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Lyndon B. Johnson

Lyndon B. Johnson Quotes

36th U.S. President

Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th President of the United States, served from 1963 to 1969. He assumed the presidency following the assassination of John F. Kennedy and is known for his 'Great Society' programs aimed at reducing poverty and racial injustice.

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Famous Lyndon B. Johnson Quotes

“The Great Society is a place where every child can find knowledge to enrich his mind and to enlarge his talents. It is a place where the city of man serves not only the needs of the body and the demands of commerce but the desire for beauty and the hunger for community. It is a place where men are more concerned with the quality of their goals than the quantity of their goods.”

Men Needs Mind Children Body Desire Goal President Community Cities Quality Beauty Talent Demand Concerned Hunger Presidential Goods Quantity Commerce Great Society

Author:Lyndon B. Johnson

“President Can't Swim.”

President Swim Swimming

Author:Lyndon B. Johnson

“In 1838, Mirabeau B. Lamar, the Second President of the Republic of Texas and the Father of Texas education, declared: 'The cultivated mind is the guardian genius of democracy. It is the only dictator that free man acknowledges. It is the only security that free man desires.'”

Men Mind Desire Father President Education Democracy Security Genius Acknowledge Republic Texas Dictator Guardian Free Man

Book:Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1965

Source: Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1965

“For it was only after I could become President of this country that I could really see in all its hopeful and troubling implications just how much the hopes of our citizens and the security of our Nation and the real strength of our democracy depended upon the learning and the understanding of our people.”

People Real Country Nations Understanding President Education Democracy Security Citizens Hopeful Implications Real Strength

Book:Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1966

Source: Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1966

“Free speech, free press, free religion, the right of free assembly, yes, the right of petition... well, they are still radical ideas.”

Wells Stills Ideas President Speech Presses Radical Free Speech Assembly Petitions Free Press Radical Ideas

Book:Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1966

Source: Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1966

“Every President wants to do right.”

Author:Lyndon B. Johnson

“The last thing I wanted to do was to be a wartime President.”

Wanted Lasts President Wartime

Author:Lyndon B. Johnson

“My most fervent prayer is to be a President who can make it possible for every boy in this land to grow to manhood by loving his country--instead of dying for it.”

Country Grows President Prayer Boys Land Dying Manhood Fervent Fervent Prayer

Book:Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1963-1964

Source: Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1963-1964

“A President must call on many persons--some to man the ramparts and to watch the far away, distant posts; others to lead us in science, medicine, education and social progress here at home.”

Men Persons Home Social President Leadership Education Watches Progress Duty Medicine Posts Far Away Social Progress

Author:Lyndon B. Johnson

“A President Roosevelt comes only once in a century. I believe God knew and does know of the need of the world at this moment. I don't believe President Roosevelt is an accident in time, or that it is an accident that he is President for a third time. I believe that Franklin D. Roosevelt truly is the voice of liberty in the world.”

Knows World Needs Believe Doe Moments I Believe President Voice Liberty Destiny Century Greatness Thirds Don't Believe Accidents Believe In God Franklin Third Time President Roosevelt

Author:Lyndon B. Johnson

“A good president does with executive power what Pablo Picasso did with paint. He takes bills into new and slightly discomfiting territory. He puts extra eyes on policies. He moves the mouth of the Supreme Court from where it should be to where it must be.”

Should Doe Eye Moving President Policy Mouths Bills Court Paint Supreme Extras Executives Territory Supreme Court Executive Power

Author:Lyndon B. Johnson

“I'm the only president you've got.”

Author:Lyndon B. Johnson

“If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read: 'President Can't Swim.'”

“Being president is like being a jackass in a hailstorm. There's nothing to do but to stand there and take it.”

Political President History Hype Jackasses Hailstorms

Author:Lyndon B. Johnson

“There is but one way for a president to deal with Congress, and that is continuously, incessantly, and without interruption. If it is really going to work, the relationship has got to be almost incestuous.”

Ifs Way Political Politics President Deals Congress One Way Going To Work Interruptions Incessantly

Author:Lyndon B. Johnson

“A President's hardest task is not to do what is right, but to know what is right.”

Knows Political Politics President Tasks Hardest Presidential Presidency Presidents Day Great Presidents Inspirational Presidential Inspiring Presidential

Author:Lyndon B. Johnson

“One lesson you better learn if you want to be in politics is that you never go out on a golf course and beat the President.”

Ifs Want Courses President Lessons Beats Golf Golf Course

Author:Lyndon B. Johnson

“Whoever won't fight when the President calls him, deserves to be kicked back in his hole and kept there.”

Fighting President Deserve Holes Uprising

Author:Lyndon B. Johnson

“Presidents quickly realize that while a single act might destroy the world they live in, no one single decision can make life suddenly better or can turn history around for the good.”

World Might Turns President Realizing Decision Single Life

Author:Lyndon B. Johnson

“What we won when all of our people united just must not now be lost in suspicion, distrust, selfishness, and politics among any of our people. Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President.”

People Lost President Term United Party Accepting Selfishness Suspicion Distrust Nominations

Author:Lyndon B. Johnson

“Books and ideas are the most effective weapons against intolerance and ignorance.”

Book Ideas President Ignorance Weapons Censorship Intolerance Censoring Banned Books Censorship In Books Book Banning Censoring Books

Book:Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1963-1964

Source: Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1963-1964

“I am going to build the kind of nation that President Roosevelt hoped for, President Truman worked for, and President Kennedy died for.”

Kind Nations President Vision Died Truman President Kennedy President Roosevelt President Truman

Author:Lyndon B. Johnson

“I will not seek, and I will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your president.”

President Term Party Accepting Presidential Suspicion Nominations

Author:Lyndon B. Johnson