Why did President Lyndon Johnson decide not to run for re-election?

Answer 1

John Adams was defeated by his Vice President Thomas Jefferson in the 1800 presidential election.

John Quincy Adams was defeated by Andrew Jackson in the 1828 presidential election.

John Tyler failed to gain nomination for president due to disagreements with his party.

John Calvin Coolidge chose not to run for a full second term as President.

John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

Answer 2

LBJ did not leave office, but in the spring of 1968 he withdrew himself from the upcoming presidential election. He served out the rest of his term and was replaced in early 1969 by the winner of that election, Richard Nixon.

Answer 3

Johnson was re-elected in 1964 but could have run again in 1968 . He declined to do so because of protest about the Vietnamese War even within his own party.

Anti-war candidates Gene McCarthy and Bobby Kennedy were doing very well in the early primaries and Johnson could see that even if he was able to win the Democratic nomination, the inter-party struggle would weaken its chances in the November election .

Answer 4

Johnson could have run for a second full term, and there were a number of reasons why he chose not to, not the least of which was his health (he died at a time that would have been during his second term if he had run).

Answer 5

According to a 1988 New York Times piece by Johnson's chief of staff, James R. Jones, the president realized that the Vietnam War was out of control and a no-win situation. He also wanted to spend more time with his family, fearing that he might not live long enough to finish another term. Both his father and his grandfather died when they were 64. Johnson died on January 22, 1973 at the LBJ Ranch in the Texas hill country. He was 64 years old. Had he won re-election in 1968, he would have finished his second term on January 20, 1973.

Answer 6

Put simply, Johnson saw that he would have to fight hard to get the Democratic nomination and even if he won the nomination, the dispute within his party and his falling popularity with the people would likely prevent his re-election. The Vietnam War was his downfall.

Answer 7

He was frustrated over the direction the viet nam war wa headed and his diliculty directing US involerrnent with the us congress inhibiting his management of the war

Answer 8

his dick was to big