Rural Americans Johnson Humphrey

Illustration of a mailbox with red text on it on a blue background with an outer black ring with white text.

Lyndon B. Johnson (D-TX) rose from a Junior House Representative to the President of the United States in an accomplished 30 year career in politics. His platform included expanding civil rights for African-Americans, combating poverty and urban blight, and supporting the social safety net established by the New Deal. During his time as a Congressional Representative, Johnson regularly advocated for rural development and assisted with increasing the standard of living throughout Texas and was even instrumental in securing the building of a hydro-electric dam on the lower part of the Colorado River. This grew his popularity among rural voters immensely, and Johnson hoped to capitalize on this in the 1964 Presidential Election. However, his support for expanding civil rights caused many Southern politicians and voters to balk at his policies. Johnson’s successful passage of the bill led many Southern states to switch their allegiance from the Democratic Party to the Republicans, in support of candidate Barry Goldwater (R-AZ).