In 1951, he became the majority whip of the Senate, the youngest to ever hold the position. He gained national attention by becoming the chairman of the Preparedness Investigating Subcommittee of the Senate Armed Service Committee during the Korean War (Havel, 306). In 1954 Johnson won re-election to the Senate. He challenged Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts for the 1960 Democratic presidential nomination, and lost, but became vice president when Kennedy chose him as his running mate. On November 6, 1960, Johnson was elected as Vice President of the United States and was also re-elected to a third term in the Senate.

             While serving as Vice President, Johnson was a member of the Cabinet and National Security Council, Chairman of the National Aeronautics and Space Council (NASA today), and Chairman of the President"s Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity (Havel, 306). On November 22, 1963, he became the 36th President of the United States after the assassination of Kennedy in Dallas, Texas. After Kennedy"s death, Johnson announced that he would support the legislative agenda, particularly concerning civil rights and education that Kennedy had set up. With the 1964 presidential election looming, Johnson did what he said he would do and on July 2, 1964 he signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This Act did much for all Americans, but especially benefited African-Americans. It protected the right to vote, guaranteed access to public accommodations, and did away with withholding of any federal funds from programs administered in a discriminatory fashion (Nelson, 387).

             During the Kennedy administration the Democratic and Republican parties experienced a dramatic shift in their respective views on racial issues. The Democratic Party, which had long been led by southerners who suppressed the civil rights of blacks in the south, led by Kennedy, began to soften its stance on those issues.