Lyndon B. Johnson

===Active military duty (1941–1942)===
[[File:Portrait of Lyndon B. Johnson in Navy Uniform - 42-3-7 - 03-1942.jpg|thumb|Johnson as a lieutenant commander in the [[United States Naval Reserve|U.S. Naval Reserve]] in March 1942]]
Johnson was appointed a [[Lieutenant commander (United States)|lieutenant commander]] in the [[United States Naval Reserve|U.S. Naval Reserve]] on June 21, 1940. While serving as a U.S. representative, he was called to active duty three days after the Japanese [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] in December 1941. His first orders were to report to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations in [[Washington, D.C.]], for instruction and training.<ref name="military">{{cite web |url=http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/Johnson/archives.hom/FAQs/military/military.asp |title=PRESIDENT LYNDON B. JOHNSON'S MILITARY SERVICE |publisher=University of Texas |access-date=August 7, 2015 |author=LBJ Library Staff |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001119040200/http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/FAQs/military/military.asp |archive-date=November 19, 2000}}</ref> Following his training, Johnson asked [[United States Under Secretary of the Navy|Undersecretary of the Navy]] [[James Forrestal]] for a job in Washington, D.C. He was instead sent to inspect shipyard facilities in Texas and on the [[West Coast of the United States|West Coast]]. In the spring of 1942, President Roosevelt decided he needed better information on conditions in the [[South West Pacific theatre of World War II|Southwest Pacific]], and wanted a trusted political ally to obtain it. Forrestal suggested Johnson. Roosevelt assigned Johnson to a three-man survey team covering the Southwest Pacific.<ref name="Dallek, Robert pp. 235">{{harvnb|Dallek|1991|pp=235–245}}</ref>

Johnson reported to General [[Douglas MacArthur]] in Australia. Johnson and two [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] officers went to the [[22nd Bomb Group (Red Raiders) 5th Army Air Force|22nd Bomb Group]] base, which was assigned the high-risk mission of bombing the Japanese airbase at [[Lae]] in [[New Guinea]]. On June 9, 1942, Johnson volunteered as an observer for an airstrike on New Guinea. Reports vary on what happened to the aircraft carrying Johnson during that mission. MacArthur recommended Johnson for the [[Silver Star]] for gallantry in action;<ref name="theguardian.com"/> the citation indicated that the mission came under attack and Johnson's aircraft experienced mechanical problems, forcing it to turn back before reaching its objective.<ref name="CNN Special" /> Others claim that the aircraft turned back because of generator trouble before encountering enemy aircraft and never came under fire, an account that is supported by the aircraft's official flight records.<ref name="CNN Special">{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/johnson.silver.star/story/storypage.html |title=In-Depth Specials&nbsp;– The story behind Johnson's Silver Star |publisher=CNN |access-date=October 6, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080613123509/http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/johnson.silver.star/story/storypage.html |archive-date=June 13, 2008}}</ref><ref name="theguardian.com">[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/jul/06/internationaleducationnews.humanities LBJ's medal for valour 'was sham'] ''[[The Guardian]]'', July 6, 2001</ref> Other airplanes that continued came under fire near the target about the same time Johnson's plane was recorded as having landed back at the original airbase.<ref name="CNN Special" /> Johnson's biographer [[Robert Caro]] was quoted as saying "I think that the weight of the evidence at this moment is that the plane was attacked by Zeroes and that he was cool under fire",<ref name="CNN Special" /> but also "The fact is, LBJ never got within sight of Japanese forces. His combat experience was a myth."<ref name="USNI">{{cite web |last1=Tillman |first1=Barrett |last2=Sakaida |first2=Henry |title=Silver Star Airplane Ride |url=https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2001/april/silver-star-airplane-ride |publisher=US Naval Institute |access-date=14 February 2024}}</ref>

Johnson used a movie camera to record conditions,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://medium.com/war-is-boring/war-and-forgiveness-437c52499d02 |title=War and Forgiveness |first=Steve |last=Weintz |date=December 24, 2013 |work=War Is Boring |access-date=February 8, 2016}}</ref> and reported to Roosevelt, Navy leaders, and Congress that conditions were deplorable and unacceptable. Some historians have suggested this was in exchange for MacArthur's recommendation to award the Silver Star.<ref name="theguardian.com"/> He argued that the southwest Pacific urgently needed a higher priority and a larger share of war supplies. Warplanes that were sent there were "far inferior" to Japanese planes, and U.S. Navy morale there was poor. Johnson told Forrestal that the Pacific Fleet had a "critical" need for 6,800 additional experienced men. Johnson prepared a twelve-point program to upgrade the effort in the region, stressing "greater cooperation and coordination within the various commands and between the different war theaters". Congress responded by making Johnson chairman of a high-powered subcommittee of the Naval Affairs Committee,<ref>{{harvnb|Dallek|1991|p=235}}</ref> with a mission similar to that of the [[Truman Committee]] in the Senate. He probed the peacetime "business as usual" inefficiencies that permeated the naval war and demanded that admirals get the job done. Johnson went too far when he proposed a bill that would crack down on the draft exemptions of shipyard workers if they were absent from work too often; organized labor blocked the bill and denounced him. Johnson's biographer [[Robert Dallek]] concludes, "The mission was a temporary exposure to danger calculated to satisfy Johnson's personal and political wishes, but it also represented a genuine effort on his part, however misplaced, to improve the lot of America's fighting men."<ref>{{harvnb|Dallek|1991|p=237}}</ref>

In addition to the Silver Star, Johnson received the [[American Campaign Medal]], [[Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal]], and the [[World War II Victory Medal]]. He was discharged from active duty on July 17, 1942, but remained in the Navy Reserve, where he was promoted to [[Commander (United States)|commander]] on October 19, 1949, effective June 2, 1948. He resigned from the Navy Reserve effective January 18, 1964.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.va.gov/health/newsfeatures/2015/february/list-of-presidents-who-were-veterans.asp |title=List of Presidents who were Veterans |author=Veterans Health Administration |work=va.gov |access-date=February 8, 2016}}</ref>