Learning about President Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson was the 36th president of the United States. Vice president to JFK, he took the oath after the young president’s assassination. He then won the election against Nixon in 1965.
The Hills country was his home, and his property is now managed by the National Park services as he wanted to.
We visited his birthome, saw his grave, went into his school, drove through his ranch and saw his boyhood home (in Johnson City).
He was a country boy and wanted to be seen as such, he ended spending a quarter of his presidency in his ranch. The office extension he did to his home was called the Texas White House. A landing strip runs through the fields where his jets would land. He brought many honorable people here, including president Kennedy. On the day of his assassination, they were both in the cortege in Dallas. Soon after they should have gone to the ranch and have dinner with the wives. The cooks were in the kitchen watching TV and preparing a pie for Jacqueline when they saw the news. Instead of a nice dinner, Johnson flew back to Washington and took the oath in Air Force 1.
Another room of the house brings a heavy feeling: his bedroom where he had his fatal heart attack. His wife outlived him for forty years.
Outside, we can see his cars and his cows! He was very proud of his Herefords.
I knew nothing about this president, not even the name rang a bell. In 1964 and 1968 he signed the Civil Rights acts that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. But his proudest achievement was convincing president Roosevelt to bring electricity to the Hills country when he was only 28 years old. His wife, Lady Bird, was actively involved in the National Park services, she’s known for her love of wildflowers.
Visiting his boyhood home I got an answer on how he succeeded as a politician: his dad was one, and his mom was making them listen to the radio and then write essays or debate about what they had heard!
