III 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 571 

Recognizing the 100th birthday of Lyndon Baines Johnson, 36th President, 

designer of the Great Society, politician, educator, and civil rights enforcer. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 20, 2008 

Mr. REID (for himself, Mr. MCCONNELL, Mrs. HUTCHISON, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. 

AKAKA, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. ALLARD, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. BAUCUS, 

Mr. BAYH, Mr. BENNETT, Mr. BIDEN, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. BOND, Mrs. 

BOXER, Mr. BROWN, Mr. BROWNBACK, Mr. BUNNING, Mr. BURR, Mr. 

BYRD, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. CARPER, Mr. CASEY, Mr. 

CHAMBLISS, Mrs. CLINTON, Mr. COBURN, Mr. COCHRAN, Mr. COLEMAN, 

Ms. COLLINS, Mr. CONRAD, Mr. CORKER, Mr. CRAIG, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. 

DEMINT, Mr. DODD, Mrs. DOLE, Mr. DOMENICI, Mr. DORGAN, Mr. 

DURBIN, Mr. ENSIGN, Mr. ENZI, Mr. FEINGOLD, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. 

GRAHAM, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. GREGG, Mr. HAGEL, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. 

HATCH, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. INOUYE, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. 

KENNEDY, Mr. KERRY, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. KOHL, Mr. KYL, Ms. 

LANDRIEU, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. LIEBERMAN, 

Mrs. LINCOLN, Mr. LUGAR, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. MCCAIN, Mrs. 

MCCASKILL, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. MIKULSKI, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mrs. 

MURRAY, Mr. NELSON of Florida, Mr. NELSON of Nebraska, Mr. OBAMA, 

Mr. PRYOR, Mr. REED, Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, Mr. SALAZAR, 

Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. SHELBY, Mr. SMITH, 

Ms. SNOWE, Mr. SPECTER, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. STEVENS, Mr. SUNUNU, 

Mr. TESTER, Mr. THUNE, Mr. VITTER, Mr. VOINOVICH, Mr. WARNER, 

Mr. WEBB, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. WICKER, and Mr. WYDEN) submitted 

the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the 100th birthday of Lyndon Baines Johnson, 

36th President, designer of the Great Society, politician, 

educator, and civil rights enforcer. 


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•SRES 571 ATS 

Whereas August 27, 2008, marks the 100th birthday of Lyndon Baines Johnson; 

Whereas Lyndon B. Johnson was born in Stonewall, Texas, 

to Samuel Ealy Johnson, Jr., a Texas representative, and 

Rebekah Baines, on August 27, 1908; 

Whereas upon graduation, Lyndon B. Johnson enrolled in 

Southwest Texas State Teachers’ College, where he vigorously participated in debate, campus politics, and edited 

the school newspaper; 

Whereas Lyndon B. Johnson had several teaching positions 

throughout Texas, including at the Welhausen School in 

La Salle County, at Pearsall High School, and as a public speaking teacher at Sam Houston High School in 

Houston; 

Whereas Lyndon B. Johnson went to work as a congressional 

assistant at the age of 23; 

Whereas Lyndon B. Johnson served the 10th Congressional 

District in the Texas House of Representatives from 

April 10, 1937, to January 3, 1949; 

Whereas Lyndon B. Johnson became a commissioned officer 

in the Navy Reserve in December 1941; 

Whereas, during World War II, Lyndon B. Johnson was recommended by Undersecretary of the Navy James Forrestal to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who assigned 

Johnson to a 3-man survey team in the southwest Pacific; 

Whereas Lyndon B. Johnson was conferred the Silver Star, 

which is the military’s 3rd highest medal, by General 

Douglas MacArthur; 


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•SRES 571 ATS 

Whereas, in 1948, Lyndon B. Johnson was elected to the 

Senate at the age of 41; 

Whereas, in 1951, Lyndon B. Johnson was elected Senate 

minority leader at the age of 44, and elected Senate majority leader at the age of 46, the youngest in United 

States history; 

Whereas Lyndon B. Johnson was elected Vice President at 

the age of 52, becoming president of the Senate; 

Whereas Lyndon B. Johnson’s congressional career and his 

leadership spanned the stock market crash, the Great 

Depression, World War II, the nuclear age, the Cold 

War, the space age, and the civil rights movement, some 

of the most turbulent years in American history; 

Whereas Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was appointed 

as head of the President’s Committee on Equal Employment Opportunities, through which he worked with African-Americans and other minorities; 

Whereas an hour and 38 minutes after the assassination of 

President Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as 

President aboard Air Force One; 

Whereas Lyndon B. Johnson was a bold leader and an idealist, who had the energy, determination, and leadership to 

turn those dreams into reality; 

Whereas Lyndon B. Johnson was a ‘‘can-do’’ President because no matter how difficult and daunting the task at 

hand, he never rested until it was completed; 

Whereas, in 1964, at the request of the Johnson Administration, Congress passed the landmark Civil Rights Act of 

1964, which banned de jure segregation in the Nation’s 

schools and public places; 


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Whereas Congress passed by request of the Johnson Administration the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which outlawed 

obstructive provisions that were determined to be impractical and potentially biased against prospective voters; 

Whereas, in January of 1965, the Johnson Administration 

introduced by request the legislation that encompassed 

the Great Society programs; 

Whereas, in 1967, President Johnson nominated Thurgood 

Marshall as the 1st African-American to serve on the Supreme Court; 

Whereas, during President Johnson’s time in office, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration made spectacular steps forward in space exploration when 3 astronauts successfully orbited the moon in December 1968; 

Whereas Lyndon B. Johnson died at 4:33 p.m. on January 

22, 1973, at his ranch in Johnson City, Texas, at the age 

of 64; 

Whereas Lyndon B. Johnson was posthumously awarded the 

Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980; and 

Whereas Lyndon B. Johnson is honored, venerated, and revered for his drive to establish equality for all Americans, 

illustrated in the momentous legislation passed during his 

Administration: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) honors Lyndon B. Johnson for his fortitude 

3 in bringing about the passage of the historic Civil 

4 Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965; 

5 (2) extols the contributions of Lyndon B. John6 son to the United States; 


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•SRES 571 ATS 

1 (3) commends Lyndon B. Johnson for estab2 lishing the Medicare Act of 1965 that has helped 

3 millions of Americans; and 

4 (4) recognizes the 100th birthday of Lyndon 

5 Baines Johnson, the 36th President, designer of the 

6 Great Society, politician, educator, and civil rights 

7 enforcer. 

Æ 


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