You’re probably thinking about the 1960s as a blur of neon, protest signs, and grainy television footage. When people ask who was the president before Nixon, the name Lyndon B. Johnson—or LBJ—usually pops up, but the sheer weight of what that man carried is often lost in the shuffle of history books. He wasn't just a placeholder. He was a force of nature. A Texan with a massive ego and an even bigger legislative appetite.
Johnson took the oath of office on Air Force One. It was November 22, 1963. He was standing next to Jackie Kennedy, whose suit was still stained with her husband's blood. Talk about a brutal start. Most people remember Nixon’s resignation or JFK’s youth, but the guy in the middle, the president before Nixon, basically rebuilt the American social contract while the country was screaming in the streets.
The Legacy of the President Before Nixon
LBJ was a complicated man. Honestly, "complicated" doesn't even cover it. He was a legislative genius who spent decades in the Senate, which meant he knew exactly where the bodies were buried. He used what people called "The Johnson Treatment." He’d get right in your face—he was a big guy, about 6'4"—and he’d cajole, threaten, or charm you until you gave him the vote he wanted.
When he took over after Kennedy’s assassination, he didn't just sit there. He launched the Great Society. We're talking about Medicare. Medicaid. The Voting Rights Act of 1965. These weren't just small tweaks to the law; they were massive overhauls of how life worked in the United States. If you’ve ever used a plastic Medicare card or benefited from Head Start, you’re looking at LBJ’s fingerprints.
But there's a reason he didn't run again in 1968.
Vietnam.
That war ate his presidency alive. It’s the great tragedy of his life. He wanted to be the new Franklin Roosevelt, focusing on poverty and education, but he ended up being the guy who sent hundreds of thousands of young men into a jungle half a world away. By 1968, the "credibility gap" was a canyon. People didn't trust him. Protesters outside the White House were literally chanting, "Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?"
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Why 1968 Was a Total Nightmare
If you want to understand why Richard Nixon won the election, you have to look at the wreckage of 1968. It was arguably the worst year in modern American history.
First, the Tet Offensive happened in January. It showed the American public that the war in Vietnam was nowhere near over, despite what the administration was saying. Then, in March, LBJ went on national television. Everyone thought he was giving a standard update on the war. Instead, he dropped a bomb: "I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President."
The country gasped.
A few days later, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis. Riots broke out in over 100 cities. Then, in June, Robert F. Kennedy—who was likely going to be the Democratic nominee—was assassinated in Los Angeles. The sense of stability was gone. Poof.
By the time the Democratic National Convention rolled around in Chicago that August, it was a literal war zone. Police were beating protesters in the streets while the delegates inside were screaming at each other. Nixon, watching from the sidelines, saw his opening. He promised "Law and Order." He spoke to what he called the "Silent Majority"—the people who were tired of the riots, tired of the protests, and just wanted things to be "normal" again.
Comparing the Two Men
It’s wild to think about how different the president before Nixon was from Nixon himself, even though they both ended up being defined by their downfalls. LBJ was loud, gregarious, and wore his heart (and his temper) on his sleeve. Nixon was introverted, deeply paranoid, and calculated every move like a grandmaster playing chess against a ghost.
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- LBJ's focus: Domestic policy, civil rights, ending poverty.
- Nixon's focus: Foreign policy, the "opening" of China, getting out of Vietnam (eventually).
Johnson actually liked people, or at least he liked the theater of interacting with them. Nixon famously hated the glad-handing part of politics. Yet, both men were haunted by the same war. Nixon actually expanded the war into Cambodia before finally bringing troops home, a move that sparked even more protests, like the tragedy at Kent State.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Transition
There’s this idea that Nixon just swooped in and changed everything. But the transition from the president before Nixon to the 37th President was messy and filled with back-channel drama.
There’s a historical controversy called the "Anna Chennault Affair." Basically, evidence suggests that Nixon’s campaign may have interfered with the Vietnam peace talks in late 1968. They allegedly told the South Vietnamese government to hold out for a better deal under Nixon. LBJ found out about it through FBI wiretaps. He called it "treason" in private, but he never went public with it because he didn't want to reveal how the U.S. was spying on its allies.
Imagine that.
The sitting president knew his potential successor might be sabotaging a peace deal, but he stayed silent to protect national security secrets. That’s the kind of high-stakes, smoke-filled-room politics that defined that era.
The Great Society vs. The New Federalism
While LBJ wanted the federal government to solve everything, Nixon introduced "New Federalism." He wanted to shift power back to the states. Ironically, Nixon actually ended up keeping a lot of the Great Society programs. He even started the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
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For a guy who’s remembered mostly for Watergate, Nixon’s early domestic policy was weirdly liberal by today's standards. But he couldn't escape the shadow of the man before him. He was constantly trying to one-up LBJ’s legacy while dealing with the economic inflation that LBJ’s "guns and butter" policy (trying to pay for both a massive war and massive social programs) had kicked off.
The Final Days of the LBJ Era
When Johnson left office in January 1969, he was a broken man. He went back to his ranch in Texas, grew his hair long (seriously, look up photos of LBJ in retirement—he looked like a hippie), and smoked way too many cigarettes. He died in 1973, just as the Watergate scandal was starting to rip Nixon’s presidency apart.
He didn't live to see Nixon resign.
The transition from Johnson to Nixon wasn't just a change in parties. It was a change in the American psyche. We went from the "can-do" optimism of the early 60s to the cynical, exhausted realism of the 70s.
Actionable Insights: How to Study This Period
If you're trying to get a real handle on the president before Nixon, don't just read a textbook.
- Listen to the LBJ Tapes. The man recorded thousands of hours of his phone calls. You can hear him bullying, cajoling, and even ordering pants (yes, really). It gives you a sense of his personality that no book can match.
- Visit the LBJ Library in Austin. It’s one of the best presidential libraries. They have an animatronic LBJ that tells jokes, which is a bit creepy but very "on brand" for him.
- Read Robert Caro. If you have the time, "The Years of Lyndon Johnson" series is the gold standard of biography. It explains power better than almost any other piece of literature.
- Watch "The Fog of War." This documentary features Robert McNamara, LBJ's Secretary of Defense. It explains exactly how the Vietnam disaster happened from the inside.
Understanding the man who held the office before Nixon explains why the 1970s felt the way they did. You can't have the cynicism of Watergate without first having the shattered dreams of the Great Society. It's all one long, messy, fascinating story of American power.