Born in Beloit, Wisconsin, Johnson was raised in Illinois and attended college there.
[1] He was a pilot in World War I,[2] receiving training in Texas and France.
He was injured in a crash in France, resulting in a year of hospitalization, and he was decorated by the French and American governments.
He was then reelected to a full term, from which he retired in 1946 to resume the practice of law.
He retired in 1972, moving to San Leandro, California, where he died at the age of 80.