Future President LBJ a/k/a "Landslide Lyndon" campaigning for the Senate by helicopter in 1948

By Jack Brummet, National Affairs Ed.

LBJ won the 1948 Senate primary by 87 votes, which led to his nickname "Landslide Lyndon."  His rented helicopter, "The Johnson City Windmill," drew crowds to fairs across the state,

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President Lyndon Johnson: LBJ as a boy, circa 1915

By Pablo Fanque, National Affairs Ed.

This is a fascinating photo of LBJ as a youth.  As a wise man once said, "the child is the father to man. . ."

click to enlarge

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LBJ drives his car into a lake

By Pablo Fanque, National Affairs Ed.

LBJ driving his amphibious car.  He liked to scare visitors to his ranch by driving them downhill in his Amphicar into his property’s lake, "while shouting that the brakes had broken.”

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LBJ shows his gall bladder surgery scars at an impromptu press conference

By Pablo Fanque, National Affairs Ed.

In 1965, LBJ was released from the hospital after gall bladder and kidney stone surgery.  LBJ being LBJ, he stopped for the press, and instead of answering questions, pulled his shirt up and gave one of the strangest presidential photo ops of all time.  I can almost hear him narrating this...

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Jackie Robinson's telegram to President Lyndon Johnson

Thanks to reader Dean Ericksen for passing this along...

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LBJ orders trousers from Joe Haggar (with audio)

By Jack Brummet, Presidents Editor


It's not The Johnson Treatment exactly, but LBJ puts the Haggars through their paces! It's classic Lyndon--at once imperial, demanding, profane, and fawning. If you'd like to hear the fascinating audio tape of this call, click here.

Earlier articles on LBJ appearing on All This Is That:

The Johnson Treatment

LBJ and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King meet up

LBJ howls like a dog

Another good LBJ photo

And another. . .

One of the heroes and villains paintings

LBJ In A Characteristic Pose

Running Mates: Senators Lyndon Johnson And JFK

The Johnson Treatment, Part 6: The Hump and Senator Russell get the treatment

The Johnson Treatment, Part 5: Senator Richard Russell (Dem., Georgia) Undergoes The Treatment

The Johnson Treatment, Part 4: President Johnson Gives The Treatment To Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas

The Johnson Treatment, Part 3: LBJ Gives Eartha Kitt The Treatment

The Johnson Treatment, Part 2: Richard M. Nixon, Republican Presidential Front-runner Gets The Treatment

He's Not Close Enough To Give Him The Johnson Treatment, But LBJ Appears To Be Answering A Pointed Question From Dan Rather

This is the White House transcript of an Aug. 9, 1964 conversation between President Lyndon Johnson and Joe Haggar:

Operator: Go ahead sir

LBJ: Mr. Haggar?

JH: Yes this is Joe Haggar

LBJ: Joe, is your father the one that makes clothes?

JH: Yes sir - we're all together

LBJ: Uh huh. You all made me some real lightweight slacks, uh, that he just made up on his own and sent to me 3 or 4 months ago. There's a light brown and a light green, a rather soft green, a soft brown.

JH: Yes sir

LBJ: and they're real lightweight now and I need about six pairs for summer wear.

JH: yes sir

LBJ: I want a couple, maybe three of the light brown kind of a almost powder color like a powder on a ladies face. Then they were some green and some light pair, if you had a blue in that or a black, then I'd have one blue and one black. I need about six pairs to wear around in the evening when I come in from work

JH: yes sir

LBJ: I need...they're about a half a inch too tight in the waist.

JH: Do you recall sir the exact size, I just want to make sure we get them right for you

LBJ: No, I don't know - you all just guessed at 'em I think, some - wouldn't you the measurement there?

JH: we can find it for you

LBJ: well I can send you a pair. I want them half a inch larger in the waist than they were before except I want two or three inches of stuff left back in there so I can take them up. I vary ten or 15 pounds a month.

JH: alright sir

LBJ: So leave me at least two and a half, three inches in the back where I can let them out or take them up. And make these a half an inch bigger in the waist. And make the pockets at least an inch longer, my money, my knife, everything falls out - wait just a minute.

Operator: Would you hold on a minute please?

[conversation on hold for two minutes]

LBJ: Now the pockets, when you sit down, everything falls out, your money, your knife, everything, so I need at least another inch in the pockets. And another thing - the crotch, down where your nuts hang - is always a little too tight, so when you make them up, give me an inch that I can let out there, uh because they cut me, it's just like riding a wire fence. These are almost, these are the best I've had anywhere in the United States,

JH: Fine

LBJ: But, uh when I gain a little weight they cut me under there. So, leave me , you never do have much of margin there. See if you can't leave me an inch from where the zipper (burps) ends, round, under my, back to my bunghole, so I can let it out there if I need to.

JH: Right

LBJ: Now be sure you have the best zippers in them. These are good that I have. If you get those to me I would sure be grateful

JH: Fine, Now where would you like them sent please?

LBJ: White House.

JH: Fine

LBJ: Now, uh, I don't guess there is any chance of getting a very lightweight shirt, sport shirt to go with that slack, is there? That same color?

JH: We don't make them, but we can have them made up for you.

LBJ: If you might look around, I wear about a 17, extra long.

JH: Would you like in the same fabric?

LBJ: Yeah I sure would, I don't know whether that's too heavy for a shirt.

JH: I think it'd be too heavy for a shirt.

LBJ: I sure want the lightest I can, in the same color or matching it. If you don't mind, find me somebody up there who makes good shirts and make a shirt to match each one of them and if they're good, we'll order some more.

JH: Fine

LBJ: I just sure will appreciate this, I need it more than anything. And uh, now that's a..about it. I guess I could get a jacket made outta that if I wanted to, couldn't I?

JH: I think that - didn't Sam Haggar have some jackets made?

LBJ: Yeah you sent me some jackets some earlier, but they were way too short. They hit me about halfway down my belly. I have a much longer waist. But I thought if they had material like that and somebody could make me a jacket, I'd sent them a sample to copy from.

JH: Well I tell you what, you send us this, we'll find someone to make it

LBJ: - ok

JH: We'll supply the material to match it

LBJ: Ok, I'll do that. Uh now, how do I - can you give this boy the address because I'm running to a funeral and give this boy the address to where we can send the trousers - don't worry, you'll get the measurements out of them and add a half an inch to the back and an give us couple of an inch to the pockets and a inch underneath to we can let them out.

JH: What you 'd like is a little more stride in the crotch

LBJ: Yeah that's right. What I'd like is to give me a half a inch more then leave me some more. Ok here he is.

JH: Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the others

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ATIT Reheated - The Johnson Treatment: LBJ's version of persuasion and coercion, with photos and links to 15 previous stories on LBJ and "The Johnson Treatment"

by Jack Brummet, Presidents Editor

 

Here, LBJ, the Majority Leader, puts the strong-arm on Theodore Green, a 90 year old Senator

The Johnson Treatment has been described as having 'a large St. Bernard licking your face and pawing you all over.'   LBJ was a big man, and the original "close talker."  The Johnson Treatment was a singular combination of physical intimidation and coercion, and it was one of his most effective tools as he mastered the Senate, and later, to a far lesser degree, the Presidency.   The phrase "The Johnson Treatment" is sometimes also used to describe being violated by unwanted company.  LBJ would paw you, lean into you, get right up in your grill and ask you for a favor.  Except it wasn't really asking.  Here are a few of our favorite photographs of LBJ giving the Treatment, along with links to fifteen previous article on LBJ, LBJ's War, and, of course, The Johnson Treatment.

LBJ leans on Hubert Humphrey, who would later become his VP

LBJ leaning on his friend Abe Fortas, whom he would later name

to the Supreme Court, and even later attempt to elevate to Chief Justice.

Fortas eventually resigned after four years on the court, due to ethical issues.

LBJ putting the screws to Dan Rather, who had asked an impertinent question

Putting The Johnson Treatment on Richard Russell

LBJ gives soon to be President Dick Nixon the treatment

Whitney Young gets a taste of The Treatment

Eartha Kitt gets a frosty dose of the treatment after she questioned his war

One person to whom he couldn't give the treatment...his boss, Jack Kennedy

The Johnson Treatment

LBJ and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King meet up

LBJ howls like a dog

Another good LBJ photo

And another. . .

One of the heroes and villains paintings

LBJ In A Characteristic Pose

Running Mates: Senators Lyndon Johnson And JFK

The Johnson Treatment, Part 6: The Hump and Senator Russell get the treatment

The Johnson Treatment, Part 5: Senator Richard Russell (Dem., Georgia) Undergoes The Treatment

The Johnson Treatment, Part 4: President Johnson Gives The Treatment To Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas

The Johnson Treatment, Part 3: LBJ Gives Eartha Kitt The Treatment

The Johnson Treatment, Part 2: Richard M. Nixon, Republican Presidential Front-runner Gets The Treatment

He's Not Close Enough To Give Him The Johnson Treatment, But LBJ Appears To Be Answering A Pointed Question From Dan Rather

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Copyright (C) 2012 by All This Is That. All This Is That contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We make these materials available to advance the understanding of political, economic, literary, artistic, and social issues. In some cases we satirize, parody, or lampoon materials from other sources. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of copyrighted material as provided for by section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit for research, educational, and entertainment purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', please read and follow our Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license and attribute the work to All This Is That, along with our URL (http://jackbrummet.blogspot.com). 

The Johnson Treatment: LBJ appoints Richard Russell to the Warren Commission before telling him

By Jack Brummet, President's Editor

President Johnson with Senator Russell

In November, 1963, LBJ appointed Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren to head what became known as The Warren Commission.  He also wanted to appoint his Senate mentor, Georgia's Richard Russell. Russell, however, was no fan of Warren and told President Johnson that he wouldn't serve alongside him.

LBJ's solution?  He just announced Russell's appointment to the press.  And then he called Senator Russell to let him know (transcript from November 28, 1963 at 8:55):

LBJ: Dick...it has already been announced and you can serve with anybody for the good of America and this is a question that has a good many more ramifications than on the surface and we've got to take this out of the arena where they're testifying that Khrushchev and Castro did this and did that and kicking us into a war that can kill 40 million Americans in an hour.

Russell: I have never...

LBJ: You're my man on that commission. And you're going to do it. And don't tell me what you can do and what you can't, because I can't arrest you and I'm not going to put the FBI on you, but you're goddammed sure going to serve. I'll tell you that.

Russell: Mr. President, you ought to have told me you was gonna name me.

LBJ: I told you. I told you today I was gonna name the chief justice when I called you.

Russell: You did not...

LBJ: I did...

Russell: You didn't tell me you was gonna name him...

LBJ: I told you I was gonna name Warren and you said it would be better to name Harlan.

Russell: Well you ought not to be so persuasive.

LBJ: Well, I think I ought to.

Russell: I think you did wrong getting Warren and I know damned well you did wrong in getting me. But we'll both do the best we can.

LBJ: No. I think that's what you'll do. That's the kind of American both of you are. Good night.

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Philip Levine on BHO, and The Presidency

By Jack Brummet, Poetry Editor

I've always liked Philip Levine's poetry, and his politics.  At 83, he is our new Poet Laureate.  This morning in the New York Times Magazine, he weighed in on President Obama, and who we probably need as President right now.  His answer was stunning (all the more so, because I think he's right, and I've mentioned the same fellow before here).

You’ve said you always vote for “the impossible losing candidate” that the Democrats put up. Your team actually won last time. What do you think so far?

Philip Levine:  Well, we think we won.

You think Obama’s a Manchurian Candidate?

Philip Levine:  No. I don’t. But I think I voted for a man who is not as able and confident as I thought. When he campaigned, he seemed like a genius, but I think he may not have been up to the task. It’s foolish to say this, but the guy we need right now is Lyndon Johnson. We need a bully and a really shrewd manipulator.

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1972: Facing the Selective Service System, and The Draft

By Jack Brummet
Unexplained Phenomena Editor

It's hard to remember now what we faced in the late 60's and early 70's, when involuntary conscription was still the law of the land.  It wasn't so much the draft per se, as the fact that there was a bloody war raging in Vietnam (and vicinity) and every single day, the 'papers and news were filled with body bags and body counts.  And very little of the news was good news.  Before the war was over more than 58,000 American boys would die in Vietnam.

The debate over the war was constantly raging--between parents and sons, teachers and students, police and protesters. . .it happened constantly, and everywhere.  It was absolutely exacerbated by other changes in the "youth culture": drugs, sex, rock and roll, underground newspapers and radio stations, long hair and beards, strange clothes, rock festivals, gigantic marches, people dropping out of society for communes, and people joining political and action groups like the Students for a Democratic Society, The Yippies, The Panthers, The Weatherman, The Draft Resistance, and hundreds more.  It was a strange and wonderful time.  And always hanging over our heads (I turned 18 in 1971) was the draft, and being sent to Vietnam, or at the best, enlisting in the Navy or Coast Guard to avoid 'Nam.  When you were drafted, they did not send you to dig ditches in Omaha.

In 1970, the the Selective Service System instituted a national lottery for draft numbers.  The target draft age was 19.  In 1972, the picked the numbers for people born in 1953.  My birth date came in at 182; I was safe.  That guy born on March 6th--he was No. One.  If you were born on Christmas Day, you were No. Six.

The draft (not just the lottery) ended on July 1st, 1973.

This list shows the number of inductions into the military over the terrible arc of the Vietnam War.

Year   Inductees

1962     82,060

1963   119,265

1964   112,386

1965   230,991

1966   382,010

1967   228,263

1968   296,406

1969   283,586

1970   162,746

1971     94,092

1972     49,514

1973          646

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Draft Resistance pamphlet from Seattle in the late 1960's

By Jack Brummet
Seattle History Correspondent

I worked part time as a draft counselor in a community center in 1970-72.  We worked mostly with people trying to file for conscientious objector status, took part in marches, letter writing campaigns, and distributing literature about the draft.  We weren't really part of the hard-core resistance movement (meaning we didn't perform acts of sabotage and most of our customers did not want to go to jail.), but we were fellow travellers and, really, just different branches of the same tree.

These pamphlets and posters remind me that everything was hand-made/analog in those days.  You can see in this flyer that they used three different typewriters (or different IBM type balls).  Maybe it was commercially printed, or maybe it was typed on mimeograph stencils and then duplicated.

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Send The President a joint -- it just might chill him down?

By Jack Brummet, Social Mores Editor,
with research by Mona Goldwater. Wingnut and GOP affairs editor

As a long-time scholar of President Lyndon Baines Johnson, I loved stumbling onto this 1970 flyer.  In the end, I don't think sending marijuana to the White House had the desired effect.  LBJ kept the war running full-tilt, until he was replaced by Dick Nixon in January, 1969.  As it turned out, Nixon kept the war running at high levels as well, until he achieved "peace with honor," or, more correctly, we bugged out of the mess we created and left them to sort it out. . .

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Photograph: Lyndon Johnson and S.O.D. Robert McNamara have an "Oh S**t!" moment

By Pablo Fanque, National Affairs Editor


Lyndon Johnson and S.O.D. Robert McNamara have an "Oh S**t!" moment.  They had a lot of those.

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The Johnson Treatment: LBJ's version of persuasion and coercion, with photos and links to 15 previous stories on LBJ and "The Johnson Treatment"

by Jack Brummet

Presidents Editor

 

Here, LBJ, the Majority Leader, puts the strong-arm on Theodore Green, a 90 year old Senator

The Johnson Treatment has been described as having 'a large St. Bernard licking your face and pawing you all over.'   LBJ was a big man, and the original "close talker."  The Johnson Treatment was a singular combination of physical intimidation and coercion, and it was one of his most effective tools as he mastered the Senate, and later, to a far lesser degree, the Presidency.   The phrase "The Johnson Treatment" is sometimes also used to describe being violated by unwanted company.  LBJ would paw you, lean into you, get right up in your grill and ask you for a favor.  Except it wasn't really asking.  Here are a few of our favorite photographs of LBJ giving the Treatment, along with links to fifteen previous article on LBJ, LBJ's War, and, of course, The Johnson Treatment.

Here, LBJ leans on Hubert Humphrey, who would later become his VP

LBJ leaning on his friend Abe Fortas, whom he would later name

to the Supreme Court, and even later attempt to elevate to Chief Justice.

Fortas eventually resigned after four years on the court, due to ethical issues.

LBJ putting the screws to Dan Rather, who had asked an impertinent question

Putting The Johnson Treatment on Richard Russell

LBJ gives soon to be President Dick Nixon the treatment

Whitney Young gets a taste of The Treatment

Eartha Kitt gets a frosty dose of the treatment after she questioned his war

One person to whom he couldn't give the treatment...his boss, Jack Kennedy

The Johnson Treatment

LBJ and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King meet up

LBJ howls like a dog

Another good LBJ photo

And another. . .

One of the heroes and villains paintings

LBJ In A Characteristic Pose

Running Mates: Senators Lyndon Johnson And JFK

The Johnson Treatment, Part 6: The Hump and Senator Russell get the treatment

The Johnson Treatment, Part 5: Senator Richard Russell (Dem., Georgia) Undergoes The Treatment

The Johnson Treatment, Part 4: President Johnson Gives The Treatment To Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas

The Johnson Treatment, Part 3: LBJ Gives Eartha Kitt The Treatment

The Johnson Treatment, Part 2: Richard M. Nixon, Republican Presidential Front-runner Gets The Treatment

He's Not Close Enough To Give Him The Johnson Treatment, But LBJ Appears To Be Answering A Pointed Question From Dan Rather

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Farewell to Eartha Kitt & Eartha stands up to Lyndon Johnson on his own turf

click to enlarge

Christmas Day is normally a quiet day in the "blogosphere." I just noticed, however, that over a thousand people stopped by All This Is That on Christmas Day to read an article we published here Saturday, May 7, 2005 about Eartha Kitt standing up to the formidable, sometimes heroic, and often monstrous Lyndon Johnson.

This is one of those times all the blogging is actually worth it. For some reason, there aren't many references on the internet to the Eartha Kitt-LBJ dust-up--All This Is That pops up early in a G.I.S. of Eartha Kitt + LBJ. And all these people are coming here to read the story of how the diminutive Eartha stood up to LBJ in the White House--his home ground!--to question why he was sending hundreds of thousands of our boys to war. It is a fitting tribute for people to remember how she stood up to LBJ.

I saw Eartha Kitt at Jazz Alley in Seattle in 2003. Eartha Kitt, 2003. Jazz Alley, Seattle. Her campy act was a lot of fun; she's was a tease with a sly, cabaret sort of sense of humor. . You can read her obits everywhere, and read about her affairs with Orson Welles, and her stint as Catwoman, but like many people who were alive back then, I admire her for the way she stood up to LBJ at the White House . I wrote about that confrontation earlier here, and included the great picture (above) of LBJ staring her down... She was a hell of a woman, and it's almost shocking she had died. She may have been pushing 80 when I saw her last, but you wouldn't have guessed it from her energy, her voice, or her hoofing.
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POTUS 36 - President Lyndon B. Johnson, originator of The Johnson Treatment

click to enlarge LBJ

I've written many times about Lyndon Johnson, the civil rights hero, and Lyndon Johnson, the paranoid and bellicose monster. When I did my series on Heroes And Villains, I considered using a picture of him as both the hero and the villain. I don't subscribe to the theory he was one of the JFK assassination conspirators (if there was indeed a conspiracy to begin with).

LBJ had a unique style of coercion and persuasion. It is known as the Johnson Treatment. Check out this link for dozens of photos and stories on The Treatment:

Some of my favorite political books have been Lyndon Johnson biographies and studies. Recently, the movie Fog of War was an fascinating rehash of LBJ, the unwitting inheritor of an unwinnable (as he seemed to know from the get-go) war.

If you get a chance, the LBJ museum in Austin, TX, is worth an afternoon visit.

If you want to hear an audio tape of LBJ in action jump here.

Earlier articles on LBJ appearing on All This Is That:

The Johnson Treatment
LBJ and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King meet up
LBJ howls like a dog
Another good LBJ photo
And another. . .
One of the heroes and villains paintings
LBJ In A Characteristic Pose
Running Mates: Senators Lyndon Johnson And JFK
The Johnson Treatment, Part 6: The Hump and Senator Russell get the treatment
The Johnson Treatment, Part 5: Senator Richard Russell (Dem., Georgia) Undergoes The Treatment
The Johnson Treatment, Part 4: President Johnson Gives The Treatment To Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas
The Johnson Treatment, Part 3: LBJ Gives Eartha Kitt The Treatment
The Johnson Treatment, Part 2: Richard M. Nixon, Republican Presidential Front-runner Gets The Treatment
He's Not Close Enough To Give Him The Johnson Treatment, But LBJ Appears To Be Answering A Pointed Question From Dan Rather
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President Lyndon Baines Johnson orders trousers from Joe Haggar

Thanks to Bill Schneider for pointing this out. It's been a while since we've written anything about LBJ. It's not The Johnson Treatment exactly, but LBJ puts the Haggars through their paces! It's classic Lyndon--at once imperial, demanding, profane, and fawning. If you'd like to hear the fascinating audio tape of this call, click here.

Earlier articles on LBJ appearing on All This Is That:

The Johnson Treatment

LBJ and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King meet up

LBJ howls like a dog

Another good LBJ photo

And another. . .

One of the heroes and villains paintings

LBJ In A Characteristic Pose

Running Mates: Senators Lyndon Johnson And JFK

The Johnson Treatment, Part 6: The Hump and Senator Russell get the treatment

The Johnson Treatment, Part 5: Senator Richard Russell (Dem., Georgia) Undergoes The Treatment

The Johnson Treatment, Part 4: President Johnson Gives The Treatment To Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas

The Johnson Treatment, Part 3: LBJ Gives Eartha Kitt The Treatment

The Johnson Treatment, Part 2: Richard M. Nixon, Republican Presidential Front-runner Gets The Treatment

He's Not Close Enough To Give Him The Johnson Treatment, But LBJ Appears To Be Answering A Pointed Question From Dan Rather

This is the White House transcript of an Aug. 9, 1964 conversation between President Lyndon Johnson and Joe Haggar:


Operator: Go ahead sir

LBJ: Mr. Haggar?

JH: Yes this is Joe Haggar

LBJ: Joe, is your father the one that makes clothes?

JH: Yes sir - we're all together

LBJ: Uh huh. You all made me some real lightweight slacks, uh, that he just made up on his own and sent to me 3 or 4 months ago. There's a light brown and a light green, a rather soft green, a soft brown.

JH: Yes sir

LBJ: and they're real lightweight now and I need about six pairs for summer wear.

JH: yes sir

LBJ: I want a couple, maybe three of the light brown kind of a almost powder color like a powder on a ladies face. Then they were some green and some light pair, if you had a blue in that or a black, then I'd have one blue and one black. I need about six pairs to wear around in the evening when I come in from work

JH: yes sir

LBJ: I need...they're about a half a inch too tight in the waist.

JH: Do you recall sir the exact size, I just want to make sure we get them right for you

LBJ: No, I don't know - you all just guessed at 'em I think, some - wouldn't you the measurement there?

JH: we can find it for you

LBJ: well I can send you a pair. I want them half a inch larger in the waist than they were before except I want two or three inches of stuff left back in there so I can take them up. I vary ten or 15 pounds a month.

JH: alright sir

LBJ: So leave me at least two and a half, three inches in the back where I can let them out or take them up. And make these a half an inch bigger in the waist. And make the pockets at least an inch longer, my money, my knife, everything falls out - wait just a minute.

Operator: Would you hold on a minute please?

[conversation on hold for two minutes]

LBJ: Now the pockets, when you sit down, everything falls out, your money, your knife, everything, so I need at least another inch in the pockets. And another thing - the crotch, down where your nuts hang - is always a little too tight, so when you make them up, give me an inch that I can let out there, uh because they cut me, it's just like riding a wire fence. These are almost, these are the best I've had anywhere in the United States,

JH: Fine

LBJ: But, uh when I gain a little weight they cut me under there. So, leave me , you never do have much of margin there. See if you can't leave me an inch from where the zipper (burps) ends, round, under my, back to my bunghole, so I can let it out there if I need to.

JH: Right

LBJ: Now be sure you have the best zippers in them. These are good that I have. If you get those to me I would sure be grateful

JH: Fine, Now where would you like them sent please?

LBJ: White House.

JH: Fine

LBJ: Now, uh, I don't guess there is any chance of getting a very lightweight shirt, sport shirt to go with that slack, is there? That same color?

JH: We don't make them, but we can have them made up for you.

LBJ: If you might look around, I wear about a 17, extra long.

JH: Would you like in the same fabric?

LBJ: Yeah I sure would, I don't know whether that's too heavy for a shirt.

JH: I think it'd be too heavy for a shirt.

LBJ: I sure want the lightest I can, in the same color or matching it. If you don't mind, find me somebody up there who makes good shirts and make a shirt to match each one of them and if they're good, we'll order some more.

JH: Fine

LBJ: I just sure will appreciate this, I need it more than anything. And uh, now that's a..about it. I guess I could get a jacket made outta that if I wanted to, couldn't I?

JH: I think that - didn't Sam Haggar have some jackets made?

LBJ: Yeah you sent me some jackets some earlier, but they were way too short. They hit me about halfway down my belly. I have a much longer waist. But I thought if they had material like that and somebody could make me a jacket, I'd sent them a sample to copy from.

JH: Well I tell you what, you send us this, we'll find someone to make it

LBJ: - ok

JH: We'll supply the material to match it

LBJ: Ok, I'll do that. Uh now, how do I - can you give this boy the address because I'm running to a funeral and give this boy the address to where we can send the trousers - don't worry, you'll get the measurements out of them and add a half an inch to the back and an give us couple of an inch to the pockets and a inch underneath to we can let them out.

JH: What you 'd like is a little more stride in the crotch

LBJ: Yeah that's right. What I'd like is to give me a half a inch more then leave me some more. Ok here he is.

JH: Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the others

---o0o---

Lady Bird Johnson, Austin hero missed and praised

I know quite a bit about Lady Bird Johnson. I've read her diaries, and many books about her husband. I didn't realize how great her stature was in Texas, or at least in Austin, until I arrived in town, just one week after her funeral. Everywhere in Austin are posters, banners, and signs commemorating her life. Here is a snapshot of one I saw at La Pena on Congress Street:



At the Concert to Save Town Lake, many of the speakers praised her efforts to beautify Texas. In particular, Lady Bird loved Town Lake and was instrumental in having all the hike and bike trails, and gardens built there. In fact, it sounds like they are considering naming Town Lake after her. In any case, speaker after speaker praised her for her charm, wit, warmth and envionmental activism. She is indeed missed.

Town Lake is actually the Colorado River, or rather the Colorado River between two dams. It is a huge park, with 10 miles of trails, and lots of wildflowers, and really the centerpiece of Austin.
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The LBJ Museum and Library in Austin

I took my second trip to the LBJ Library on the University of Texas campus yesterday. There were a lot of great exhibits as usual, and especially the one on the Electrification of Rural Texas. If you get a chance to go to Austin, don't miss this place. Hero or monster, or both, LBJ was a key president, and probably did more for African-Americans than any President since Lincoln.

The library is not afraid of showing all the contradictions in this often tortured, frequently cranky, and always ambitious man. LBJ often frequented the library in the last years of his life...

On campus, you can also see the Tower. The tower is where the first mass shooting of innocents occurred in America—a harbinger of what was to come, really. It is where the first American parallel killer went bananas. Charles Whitman went up in the tower in 1966, and killed fourteen people and injured dozens more in a little over ninety minutes. They closed the tower for over 20 years, but it reopened a few years ago. To get up there you have to pass through metal detectors, and there are armed guards on the observation deck.






Other recent postings on LBJ:

LBJ responds to White House correspondent Dan Rather (and links to other LBJ photos) (has links to dozens of great photos).
Three more photographs of LBJ
Jerry Seinfeld Called Them The Close Talkers, Or, The Study Of Proxemics
LBJ responds to White House correspondent Dan Rather (and links to other LBJ photos)
LBJ meets FDR
Photograph: LBJ howls like a dog
Another good LBJ photograph - circa 1960
Photograph: LBJ in Vietnam
Photograph: LBJ agonizing over the Vietnam War
Photograph: LBJ and MLK meet up
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Three more photographs of LBJ

click to enlarge these photographs

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