LBJ, 36th
One of our favorites
Following along in our Presidential museums and libraries, we stopped in Austin to see the Lyndon Blaine’s Johnson museum. Other than Abraham Lincoln’s, this museum is our favorite so far. LBJ is probably most known for his rather crude and rough personality, and the debacle of the Vietnam war. Although those are both well documented facts about the 36th President, they unfortunately overshadow so many of his unprecedented accomplishments.
LBJ was from rural Texas and began his career teaching high school to primarily poor Latino children. His unwavering support of education as the great societal equalizer, as well as true racial and gender equality, guided his entire public service career.
Five years of records, these are just part of this legacy.
I wish I could have heard this conversation…
There are so many things we, until recently at least, take for granted in this country, that are as a direct result of legislation enacted during his 5 years president. Johnson’s Great Society program to end poverty in the US resulted in Congress approving 226 of his 252 legislative requests, most notably clean air and water, Civil Rights act of 1964, Higher education, Voting Rights,Housing and Urban Development, Fair Housing, Indian Bill of Rights, Scientific knowledge exchange, Title 9, Guaranteed student loans, child nutrition, Fair immigration Law...whew! So much more.
He was also the first president to record all communications in the White House, and you can listen to conversations between LBJ and Lady Bird, Herbert Hoover, Robert Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy and much more. I’ll bet Nixon regretted carrying on that practice to the end of his days!
We should never forget the painful lessons we learned as a country from the Vietnam War. Yet, LBJ was a President who should be remembered for much more than that.
“To deny a man his hopes because of his color or race, his religion or the place of his birth is not only to do injustice, it is to deny America and to dishonor the dead who gave their lives for American Freedom.”
LBJ
The wall of greatness.
