No first family captured the imagination of the American public like the Kennedys, and no position is bigger than Leader of the Free World. More than anybody else on this list, Lyndon Baines Johnson was stepping into big shoes when he took the oath of office on November 22, 1963. While Johnson never achieved the status of his predecessor in the American imagination, he presided over some of the most consequestial legislation of the 20th century, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the creation of such programs as Medicare, Medicaid, and Head Start.
