Sworn in after the assassination of President Kennedy, Lyndon Baines Johnson was one of the nation’s most ambitious and idealistic chief executives. He worked tirelessly to create his “Great Society,” an America where prosperity and opportunity would exist through the efforts of a strong federal government. A veteran legislator and master manipulator, Johnson used his skills to help pass laws that addressed such issues as poverty, education, and civil rights. His legacy, however, was tarnished when he applied a similarly aggressive approach to his foreign policy in Vietnam.