The Other Texas President

Post date: Dec 23, 2014 3:39:43 AM

I have always had mixed emotions about Lyndon Johnson - Medicare, comprehensive education and health programs, urban renewal, conservation, right-to-vote and the war on poverty were all his creations. But I also remember very well how he badly mismanaged the Vietnam War.  However, after visiting Johnson City (pop. 6,000 - named for his great-grandfather), touring his childhood home, the family ranch, the one-room schoolhouse, and being really moved by our tour through the "Texas White House,"  I came to really appreciate him.  He was brash and obnoxious and picked up beagles by the ears, but he also passed more education legislation than any other President and was a true conservationist before the idea was even popular.  The tour of the Texas White House begins in the office.  His desk, chair and personal belongings are there, as are those of his Secretary and Press Secretary.  You can't take photos and you can't touch anything, but you can feel his presence.  Everything is just as it was when they were there. There is nothing pretentious about the house - just comfortable furniture and decorations.  In his 5 years as President, he visited the ranch 74 times.  I can see how it served to refresh him and gave him the strength to go back and fight some more.  There is a great photo of him and Lady Bird standing and talking in a field of wildflowers.  She loved wildflowers.  After he died, she lived there for another 10 years.  It is still a working ranch, designed to demonstrate best practices of conservation and farming. He was a gifted and effective leader and they were an admirable couple.