ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Electoral history of Lyndon B. Johnson

Lyndon B. Johnson was a very important man in American history. One of the things he did that was very important was become the President of the United States! But before he became President, there are some things you need to know about how he became a leader.

Lyndon B. Johnson was born in Texas in 1908. When he was older, he went to college and became a teacher. But he wanted to go into politics, which means he wanted to be a leader and help make important decisions for the country.

In 1937, Lyndon B. Johnson became a Congressman. This means he was elected by the people in his state to go to Washington D.C. and help make laws for the whole country. He was really smart and worked really hard, so people liked him a lot and he was re-elected many times.

In 1948, Lyndon B. Johnson wanted to become a Senator. A Senator is like a Congressman, but even more important! There are only 100 Senators in the whole country, so it's really hard to become one. But Lyndon B. Johnson was a very good politician and he knew how to make friends and get people to vote for him.

When he was running for Senate, something really crazy happened. In some states, the people who were allowed to vote were only white men. That means that women and people of different races weren't allowed to vote! This was very unfair and Lyndon B. Johnson didn't like it at all.

So, Lyndon B. Johnson worked really hard to get people to vote for him who weren't allowed to vote before. He talked to lots of different people and convinced them that it was important for everyone to have a say in who they want to be their leader.

And guess what? It worked! Lyndon B. Johnson won the election and became a Senator. This was a really big deal, because it showed that people who weren't white men could have a say in who they want to be their leader.

After being a Senator for a while, Lyndon B. Johnson became the Vice President under President John F. Kennedy. Then, after President Kennedy was assassinated, Lyndon B. Johnson became the President of the United States.

So that's the electoral history of Lyndon B. Johnson: He started as a Congressman and then became a Senator. When he was running for Senate, he helped convince more people to vote so that everyone had a say in who they wanted to be their leader. Then, he became Vice President and then President of the United States!