First it was cotton and sugar plantations in Louisiana and Mississippi, then the Civil War in Vicksburg, the Civil Rights Museum and Graceland and Elvis in Memphis. Today, the Lyndon Baines Johnson Museum here in Austin. Taken together, we’ve had a pretty good review of American history from the mid 19th through the mid 20th centuries. They’re all interconnected, culturally, intellectually, economically, socially and politically. What MLK and LBJ addressed flowed directly from what went on in antebellum America and the rock-n-roll era of Elvis.
The LBJ museum at the University of Texas, co-located with the LBJ School of Public Affairs, is a ten-story building that houses a fine museum detailing LBJ’s life and political career plus the library containing the papers and records of his administration. The unexpected bonus in the museum is a detailed treatment of Lady Bird, LBJ’s wife and the First Lady of his administration.
Lady Bird was a significant force in her husband’s career. She funded his early campaigns for the US House and Senate, drawing money from an inheritance from her mother who died when Lady Bird was five years old. She ran his political office while LBJ served in the Navy during WWII and during his convalescence following his heart attack in 1955. As First Lady, she championed programs such as the Highway Beautification Act and Head Start and her husband’s various Great Society programs. She actively campaigned on her own for her husband and the 1960 Kennedy/Johnson ticket.
A successful businesswoman, she purchased and operated radio and TV stations in Texas and became the first lady to become a millionaire on her own initiative.
LBJ, of course, became president upon the assassination of JFK in 1963 and was elected president in his own right in 1964 with Walter Mondale as his vice president. His legislative record is as long as your arm, the key points being part of his Great Society initiative, including Medicare, Voting Rights and Civil Rights legislation. As the exhibits and especially the phone recordings LBJ made during his presidency show, he was both a skilled politician able to work across the aisle and a strong arm twister able to convince people to do what they didn’t want to do.
In one conversation LBJ convinced Senator Richard Russell, a democrat from Georgia, to serve on the Warren Commission formed to investigate the assassination of JFK. Russell said he disliked Earl Warren personally and would under no circumstances work with him. LBJ said, “You’ll do this for the good of the country. Your personal likes and dislikes don’t matter; you’ll do it for the country.” Russell sputtered but LBJ prevailed. Russell served.
His eventual political downfall came as we know over the buildup in Viet Nam and his inability to achieve a satisfactory solution. He decided not to run for reelection in 1968 due to his failing popularity and his belief that his heart condition would not permit him to fulfill his full term. In fact, he died of heart attacks at age 64 in 1973.
After almost four hours in the museum, we retired to a nearby barbeque spot, Micklethwait Craft Meats, for lunch. A guy in the parking lot told us it is the best barbeque place in Austin and we found nothing to disprove his claim. Beef ribs, beef brisket and pork ribs were the main items, served from a food truck. Beer and wine are available at a co-located store. Seating is on picnic tables under a sun shield. Temperatures were in the low 70s today so the meal was fulfilling. Actually, too fulfilling. They killed not only the fatted calf but its mother as well to feed the four of us.
The four of us included our friend Chip from Melrose and his son-in-law, Charlie, from Edina, MN. After lunch, we went to their Air BnB up in the hills north and west of downtown where Betsy, Charlie’s wife and Jeanne, Chip’s wife and almost-five-year-old daughter/granddaughter Penny joined us. We sat on the veranda overlooking the countryside with Lake Travis in the background. Drinks, cheese and chips followed by pizza completed our gastronomic overindulgence for the day. Penny took pizza orders as only a five-year-old can. We had great conversations with Betsy and Charlie, reminiscing over our time in Minneapolis back in the day.
Tomorrow we’re exploring caves. We’ll figure out what that means tomorrow.
