Friday, August 26, 2011

Lyndon B. Johnson

Lyndon B. Johnson 36th President of the United States (1963-1969)

LBJ sites that I have visited:

LBJ boyhood home. Johnson City, TX
                                          
LBJ Ranch (birthplace, home, and gravesite) Stonewall, TX
                                          
LBJ Library and Museum Austin, TX



LBJ's boyhood home in Johnson City, TX



I visited the LBJ Ranch in June 2009. We were visiting some of my wives family in Huston. I wanted to leave Huston by 5 am, which would put us at the Ranch around 9. We drove the 3 hours to Austin and then continued west. About 15 miles before we got to the Ranch we came to Johnson City, TX. Where LBJ's family lived when he was a boy. There is a nice visitors center there that directs you to the Ranch. So after a few pictures we continued onto the Ranch.


A reconstructed LBJ birthplace at his Ranch, Stonewall, TX



LBJ's Ranch house. Stonewall, TX



LBJ's gravestone in the family cemetery at the LBJ Ranch



Klo and I at LBJ's gravesite. Stonewall, TX



LBJ Library and Museum. Austin, TX

In June 2011, we went back to Texas. Simular reason as in 2009. We had decided to go down to Texas so that my wives family down there could meet our new little girls Khloe in 2009. In 2011 we had another addition to introduce to the family down there, our son Nicholas. This time in Texas we saw the Bush 41 and LBJ Libraries, as well as the Texas State Capital Building and The Alamo.

The LBJ Library was a nice stop. The best part is that it was free.



LBJ's oval office at his Library


LBJ's boots and hat displayed at his library




Klo and I with a bust of LBJ at his Library, 2 years after we visited his gravesite.


The LBJ Ranch remains one of my favorate Presidential sites. Wheather you like LBJ or not you leave with an appreciation for him.

LBJ was a Congressman, Senator, Senate Minority leader, and Senate Majority leader. He ran for President in 1960, but was beat by John F. Kennedy for the Democratic nomination. Kennedy picked Johnson as his running mate to help carry Texas. Johnson assumed the Presidency after Kennedy's assassination. He did alot of good in getting civil rights legislation passed. But he also escalated the Vietnam  War, which was a very unpopular decision.

LBJ is a good example that every President makes good choices, and every President makes bad choices.  We often remember them for the bad choices.

He left office very unpopular, and retired to his Ranch. He would only live another 4 years, dying of a heart attack in 1973.

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