LBJ

            Lyndon Baines Johnson was one of America's most controversial presidents. He was a man obsessed with his place in history, he was consumed by a voracious appetite for life and was cast between emotional extremes that found him either jovial or moody. He was catapulted into the presidency by an assassin's bullet. This horrific event in history placed a man into the oval office who was widely considered to be one of the most expert and brilliant politicians of his time, a man who had risen from poverty to become the acknowledged .
             leader of the United States Senate. As a politician he was a natural and was always larger .
             than life in every sense of the word. His physical demeanor along with his charismatic.
             behavior enabled him a fast climb in the house: wooing leaders, angling for spots on .
             important committees and out working everyone. Just two years into his senate term, Johnson was nick named the "whip- or assistant to the party's leader in charge of rounding up votes. LBJ always did his homework and knew just how to approach each Senator to win his support soon after being appointed the Senate majority leader when the democrats regained control of the senate during Eisenhower's administration in 1954. He became known for the "Johnson Treatment- in which he leaned close in on a senator, towering over his prey, speaking softly and cajoling, flattering, even bribing, until he won the senator's vote.
             Unfortunately, his drive and ambition almost killed him. In mid-1955 he suffered a massive heart attack. Not yet fifty, he reassessed his life. He quit smoking, lost weight and tried to delegate more of his work. He was instrumental in winning passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957, working closely with Eisenhower while soothing southern colleagues who were suspicious of social change. When the Soviets launched Sputnik, the world's first satellite that year, he led the way to get America into the race for space.