Johnson was born in 1946 in French Camp, California. His mother was a schoolteacher and his father was a farmer . Johnson graduated from the University of Illinois in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in social studies . At the University of Illinois, Johnson became a member of the Beta chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity . He received a master's degree in public affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University in 1972 .