Celebrities Lyndon Johnson, Birthday: 27 August 1908, Stonewall, Texas, USA

[on J. Edgar Hoover, as quoted in the New York Times / 31 October 1971] It's probably better to have...Show more »

[on J. Edgar Hoover, as quoted in the New York Times / 31 October 1971] It's probably better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in. Show less «

Presidents are lonely people, and the only ones they are really sure of all the time are their women...Show more »

Presidents are lonely people, and the only ones they are really sure of all the time are their womenfolk. President Nixon and I have something else in common. We can always depend on our womenfolk. Just as Mrs. Johnson has been by my side every step of the way, so has Mrs. Nixon. Show less «

It's hard to be a hero without a war. Heroes need battles and bombs and bullets in order to be heroi...Show more »

It's hard to be a hero without a war. Heroes need battles and bombs and bullets in order to be heroic. That's why I am suspicious of the military. Show less «

The difference between being a member of the Senate and a member of the House is the difference betw...Show more »

The difference between being a member of the Senate and a member of the House is the difference between chicken salad and chicken shit. Show less «

[March 31, 1968, announcing his decision not to seek re-election] I shall not seek, and I will not a...Show more »

[March 31, 1968, announcing his decision not to seek re-election] I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president. Show less «

[About President John F. Kennedy's assassination] "We heard some sounds. Some thought it was a firec...Show more »

[About President John F. Kennedy's assassination] "We heard some sounds. Some thought it was a firecracker, some thought it was a gun, but the next thing I knew we were on our way to the hospital. The president was wounded. The greatest shock that I can recall was one of the men saying 'He's gone'. It was suggested that we go the the planes as quickly as we could and that we get to Washington as quickly as we could. We had decided that we would wait until Mrs. Kennedy and President Kennedy's body were onboard. We were there 15 minutes before I took the oath" Show less «

[in 1964, paraphrasing his presidential opponent Barry Goldwater] Extremism in the pursuit of the pr...Show more »

[in 1964, paraphrasing his presidential opponent Barry Goldwater] Extremism in the pursuit of the presidency is an unpardonable vice. Moderation in the affairs of the nation is the highest virtue. Show less «

[to aide Doris Kearns Goodwin] You know the great thing about Truman is that once he makes up his mi...Show more »

[to aide Doris Kearns Goodwin] You know the great thing about Truman is that once he makes up his mind about something - anything, including the A-bomb - he never looks back and asks 'Should I have done it? Oh! Should I have done it?' No, he just knows he made up his mind as best he could and that's that. There's no going back. I wish I had some of that quality. Show less «

[on his fear of allowing Vietnam to fall into the hands of the Communists] Every night when I fell a...Show more »

[on his fear of allowing Vietnam to fall into the hands of the Communists] Every night when I fell asleep I would see myself tied to the ground in the middle of a long, open space. In the distance I could hear the voices of thousands of people. They were all shouting at me and running toward me. 'Coward! Traitor! weakling!' They began throwing stones. Show less «

We are not about to send American boys 9 or 10 thousand miles away to do what Asian boys ought to be...Show more »

We are not about to send American boys 9 or 10 thousand miles away to do what Asian boys ought to be dong for themselves. Show less «

[to his biographer, Doris Kearns Goodwin] I will not let you take me backward in time to Vietnam. Fi...Show more »

[to his biographer, Doris Kearns Goodwin] I will not let you take me backward in time to Vietnam. Fifty thousand American boys are dead. Nothing we can say will change that fact. Your idea that I could have chosen otherwise rests upon complete ignorance. For if I had chosen otherwise, I would have been responsible for starting World War III. Show less «

I accepted the second spot because I'm a gambling man. I did my research and one in four dies in off...Show more »

I accepted the second spot because I'm a gambling man. I did my research and one in four dies in office. Show less «

[on the Vietman War] If I left the woman I really loved - 'The Great Society' - in order to get invo...Show more »

[on the Vietman War] If I left the woman I really loved - 'The Great Society' - in order to get involved with that bitch of a war on the other side of the world, then I would lose everything at home. All my programs. All my hopes to feed the hungry and shelter the homeless. But if I let the Communists take over South Vietnam, then I would be seen as an appeaser. Show less «

[first presidential command, on Air Force One, November 22, 1963] Lets get this goddam thing airborn...Show more »

[first presidential command, on Air Force One, November 22, 1963] Lets get this goddam thing airborne. Show less «

[on assuming the Presidency, November 22, 1963] I took the oath. I became president. But for million...Show more »

[on assuming the Presidency, November 22, 1963] I took the oath. I became president. But for millions of Americans I was still illegitimate - a pretender to the throne, an illegal usurper. And then there were the bigots and the dividers and the Eastern intellectuals who were waiting to knock me down before I could even begin to stand up. The whole thing was almost unbearable. Show less «

We preach the virtues of democracy abroad. We must practice its duties here at home. Voting is the f...Show more »

We preach the virtues of democracy abroad. We must practice its duties here at home. Voting is the first duty of democracy. Show less «

[on Walter Cronkite who declared the Vietnam War was 'unwinnable'] I've just lost Middle America.

"I may not know much, but I know chicken shit from chicken salad.... [Richard Nixon]'s like a Spanis...Show more »

"I may not know much, but I know chicken shit from chicken salad.... [Richard Nixon]'s like a Spanish horse, who runs faster than anyone for the first nine lengths, and then turns around and runs backwards. You'll see; he'll do something wrong in the end. He always does. Show less «

Nixon can be beaten. He's like a Spanish horse who runs faster than anyone for the first nine length...Show more »

Nixon can be beaten. He's like a Spanish horse who runs faster than anyone for the first nine lengths and then turns around and runs backwards. You'll see. He'll do something wrong in the end. He always does. Show less «

There is no Negro problem. There is no Southern problem. There is only an American problem.

[to University of Michigan graduates, May 1964] The Great Society rests on abundance and liberty for...Show more »

[to University of Michigan graduates, May 1964] The Great Society rests on abundance and liberty for all. It demands an end to poverty and racial injustice.. But that is just the beginning. Show less «

I want people around me who would kiss my ass on a hot summer's day and say it smells like roses.

Nixon has come along and everything I've worked for is ruined. I can just see him waking up in the m...Show more »

Nixon has come along and everything I've worked for is ruined. I can just see him waking up in the morning, making that victory sign of his and deciding which program to kill. It's a terrible thing for me to sit by and watch someone else starve my 'Great Society' to death. Now her bones are beginning to stick out and her wrinkles are beginning to show. Soon she'll be so ugly that the American people will refuse to look at her; they'll stick her in a closet to hide her away and there she'll die. And when she dies, I, too, will die. Show less «

[to Eisenhower] I'm not going to drag you in to get any chestnuts out of the fire, unless I get my t...Show more »

[to Eisenhower] I'm not going to drag you in to get any chestnuts out of the fire, unless I get my tail caught in a crack internationally. And when I do, I'm going to come running. Show less «

[to Harry Truman, regarding 'The Presidents Club'] I just want you to know that as long as I'm in of...Show more »

[to Harry Truman, regarding 'The Presidents Club'] I just want you to know that as long as I'm in office you are in it, and there's not a privilege of it, or a power of it, or a purpose of it that you can't share. And your bedroom is up there waiting for you, and your plane is standing by your side. Show less «

[Gerald Ford] is so dumb he can't walk and chew gum at the same time.... He's a nice fellow, but he ...Show more »

[Gerald Ford] is so dumb he can't walk and chew gum at the same time.... He's a nice fellow, but he spent too much time playing football without a helmet. Show less «

I felt I was a trustee to carry on after he [assassinated President John F. Kennedy] had been taken ...Show more »

I felt I was a trustee to carry on after he [assassinated President John F. Kennedy] had been taken from us. After I finished the execution of his dream, I had some of my own. Show less «

If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon wo...Show more »

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

[inviting Harry Truman to stay at he White House] I'll just send a plane for you and pick you up. Yo...Show more »

[inviting Harry Truman to stay at he White House] I'll just send a plane for you and pick you up. You don't have to make any presentation. Don't have to raise any hell. We'll just go in there and have a drink or two together and then we'll go to church. I don't want to tax you. But I always wanted you to know I need your counsel, and I love you. Show less «

Lyndon Johnson

Lyndon Johnson's FILMOGRAPHY

Feedback about this page?