December 18, 1965

By the winter of 1965, Johnson was in the White House and the federal minimum wage stood at $1.25/hr — the United States was deepening its military commitment in Vietnam, with American advisors and South Vietnamese forces working to stabilize a fragile government in Saigon amid ongoing political turmoil. On television, "Bonanza" was the country's top-rated show, while moviegoers were packing theaters to see "Goldfinger," the James Bond film that became the year's biggest box office hit. The Green Bay Packers had claimed the NFL championship, the same winter that Winston Churchill, who had received an honorary American citizenship in 1963, died in London at age 90, marking the end of an era that millions of Americans had lived through firsthand.