America: 1908-1973

The LBJ Presidential Library is undergoing a major redesign! During this period most of our permanent exhibits are closed. read more...

The Exhibit

You are invited to embark on a walk through history—the history of America through six decades of the twentieth century. These years—1908-1973—were not chosen at random; they are the years that comprise the life and public career of the 36th President of the United States of America, Lyndon Baines Johnson.

During Lyndon Johnson's lifetime, America was a transitional country—young and still expanding, establishing its own unique identity, and eventually blossoming into the world's most powerful and prosperous nation. An ambitious young man with an incomparable talent for politics, young Lyndon grew up with the country, and was shaped and influenced by the events around him. President Johnson led the nation for the majority of the tumultuous 1960s, a time of great triumph and tragedy. Social advances, scientific breakthroughs, and unmatched excitement in pop culture and the arts were offset by assassinations, war, generational divisions, and racial strife. "This is the history of our time," said Lyndon Johnson, "with the bark off."

Timeline: LBJ and the Nation

1908-1919 1920-1929 1929-1940 1941-1945 1946-1953 1954-1960 1960-1963 1963-1969 1969-1973