On January 22, 1973 (50 years ago today), LBJ died of a heart attack at his ranch in Texas.  He was 64 years old.