Lyndon B. Johnson is Sworn in as US President
Two hours and eight minutes after President Kennedy was assassinated in a motorcade at Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas, Johnson was sworn in as President on Air Force One in Dallas at Love Field Airport on November 22, 1963.
He was sworn in by Federal Judge Sarah T. Hughes, a family friend, making him the first President sworn in by a woman. He is also the only President to have been sworn in on Texas soil. Johnson did not swear on a Bible, as there were none on Air Force One; a Roman Catholic missal was found in Kennedy's desk and was used for the swearing-in ceremony.
Johnson created a panel headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren, known as the Warren Commission, to investigate Kennedy's assassination. The commission conducted hearings and concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination. Not everyone agreed with the Warren Commission, however, and numerous public and private investigations continued for decades after Johnson left office. The wave of national grief following the assassination gave enormous momentum to Johnson's promise to carry out Kennedy's programs. He retained senior Kennedy appointees, some for the full term of his presidency. Even the late President's brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, with whom Johnson had a notoriously difficult relationship, remained in office until leaving in 1964 to run for the Senate.
Herbert Gordon: 99 minutes after President Kennedy was pronounced dead, Lyndon Baines Johnson took the oath of office. Mrs. Kennedy stood solemnly on his left as he swore to uphold the constitution, and somehow in the hectic movements of that brief ceremony, aboard Air Force 1, the historical event was recorded like this.
Sarah T. Hughes: I do solemnly swear --
Lyndon B. Johnson: I do solemnly swear --
Sarah T. Hughes: That I will faithfully execute --
Lyndon B. Johnson: That I will faithfully execute --
Sarah T. Hughes: The office of President of the United States
Lyndon B. Johnson: The office of President of the United States
Sarah T. Hughes: And will to the best of my ability
Lyndon B. Johnson: And will to the best of my ability
Sarah T. Hughes: Preserve
Lyndon B. Johnson: Preserve
Sarah T. Hughes: Protect
Lyndon B. Johnson: Protect
Sarah T. Hughes: And defend the Constitution of the United States.
Sarah T. Hughes: And defend the Constitution of the United States.
In the 1960 campaign, Johnson, as John F. Kennedy's running mate, was elected vice president. When Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, Johnson was sworn in as president.
First he obtained enactment of the measures President Kennedy had been urging near the time of his death: a new civil rights bill and a tax cut. Next he urged the nation "...to build a great society, a place where the meaning of man's life matches the marvels of man's labor." In 1964, Johnson won the presidency with 61 percent of the vote and had the widest popular margin in American history — more than 15,000,000 votes.
