On November 22, 1963, Lyndon Baines Johnson assumed the presidency, becoming the 36th president of the United States after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Sworn in aboard Air Force One in Dallas, the nation looked to him with concern and a heavy load of tasks at hand. The tall Texan, with his resonant voice and keen political savvy, wasted no time in putting those talents to work, after all that he had learned in his years in Congress of bending the will of others and forging compromises. He quickly moved to complete Kennedy's unfinished work, in particular, with regard to civil rights, and in 1964 passed a major civil rights bill outlawing discrimination in public accommodations and employment. After a long fight, even using his considerable skills of persuasion, and in 1965 passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which knocked down barriers that had kept Black Americans from the polls for generations. Lyndon Baines Johnson's legislative victories with regard to civil rights are still felt in the U.S. today. Johnson also introduced a comprehensive domestic legislative agenda he called the Great Society, which was designed to alleviate poverty and provide a higher quality of life for everyone in the country. He enacted legislation to establish Medicare and Medicaid, the federal health insurance programs for the elderly and the indigent, and legislation providing additional funding for schools, particularly in urban areas. He established the Department of Housing and Urban Development as well as the Head Start program for early childhood education. The unemployment rate and the rate of poverty declined during much of his presidency and the U.S. economy enjoyed a robust boom. Some historians regard this era of domestic legislation, along with New Deal reforms in 1930s, as the most prolific of American law-making efforts. At the same time, the Vietnam War was escalating. Johnson inherited a small number of U.S. military advisors in Vietnam, but gradually increased the American military presence. In 1964, after reported attacks on the Gulf of Tonkin, Congress voted to allow Johnson to expand the military presence in Vietnam. In 1968, the war was a quagmire, with more than 500,000 U.S. military personnel on the ground. The nightly news broadcast pictures of fierce fighting and increasing casualties. Johnson faced mounting opposition to the war on college campuses and in the streets of major cities. The surprise Tet Offensive in early 1968 was a clear defeat for the Vietnamese Communists but served to erode popular support for the war effort in the United States. On March 31, 1968, Johnson shocked the nation by announcing in a televised address that he would not seek another term as president. His last months in office were devoted to efforts to negotiate an end to the war. Negotiations in Paris began slowly and did not result in an agreement before he left office. He was succeeded by Republican Richard Nixon, who in office would see the war end but in a manner that was still not a complete military victory for the United States. The legacy of Lyndon Baines Johnson was complex, as evidenced by both his accomplishments and his failings. He was a great domestic president, who passed laws that improved the quality of life for millions of people, lifted many out of poverty, and expanded the rights of all Americans. He was, simultaneously, a foreign policy leader whose mismanagement of the Vietnam War resulted in the deaths of thousands of soldiers and the fracturing of national unity. Johnson died in 1973 at his ranch in Texas, and his legislation is still felt today. He will be remembered for his accomplishments, his mistakes, and his belief that government could do good, even if that good came at a steep price.