[1] Johnson graduated from Kingston College, and went on to earn a BA in Economics and an MA in International Trade and Finance from the University of California at Los Angeles.
He was an Inter-American Press Association Scholarship winner in 1960 (due to his work with the Gleaner Company and the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation), was honoured three times for academic excellence at UCLA, and was a Senior Fulbright Scholar in 1980.
He left the Senate in 1983 to become a Member of Parliament representing Northeast St. Catherine Parish, a post that he held for ten years.
He appealed to Jamaicans in the United States to support Jamaica's National Disaster Recovery Fund, following the major damage caused during the passage of Hurricane Gustav.
[6] The fund was established by the Jamaican government to meet the costs of emergency services and relief measures, particularly with schools and hospitals.