Perfect for ages 7-10
Includes videos about LBJ's presidency.
*Includes pictures
Everyone has read about history’s most important people and events in dense textbooks and classrooms, but words can only say so much. In Charles River Editors’ Interactive Biography for Kids series, history comes to life in video and audio, allowing your children to not only read history but truly experience it, through the eyes and ears of the people who were there.
Of all the politicians who have left their mark on American history, few have had a political career or list of accomplishments and accolades that can even come close to rivaling Lyndon B. Johnson. Johnson is one of only 4 Americans to serve as a House Rep, U.S. Senator, Vice President and President, and he made the most out of each experience. The hard-nosed Texas Democrat became one of the legendary strongmen in the Senate, mastering that political body from 1949-1961 and spending six years as Senate Majority Leader, two as Senate Minority Leader, and two as Senate Majority Whip.
A fateful chain of events propelled then propelled Johnson from Capitol Hill to the White House. After Johnson’s failed run for the Democratic nomination in 1960, winner John F. Kennedy chose Johnson as his running mate over his brother Bobby’s objections. Kennedy figured Johnson’s Texas roots would help balance Kennedy's decidedly Northeastern appeal, as well as adding a sense of age, experience and gravitas to the younger Kennedy’s campaign. While this was all true and did indeed help Kennedy win the election in 1960, his assassination ultimately brought Johnson to the presidency.
Had Johnson’s presidency included just his domestic agenda, he would have unquestionably been one of America’s greatest presidents. Unfortunately, as he was engineering a new social contract at home, he was ramping up American military participation in a tiny country thousands of miles away in Southeast Asia. For a man who accomplished so much at home, it’s ironic and tragic that his presidency and legacy were permanently marred by his escalation in the costly and contentious Vietnam War, a military quagmire and public relations disaster that compelled Johnson not to run for reelection in 1968.
An Interactive Biography of Lyndon B. Johnson for Kids chronicles the amazing life of the president, examines his unprecedented legislative accomplishments, and analyzes the controversial Vietnam War and Johnson’s mixed legacy. Along with videos and pictures of important people, places, and events, your kids will learn about LBJ like never before.
