3
LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON
LBJ TIMELINE ORDER
Assign each student a different date and event to research. Have students write the event in bold on an index card.
Without talking, have the students stand in a line in chronological order of events.
DATE
EVENT
8/27/1908
Lyndon Baines Johnson was born in Stonewall, Texas.
1927
Enrolled in Southwest Teachers College and taught at a Mexican American school in Cotulla, Texas.
1930
Taught high school in Pearsall and Houston, Texas. Led his debate team to win the district
championship.
1931
Appointed as Texas Congressman Richard Kleberg’s secretary.
1933
Elected speaker of the “Little Congress” of congressional staff.
1934
Attended Georgetown University Law School. Met and married Lady Bird Johnson.
1935
Accepted President Roosevelt’s nomination as the Texas Director of the National Youth
Administration (NYA).
1937
Resigned as Texas Director of the NYA to run for Congress and is elected.
1940
Appointed Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve.
1948
Elected to the Senate by a narrow margin.
1953
Elected Senate Minority Leader.
1955
Elected Senate Majority Leader.
7/13/1960
Chosen as the Democratic party’s candidate for Vice President of the United States
11/8/1960
Elected Vice President of the United States to President John F. Kennedy.
11/22/1963
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. LBJ became president.
11/27/1963
In his first address to a joint session of Congress, LBJ vowed he would pass JFK’s civil rights bill,
which had been stalled in the House of Representatives.
5/22/1964
LBJ spoke of the Great Society in a speech at the University of Michigan.
7/2/1964
LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law.
8/2/1964
The U.S.S. Maddox engaged three North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin off the
coast of North Vietnam.
8/4/1964
The U.S.S. Maddox was involved in another incident in the Gulf of Tonkin; conflicting reports leave
doubt as to whether any Vietnamese ships were present.
8/7/1964
Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which granted LBJ broad powers to escalate
America’s involvement in the war in Vietnam.
8/20/1964
LBJ signed the Economic Opportunity Act as the foundation of the War on Poverty.
11/3/1964
Defeated Senator Barry Goldwater by 16 million votes in the presidential election. While LBJ's
61.1% of the popular vote is the largest percentage in history, Goldwater won five states in the
historically Democratic “Solid South”, signaling a shift in party alignment.
4/11/1965
Signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act into law.
7/30/1965
Signed Medicare into law in Independence, Missouri.
3/31/1968
Announced he would not seek nor accept nomination for another term of presidency.
1969
Returned to the LBJ Ranch in Texas.
1/22/1973
Died at home on his ranch.
