After Kennedy's assassination, Johnson was sworn into office aboard Air Force One with his hand on Kennedy's copy of the Catholic Missal rather than a Bible. After being sworn in Johnson addressed the nation: "I will do my best. That is all I can do. I ask for your help -- and God's."
Johnson was born into a family that had deep Baptist roots on one side and a mixture of various beliefs on the other. His father's religious beliefs varied over time, as his brother Sam recalled: "He was deeply committed to certain ideas that you might consider religious. He was certainly a believer in the dignity of all human beings regardless of race or creed, and some of that rubbed off on all of us."
Johnson chose to join the Disciples of Christ Church, which emphasized good works. Though Johnson is not remembered for his personal piety, he made clear in his commitment to expanding civil rights and creating welfare programs that he believed that Christian duty required following Christ's message of compassion and mercy. In 1964, he said, "From our Jewish and Christian heritage, we draw the image of the God of all mankind, who will judge his children not by their prayers and by their pretensions, but by their mercy to the poor and their understanding of the weak. We cannot cancel that strain and then claim to speak as a Christian society."
Johnson's belief in helping the weak shaped how he viewed the war in Vietnam, which became a drain on his popularity as president, and his vision of building a "Great Society." He chose not to run for re-election in 1968. While he was still in office, Johnson asked the Rev. Billy Graham to preach at his funeral; Graham did so, officiating at Johnson's burial in 1973.
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