Question 1

True or false: Johnson escalated the Vietnam War without any formal congressional approval.

Accepted Answer

False. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1964 gave Johnson broad authority to use military force in Vietnam, though it was later criticized as a blank check.

Question 2

True or false: Johnson never attended college and only had a high school education.

Accepted Answer

False. Johnson graduated from Southwest Texas State Teachers College in 1930; he had a college degree.

Question 3

True or false: Johnson was the first president to appoint a woman to a cabinet position.

Accepted Answer

False. Frances Perkins was appointed Secretary of Labor by FDR in 1933, decades before Johnson. Johnson did appoint the first African American cabinet member.

Question 4

True or false: Lyndon B. Johnson was the only president to take the oath of office on an airplane.

Accepted Answer

True. Johnson was sworn in on Air Force One after JFK's assassination, making him the only president to take the oath aboard a plane.

Question 5

True or false: Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but privately opposed it.

Accepted Answer

False. Johnson strongly supported the Civil Rights Act, pushing it through Congress despite political risks, believing it was morally right.

Question 6

True or false: Johnson owned a radio station that made him a millionaire while he was in office.

Accepted Answer

True. Johnson and his wife Lady Bird owned KTBC in Austin, which grew into a media empire, making him the first millionaire president.

Question 7

True or false: As a young teacher, Johnson taught Mexican-American students in a segregated school.

Accepted Answer

True. Johnson taught at a segregated school in Cotulla, Texas, where he saw poverty and discrimination firsthand, shaping his later policies.

Question 8

True or false: Johnson had a pet beagle that he famously lifted by its ears for a photo.

Accepted Answer

True. Johnson picked up his beagle 'Him' by the ears during a White House photo op, sparking animal cruelty complaints but also widespread amusement.

Lyndon B. Johnson Trivia Questions