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Johnson was born on Aug. 27, 1908, near Johnson City, Tex., the eldest son of Sam Ealy Johnson, Jr., and Rebekah Baines Johnson. His father, a struggling farmer and cattle speculator in the hill country of Texas, provided only an uncertain income for his family. J ....

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.... programs. In 1948 he ran for the U.S. Senate, winning the Democratic Party primary by only 87 votes. In 1953 he won the job of Senate Democratic leader. The next year he was easily re-elected as senator and returned to Washington as majority leader, a post he held for the next 6 years despite a serious heart attack in 1955. In the late 1950s, Johnson began to think seriously of running for the presidency in 1960. His record had been fairly conservative, however. The presidential nomination of 1960 went to Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts. Kennedy then selected Johnson as his running mate to balance the Democratic ticket. In November ....