Background
Johnson was born on January 10, 1891, in Roanoke, Virginia, the son of Marcellus A. Johnson, a grocery clerk, and Katherine Leftwich. Although Johnson's father lacked money and education, he pressed his son to work hard and get ahead.
Johnson was born on January 10, 1891, in Roanoke, Virginia, the son of Marcellus A. Johnson, a grocery clerk, and Katherine Leftwich. Although Johnson's father lacked money and education, he pressed his son to work hard and get ahead.
Johnson's maternal grandfather, a colonel in the Confederate army, encouraged Johnson to become a lawyer and a Virginia gentleman. After graduation from Roanoke High School, Johnson entered the University of Virginia in 1908 and received his LL. B. in 1912. Enormously ambitious and a natural leader, he cut a large figure on campus as a boxer and wrestler, public speaker, and president of his law class.
Admitted to practice law in Clarksburg, West Virginia, in 1913, Johnson soon became a partner of Philip P. Steptoe. The firm of Steptoe and Johnson eventually established offices in Clarksburg and Charleston, West Virginia, and Washington, D. C. Johnson was elected in 1917 as a Democratic member of the West Virginia House of Delegates and was chosen as his party's floor leader. He joined the army during World War I and engaged in combat as a captain with the Eightieth Infantry Division; later, in the reserves, he attained the rank of colonel and was widely addressed thereafter as Colonel Johnson. He was discharged from the army in 1919.
After resuming his law practice, Johnson became increasingly active in politics and in the American Legion. He took a large step forward in both areas when he was elected national commander of the organization for 1932 and 1933. In those days the position generated considerable political influence. It was at American Legion conventions, for example, that Johnson first met Harry S. Truman. Johnson was able to help President Franklin D. Roosevelt ride out a storm from veterans' groups opposed to the administration's cut in veterans' pensions. In 1937 a grateful Roosevelt appointed Johnson assistant secretary of war. He aspired to be secretary of war, but when Roosevelt ran for a third term in 1940, with war threatening to engulf the United States, the president wanted to give the administration a more bipartisan character. Thus, Roosevelt replaced Woodring with Henry L. Stimson, a distinguished Republican, who wanted to choose his own assistant secretary. Johnson resigned and became the president of the General Dyestuff Corporation, part of I. G. Farben Industrie, in which position he helped manage alien property. He also served as Roosevelt's personal representative to India, assisting in India's contribution to the Allied war effort.
A dramatic change in Johnson's career occurred in 1948 and 1949. When Truman ran for a full presidential term against Thomas E. Dewey in 1948, the president's chances, as reflected in public opinion polls, seemed so hopeless that he could not find anyone to head the Democratic finance committee. Johnson volunteered and collected enough money to get the president's campaign train from whistle-stop to whistle-stop. Truman astonished everyone by winning and felt deeply indebted to Johnson. Johnson lobbied for appointment as secretary of defense. The position had been created in 1947 when the War and Navy departments and the newly formed Department of the Air Force had been combined into a single establishment. The first and incumbent secretary of defense was James V. Forrestal, a Wall Street Republican. Democrats pressured Truman to replace Forrestal, but the question soon became academic because of Forrestal's deteriorating health. Truman nominated Johnson, who took over on March 28, 1949. The Pentagon rarely knew another quiet moment for the next eighteen months. By the time the Korean War began in 1950, Truman was faced with a situation in which his secretary of state and secretary of defense were barely on speaking terms. When Truman decided to appoint Thomas K. Finletter, a New York City attorney, as secretary of the air force, Johnson threatened to resign. Truman named Finletter and said Johnson could resign if he wished to. Johnson backed off. Truman then learned that Johnson had telephoned the Senate Republican leader, Robert A. Taft of Ohio, to compliment the senator for a speech in which he had demanded that Acheson resign. Truman's patience came to an end, and in September 1950 he insisted that Johnson sign a letter of resignation, and returned to his law practice and a quieter life. He died in Washington, D. C. , on April 24, 1966.
Johnson was so hardworking and aggressive that he appeared to clash with Secretary of War Harry H. Woodring over the direction of the War Department. Nevertheless, Johnson was zealous about enlarging and modernizing the army. He was later credited with helping to prepare the army for America's entry into World War II.
When Johnson arrived, bitter interservice rivalries impeded efforts to unify the three main branches of the armed forces. The most pressing issue was the settlement of what mission the navy and the air force should play in air warfare. The navy had recently laid the keel for the supercarrier United States to ensure its role in strategic bombing. On the recommendation of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, however, Johnson abruptly canceled the supercarrier. Truman upheld the decision but was irritated by Johnson's abrasive methods. Johnson's support of land-based strategic air power produced an extraordinary reaction by the navy hierarchy - "the revolt of the admirals, " it was called. Official documents supporting the navy's views were leaked to the press, and the entire navy high command paraded before stormy sessions of the House Armed Services Committee to denounce Johnson's policies. Meanwhile, Truman became angry over Johnson's meddling in other departments. Truman shared a widely held opinion that Johnson was maneuvering for the 1952 Democratic presidential nomination. Johnson also feuded with Secretary of State Dean Acheson, partly because of the latter's Asian policy, which Johnson considered weak in the face of Communist challenges.
In 1920, Johnson married Ruth Frances Maxwell, the daughter of a large landowner, cattle raiser, and founder of the Union National Bank of Charleston, West Virginia. The couple had two children.