#that or the 36th president lyndon baines Johnson

[maturemenoftvandfilms]

‘He Called It Jumbo’

CHAPTER TWO: The Johnson Treatment

Back in the 60s, I served as an aide to Lyndon Baines Johnson, often referred to by his initials LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, U.S. representative and U.S. senator. Plus a philanderer of the highest order. Had a twenty year affair with one mistress, an illegitimate child with another mistress, and numerous brief affairs as well. And a few weeks ago, had me on his cock which calls "Jumbo." For obvious reasons.

Even after my encounter, President Johnson acted like nothing had happen and continued to rely on his bevy of babes referred to by the other his male aides as his harem. All of his secretaries, plus his two mistresses, got the Johnson Treatment. The Johnson Treatment you ask is when he'd corner someone, leaned his face into theirs and threatened, promised, flattered or cajoled, the person to give him what he wanted. This was the “Johnson Treatment.” Thanks in part to this tactic, Johnson would go on to become a powerful Senator and eventually President of the United States. Plus have a lot of sex.

And to give his wife, Lady Bird Johnson the illusion of being a faithful husband, he tasked the Secret Service with keeping his philandering from her. Even having a buzzer install to warn him when she's coming. Obviously, that didn't work as Lady Bird endured his behavior, with only occasional reprimands. One of which is having me work with him instead of one of his bevy of at secretaries.

For several weeks, I was tasked with working extra hours, including nights and weekends with President Johnson. Although he was crude as the day is long, I would find myself admiring his tall, lanky, 56-year-old figure. And of course, Jumbo. Meanwhile, I suspected he might be horned up, not having access to his harem. The tension I was feeling was distracting and unwelcome.

Just then, standing beside me, President Johnson openly rummaged around in his groin in a most histrionic fashion possible. I could see his cock straining against the material of his pants and I admit, I started to get pretty hard. I guess it was because I was surprised (and aroused) that I stared too long, and he noticed. I looked up and he was looking right at me, smiling.

"Damn, I could really use a good blow job. I'm so tense. Best medicine I know of, right son?" President Johnson flatly said.

By now, President Johnson is towering over me, invading my personal space as I uncomfortably lean back, clenching my arms to my chest, mumbling something inconsequential in response.

"You like sucking cock. Don't you Davis?"

"Ugh, er, I guess so Mr. President…", my voice trails.

"Get on your knees boy. Your President needs you."

I quickly went down to my knees and watched in growing excitement as he unbuckled his pants and pulled out a semi-erect Jumbo. I took a hold of his shaft, took the tip into my mouth and sucked on it, running my tongue around it and running the tip of my tongue along his opening, tasting the first bitter sweet drops of pre-cum. I did this till he began to stroke the back of my head, I then opened my mouth a bit further and went down his shaft. The old man moaned as I firmly sucked on Jumbo, feeling it grow in my mouth, mushrooming out.

Fully erect he was above average length at 12 to 13 inches and slightly above average thickness. It had been months since I had been with anyone else and it felt so good to a cock in my mouth again. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the smell of his crotch and the wet sounds of my lips sucking an erect shaft. The sensation of that cock sliding almost out of my mouth then, back in till it touched the back of my throat was incredible.

“Hell, that feels wonderful.” He added as he suddenly reached down and grabbed me behind the head with his huge, weathered hands.

Then he started moving my mouth up and down his thick dick shaft as he fucked my mouth like he was fucking some pussy. I took his plunging dick and made love to it with my tongue as the old man repeatedly shoved it down my throat and pulled it quickly back out.

“Damn, this is hot! Shit your mouth is better than a pussy.” President Johnson called out excitedly as he fucked my mouth faster and faster.

I could hear him panting as I felt the head of his wonderful cock swell just before he tightened his grip and put it fully in my mouth and began to cum. I almost gagged as his cum splashed the back of my throat, I swallowed most of it but some dribbled down my chin.

"You really know how to suck a cock, boy. Didn't take you long at all to get me off." He said as he slid his cock in and out of my wanting mouth, finishing his orgasm.

I smiled up at him as I wiped his man cream off my chin. I continued to stroke him as he petted my hair.

"Stand up and take those pants off." He said as he pulled me up to my feet and smacked my ass.

I did as I was told and was standing naked from the waist down with my hands on the desk spreading my legs slightly. Then he slid his hands down to my round ass and squeezed it before getting behind me, gripping my hips and spreading my ass cheeks with his thumbs. He rubbed the head of Jumbo along my crack and especially my pale pink button of an asshole before I heard him spit into his hand. Then I felt the pressure as he pushed the head into my man pussy, stretching me as it slipped past my opening. I groaned half in pain half in pleasure as he pierced me with his cock.

"That's it. Let ol' Jumbo in." The old man said as he slowly pulled out till the head almost slipped out then thrust it smoothly half back in.

Each entry into me made me catch my breath and made my chest tight as his rhythm began to pick up speed, grunting with pleasure. I gasped out loud as I pushed back against his thrusts enjoying the sound of skin slapping together, and that hard dick pounding my ass. He fucked me with a desperate need as fast as he could for another ten minutes.

"Oh God, you're so fucking big! Fuck me damn it FUCK ME! Damn it, fuck my hole! Own it!"

Hearing that, spurred him to pump into me faster and harder, forcing more moans and gasps from me. "God yes! Fuck me Mr. President, Fuck me!"

President Johnson's rhythm became erratic, my dick was vibrating with excitement and my balls were tight to my body waiting to cum. Suddenly, he pulled out, pressed the head of Jumbo against my ass and came. The first stream of his cum bounced back to cover the head of his dick, he pressed his hot cock up and the next stream went up my back. The last stream went into my opened hole. President Johnson moved the head around smearing his cum on my skin before he slipped it back down to my sore hole. I had came without even touching my cock, but hadn't noticed while he fucked me.  

"Damn boy, that was better then any pussy I have ever fucked." He said still smoothly pumping my ass like he was working up to come again.

"Damn, Mr. President, how long can you go?" I said as he pushed that wonderful cock back in me as far as it could go, sending a shiver through my balls and up my dick and through my chest.

"With an ass this tight, I can go for a while longer. But as much as I love this, we better get cleaned up before Bird comes a looking." He said holding himself in me for a moment longer than with drew.

"But I will find a way to fuck you again. Count on it."

We got cleaned up and dressed just before Lady Bird came though the Oval Office door. Ben told him I was everything he was told I was and more. And they went outside and talked. President Johnson was a man of his word. Between his wife, virtually all of his secretaries, his two mistresses and I got the Johnson Treatment. Johnson was a sexual beast who'd screw anything that would crawl, basically. He was a horny old man.

[mydaddywiki]

Lyndon B. Johnson

Physique: Average Build Height: 6'3½" (1.92 m)

Lyndon Baines Johnson (August 27, 1908 – January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served as the 37th vice president from 1961 to 1963. A Democrat from Texas, Johnson also served as a U.S. representative and U.S. senator. Johnson is one of only three, along with Richard Nixon and Andrew Johnson, to have served in all four federally elected positions of the U.S. government. After he left office, Johnson suffered a heart attack and died on January 22, 1973 at the age of 64.

Tall, lanky and homely looking, during his administration he signed into law the Civil Rights Act (1964), the most comprehensive civil rights legislation since the Reconstruction era, initiated major social service programs, and bore the brunt of national opposition to his vast expansion of American involvement in the Vietnam War. He was also a philanderer of the highest order and a grade A dick, literally and figuratively, that is if you believe the rumors.

LBJ was married to Claudia Alta Taylor, known to her friends as "Lady Bird." The couple had two daughters. Throughout his life, LBJ’s extramarital affairs were anything but discrete. His wife, endured his behavior, with only occasional reprimands. LBJ has been referred to as a "giant" of a man, a description only his late wife Lady Bird (and dozens of other younger women) could verify. When swapping tales of womanizing with his fellow Senators, he would often brag about it, saying things like “Old Jumbo sure got a workout last night.” Now that's swagger.

[deadpresidents]

"Thank you Mr. President" Jackie Kennedy's letter to LBJ less than 24 hours after burying JFK

When Lyndon Baines Johnson was sworn in as President on board Air Force One at Love Field in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963, Jackie Kennedy was standing next to him, her pink Chanel dress, white gloves, and bare legs smeared with the blood and brain matter of her assassinated husband.  Traumatized and almost certainly in shock, Jackie wanted to support the new President and new First Lady as power was officially transferred in the same solemn ceremony that has always marked such an occasion in American History.  As the Presidential airplane left Dallas and returned to the nation's capital, Jackie sat in the back of the plane with the coffin containing her husband's body.

Despite her deep personal loss, her traumatic experience, and her obvious physical exhaustion, Jackie threw herself into planning President Kennedy's funeral as soon as she returned to Washington, D.C.  Jackie was sensitive to the needs of the country and protective of her husband's legacy.  When she arrived at the White House, she requested information about the exact specifications of Abraham Lincoln's funeral after he was assassinated in 1865.  Even though it was the middle of the night, Kennedy staffers went to the National Archives and the Library of Congress to research the Lincoln funeral and Jackie helped make plans for the pageantry that would commence over the next few days.  With a few minor exceptions, JFK's funeral was nearly an exact replica of Lincoln's funeral almost 100 years earlier.  The effect was monumental.  Kennedy's funeral will always be remembered as a dignified, iconic moment in our nation's history.

As Jackie Kennedy prepared to bury the 35th President, Lyndon Johnson consumed himself with becoming the 36th President, continuing Kennedy's work and leading the nation through the darkness of the assassination and its aftermath.  When Air Force One landed at Andrews Air Force Base on the night of November 22nd, the Secret Service urged now-President Johnson to take a helicopter directly to the White House.  Johnson immediately vetoed the move as he thought it would disrespectful for him to land on the South Lawn of the White House (as Presidents regularly do) while Kennedy's family still lived in the building.  When LBJ arrived at the White House via motorcade to begin his work that night, the new President went directly to an office in the Old Executive Office Building rather than working out of the Oval Office.

Over the next few weeks, President Johnson extended many kindnesses to Jackie Kennedy.  LBJ and Jackie had always had an extremely close relationship, and Johnson never forgot how kind Jackie had been when LBJ was Vice President -- a depressing time for Johnson due to his lack of power and influence.  During his Vice Presidency, Johnson had experienced many problems with members of Kennedy's Administration, but was always treated very well by President and Mrs. Kennedy. 

The Kennedys had two young children who had just lost their father, and the first thing that LBJ did as President was write two letters to President Kennedy's children to read when they were old enough to understand them.  When JFK was elected President, the Kennedys hoped that their daughter Caroline would be able to attend a normal school with children her age.  When it became apparent that the logistics wouldn't allow that, a room was prepared at the White House for Caroline's teacher to hold class daily.  When JFK was assassinated, LBJ insisted that Caroline's class continue using the White House for classes as long as Jackie wished.  In fact, LBJ urged Jackie to continue living in the White House throughout the entirety of his term.  Jackie moved out within a few weeks, but she appreciated President Johnson's offer.

What Jackie Kennedy most appreciated, however, was President Johnson's presence at John F. Kennedy's funeral.  On November 25, 1963, the entire nation stopped and world leaders gathered in Washington to bury the slain President (one place that the nation didn't stop was Dallas, where JFK's assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was shot and killed as he was being transferred to another police facility).  Kennedy's funeral was historic and emotional.  The enduring image is of John F. Kennedy, Jr. -- celebrating his 3rd birthday on that very day -- stepping forward to salute as father's flag-draped casket passed by.

Another stirring image from that day was accompanying President Kennedy's funeral cortége.  As Kennedy's casket rested on the exact same caisson that carried Abraham Lincoln's casket, a remarkable procession of some of the most famous, powerful people in the world followed behind it.  Led by Jackie Kennedy and the slain Presidents two brothers, Robert F. Kennedy and Edward Kennedy, scores and scores of political leaders, diplomats, monarchs, and more trailed the casket, marching in complete silence other than the sounds of their feet on the pavement.  Dozens upon dozens of countries were represented -- not just by ambassadors or minor officials, but by Kings, Queens, Emperors, Presidents, and Prime Ministers.  When one looks at the photos, our eyes are immediately drawn to the majestic strength of Jackie Kennedy leading the procession.  If the faces of those behind her are scanned, they reveal legendary leaders such as Charles de Galle, Haile Selassie, U Thant, Golda Meier, King Baudoiun I, Lester Pearson, Willy Brandt, Queen Frederica, Eamon de Valera, Prince Philip, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, and scores of other international figures, not to mention the leading Americans, who took to the streets of Washington, D.C. -- on foot -- to honor President Kennedy.

It's often forgotten that Lyndon Johnson was there.  Johnson was such a larger-than-life character and so rarely relegated to the background that it's difficult to imagine a scene where he would not be the major player.  Since President Kennedy had been murdered in broad daylight on the streets of a major American city just three days earlier, the Secret Service -- understandably nervous due to their failure to protect one President that week -- was adamantly opposed to President Johnson's participation.  Johnson overruled the Secret Service concerns and turned down their insistence that he ride in an armor-plated limousine.  For maybe the only time in his life, Lyndon Johnson -- now President of the United States -- went virtually unnoticed to the public.

Yet, one person did notice.  And, on November 26, 1963, despite all that she had been through; despite all that she was feeling; despite all that she had lost; despite the fact that just 24 hours earlier she had buried her husband, the father of her two young children, the 34-year-old widowed former First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy sat down in the White House and wrote this letter to the new President of the United States, Lyndon Baines Johnson:

November 26 Tuesday Dear Mr. President, Thank you for walking yesterday - behind Jack.  You did not have to do that - I am sure many people forbid you to take such a risk - but you did it anyway.  Thank you for your letters to my children.  What those letters will mean to them later - you can imagine.  The touching thing is, they have always loved you so much, they were most moved to have a letter from you now. And most of all, Mr. President, thank you for the way you have always treated me - the way you and Lady Bird have always been to me - before, when Jack was alive, and now as President. I think the relationship of the Presidential and Vice-Presidential families could be a rather strained one.  From the history I have been reading ever since I came to the White House, I gather it often was in the past. But you were Jack's right arm - and I always thought the greatest act of a gentleman that I had seen on this earth - was how you - the Majority Leader when he came to the Senate as just another little freshman who looked up to you and took orders from you, could then serve as Vice President to a man who had served under you and been taught by you. But more than that we were friends, all four of us.  All you did for me as a friend and the happy times we had.  I always thought way before the nomination that Lady Bird should be First Lady - but I don't need to tell you here what I think of her qualities - her extraordinary grace of character - her willingness to assume ever burden - She assumed so many for me and I love her very much - and I love your two daughters - Lynda Bird most because I know her the best - and we first met when neither of us could get a seat to hear President Eisenhower's State of the Union message, and someone found us a place on one of the steps on the aisle where we sat together.  If we had known then what our relationship would be now. It was so strange - last night I was wandering through this house.  There in the Treaty Room is your chandelier, and I had framed - the page we all signed - you - Senator Dirksen and Mike Mansfield - underneath I had written "The day the Vice President brought the East Room chandelier back from the Capitol." Then in the library I showed Bobby the Lincoln Record book you gave - you see all you gave - and now you are called on to give so much more. Your office - you are the first President to sit in it as it looks today.  Jack always wanted a red rug - and I had curtains designed for it that I thought were as dignified as they should be for a President's office. Late last night a moving man asked me if I wanted Jack's ship pictures left on the wall for you (They were clearing the office to make room for you) - I said no because I remembered all the fun Jack had those first days hanging pictures of things he loved, setting out his collection of whales teeth etc. But of course they are there only waiting for you to ask for them if the walls look too bare.  I thought you would want to put things from Texas in it - I pictured some gleaming longhorns - I hope you put them somewhere. It mustn't be very much help to you your first day in office - to hear children on the lawn at recess.  It is just one more example of your kindness that you let them stay - I promise - they will soon be gone - Thank you Mr. President Respectfully Jackie

At the LBJ Library on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin, there are many displays of priceless, historic artifacts that tell the story of the years of Lyndon Johnson, his service to the United States, and the world that he knew.  As you pass through the exhibits, it's difficult not to be astonished, inspired, and touched by what you see around you during your visit.  Many of the things you'll see there will take your breath away, but nothing leaves an impression on your heart and soul like the seven pieces of paper containing these words in Jackie Kennedy's handwriting -- words that somehow convey strength and fragility, evoke optimism and sadness, and simultaneously project support while demonstrating a sense of loss that very few of us can imagine.  Items like these are the source materials for what history truly is -- a biography of humanity, a story about people.

[brookstonalmanac]

Birthdays 8.27

Beer Birthdays

Fred Bowman (1944)

Five Favorite Birthdays

Barbara Bach; actor (1947)

C.S. Forester; English writer (1899)

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel; German philosopher (1770)

Tarzan of the Apes; fictional character (1912)

Jeanette Winterson; English writer (1959)

Famous Birthdays

Patrick J. Adams; Canadian actor (1981)

Andreas Alföldi; Hungarian archaeologist and historian (1895)

Fernest Arceneaux; singer and accordion player (1940)

G.W. Bailey; actor (1944)

Gordon Bashford; English engineer, Range Rover co-creator (1916)

Tim Bogert; singer and bass player (1944)

Carl Bosch; German chemist (1874)

"Downtown" Julie Brown; V.J. (1959)

Sarah Chalke; actor (1976)

Alice Coltrane; pianist and composer (1937)

Jeff Cook; singer-songwriter and guitarist (1949)

Audrey C. Delsanti; French astronomer and biologist (1976)

Daryl "The Captain" Dragon; pop singer, songwriter (1942)

Theodore Dreiser; writer (1871)

Charles Fleischer; comedian and actor (1950)

Tom Ford; fashion designer (1961)

Chuck Girard; singer-songwriter and pianist (1943)

Samuel Goldwyn; film producer (1882)

Jeff Grubb; game designer and author (1957)

Johann Georg Hamann; German philosopher (1730)

Lyndon Baines Johnson; 36th U.S. President (1908)

Tony Kanal; British-American bass player and songwriter (1970)

Tom Lanoye; Belgian author, poet, and playwright (1958)

Ira Levin; writer (1929)

Alex Lifeson; Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (1953)

Norah Lofts; English author (1904)

Glen Matlock; English singer-songwriter and bass player (1956)

Katharine McCormick; biologist (1875)

John Mehler; drummer (1948)

Kenji Miyazawa; Japanese author and poet (1896)

Ann Murray; Irish soprano (1949)

Giuseppe Peano; Italian mathematician and philosopher (1858)

Kim Petras; German singer-songwriter (1992)

Jimmy Pop; singer-songwriter and guitarist (1972)

Norman Foster Ramsey Jr.; physicist (1915)

Man Ray; photographer, artist (1890)

Martha Ray; actor (1916)

Harry Reems; porn actor (1947)

Paul "Pee-Wee Herman" Reubens; actor, comedian (1952)

Robert Richardson; cinematographer (1955)

Tommy Sands; pop singer (1937)

Diana Scarwid; actress (1955)

Sonny Sharrock; guitarist (1940)

Reece Shearsmith; English actor, comedian and writer (1969)

Léon Theremin, Russian physicist, engineer, Theremin inventor (1896)

Kay Walsh; English actress and dancer (1911)

Tuesday Weld; actor (1943)

Chandra Wilson; actress (1969)

Lester Young; saxophonist and clarinet player (1909)

[bobmccullochny]

History

August 27

Birthday - Charles Dawes (1865-1951) was born in Marietta, Ohio. He served as U.S. Vice President from 1925-29, and is best remembered for his "Dawes Plan" for German reparations following World War I. He received the 1925 Nobel Peace Prize.

Birthday - Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-1973) the 36th U.S. President was born near Stonewall, Texas. He ascended to the presidency upon the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Johnson served until January 20, 1969.

Birthday - Mother Teresa (1910-1997) was born (as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu) in Skopje, Yugoslavia. She founded a religious order of nuns in Calcutta, India, called the Missionaries of Charity and spent her life working to help the poor and sick of India.

[waterdamageroofingofaustin]

The LBJ Presidential Library and Museum: A Tribute to the Life and Legacy of President Lyndon B. Johnson

The Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum is a research center and museum dedicated to the life and legacy of the 36th President of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson.  Located on the University of Texas in Austin campus, the LBJ Library and Museum are home to over 45 million pages of documents related […] Originally published here: https://austinroofingandwaterdamage.com/lbj-presidential-library-tribute-austin-tx/

[xtruss]

Lyndon Baines Johnson Speaks, in August 1967. Photograph: Anonymous/AP

Interview: LBJ OK? Historian Mark Lawrence on a President Resurgent — Martin Pengelly

Fifty years after Lyndon Johnson died, the director of the 36th president’s library discusses his politics and progressive ideals

Fifty years ago on Sunday, Lyndon Baines Johnson died. He was 64, and had been out of power since stepping down as president in 1969, in the shadow of the Vietnam war. Forty-five years later, in 2018, the Guardian marked the anniversary of his death. The headline: “Why Lyndon Johnson, a truly awful man, is my political hero.”

Mark Lawrence laughs.

“I think I read that one,” he says.

It seems likely. Lawrence, a distinguished Vietnam scholar, is director of the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, Texas.

Johnson was a Texas Democrat who rose through Congress to be vice-president to John F Kennedy, then assumed the presidency when Kennedy was killed. From 1963 to 1969, Johnson presided over great social reform at home and gathering disaster abroad. His legacy has never been less than complex, his place in American culture attracting historians by the hundred and big-name actors in droves. Bryan Cranston, Brian Cox and Woody Harrelson have recently played LBJ.

Lawrence continues: “One of the ideas that an awful lot of people hold about LBJ, and I think it’s not wholly incorrect, but it’s problematic, is that he was this vulgar, crude man who used four-letter words and demeaned his subordinates and threw temper tantrums.

“There’s no question that Caro” – Robert Caro’s biographical masterwork – “is the go-to source for the uglier parts of his personal style. But I think you can also make an argument, and Caro I think comes around to this view in the later books, that LBJ managed to combine whatever elements of that old caricature hold up with a genuine sense of compassion for ordinary people.

Mark Lawrence. Photograph: Jay Godwin/LBJ Library

“Many biographers see the link between his own hardscrabble youth and the struggles of his family and a peculiar sensitivity to the plight of the downtrodden, which certainly affected his view of racial discrimination. The sensitivity to poverty, whether it affected Black, brown or white, came from his own experience.

“My writing about LBJ has largely been critical, but I don’t have any difficulty saying this was a man with a genuine sense of compassion.”

Lawrence is speaking to mark the half-century since the 36th president died. LBJ is in the news anyway. He was the architect of the Great Society, overseeing the passage of civil rights protections and a welfare system now under renewed attack. Joe Biden often compares his post-Covid presidency to that of Franklin D Roosevelt amid the Great Depression, but comparisons to Johnson are ready to hand.

Lawrence says: “The points of similarity are remarkable. The guy with long service in the Senate” – Johnson from Texas, 1949-1961, Biden from Delaware, 1973-2009 – “the guy who could cross the aisle, the guy who spoke in pragmatic, bipartisan terms. Both of these guys became vice-president to a younger, less experienced but much more charismatic person” – Biden to Barack Obama – “and that was kind of their ticket to the presidency.

“But I think some of these comparisons are ultimately unfair to Biden, because the political context is just so different. My own view is, sure, LBJ deserves credit for being this enormously persuasive, forceful guy who knew how to bend people to his will. But at the end of the day, LBJ was pushing an open door.

“Even the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, these great achievements, they passed by big margins. There were bipartisan coalitions. LBJ deserves credit for his ability to put those coalitions together. But … I think it’s possible to exaggerate LBJ’s importance and to forget the importance of Hubert Humphrey, Jacob Javits and Everett Dirksen, all key players as well.”

Bipartisan players, too. Humphrey was LBJ’s vice-president, Javits a Republican senator from New York, Dirksen, of Illinois, Republican Senate minority leader.

LBJ after signing the Civil Rights Act, with (left to right) Jacob Javits, Mike Mansfield, Hubert Humphrey, Everett Dirksen, John McCormack, and an unidentified participant. Photograph: Yoichi Okamoto/LBJ Library

“I think that’s precisely what’s lacking now. The situation is so polarised that you could bring LBJ back from the dead and he’d be an utter failure in this political context, because his skills would have been meaningless in the context of 2023.”

Biden passed a coronavirus rescue package, an infrastructure bill and the Inflation Reduction Act, all meant to help the US recover from Covid, with razor-thin margins in Congress and against Republicans gone to extremes. LBJ’s shadow may be long – at a shade over 6ft 3in he is the second-tallest president, after Abraham Lincoln – but Biden does not necessarily labour within it.

So how might progressives see Johnson? If they read Caro, they will learn how he came from a world of Texas populism, tinged with socialism, that now seems far gone indeed.

“At least by the standards of the era,” Lawrence sees in LBJ “a genuine willingness to think hard about poverty and how to insulate people against economic forces over which individuals had no control whatsoever.”

Whether teaching in a dirt-poor school in Cotulla in 1928 or working “for the National Youth Administration in the 1930s, LBJ shows glimmers of his willingness to cross racial lines and to think seriously about the situation of African Americans and Mexican Americans”.

Protestor Eyes Riot Police Outside 1968 Democratic National Convention<br>A young female protester wearing a helmet faces down helmeted and armed police officers at an anti-Vietnam War demonstration outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Chicago, Illinois, August 1968. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

To Lawrence, the Texas years “indicate that LBJ was an unusual person, for a southern white man who came of age in the 1920s and 30s.”

In the 1950s, when Johnson led the Senate, he defended white supremacy. As president, he oversaw the Vietnam disaster. But Charles Kaiser, a Guardian contributor and author of 1968 in America and The Gay Metropolis, also sees the bigger picture.

“In 1968, I hated Lyndon Johnson with all my heart, because I was 17 – and lived in fear of being drafted. Fifty years later, it is clear three other things about his presidency were much more important than the war that destroyed him.

Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird Johnson, in November 1972. Photograph: AP

“The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 made him the most courageous president since Lincoln. Johnson may or may not have said ‘We have lost the south for a generation’ after he signed the 1964 law, but he certainly knew that was true. By fighting for those two laws, he did more to redeem the promise of the Emancipation Proclamation than any president before him.

“Medicare is the third prong of a noble legacy. It did more to improve the lives of senior citizens than anything else except Franklin Roosevelt’s social security. A hundred years from now, I think Johnson will be considered one of our greatest presidents.”

To Lawrence, Johnson’s reputation is “mixed. But I think the mix of impressions is quite different from what it was certainly 30 years ago.

“When he died, and for many years thereafter, Vietnam hung so heavily over LBJ that he was a little bit radioactive … it was something conservatives and the left could agree on. Vietnam was a debacle and LBJ bore principal responsibility for it. But I think in the last decade and a half, there’s been a gradual reappraisal.

“The level of dysfunction and partisanship in Washington has led people to take another look at LBJ and how he was able to work across the aisle and achieve so much. There’s a kind of longing, I think, for that kind of political effectiveness.

Why Lyndon Johnson, A Truly Awful Man, Is My Political Hero — Jack Bernhardt, The Guardian USA , Monday 22 January 2018. Yes, LBJ Was a Crude Warmonger. But in Today’s Climate, A Leader Who Also Declares War on Poverty Comes Over as an Inspiration. President Lyndon Johnson in 1968, the year his reputation was ruined. Photograph: Bob Daugherty/AP

“So many of the issues that LBJ worked on are back with us, and I think this has led at least parts of the political spectrum to have a new appreciation for him.

“In a period when immigration and the environment and voting rights are under threat in a profound way, people are rediscovering LBJ as someone who maybe didn’t have perfect answers but worked very effectively, at least by the standards of recent decades, and achieved real results.”

— Martin Pengelly | Sunday 22 January 2023 | US Politics | The Guardian USA

[president-facts]

President Johnson was famous among White House staffers for having no shame about asking people to follow him into the bathroom to continue conversations

(x)

[flandersfamily]

LBJ Coloring Page: Listen and Learn

LBJ Coloring Page: Listen and Learn

On this date in history (August 27), Lyndon Baines Johnson was born in Stonewall, Texas. I may not have agreed with his politics, but I shared a home state with our 36th US President, so today I’m sharing this LBJ Coloring Page in his honor. LBJ Coloring Page LBJ famously quipped, “You aren’t learning anything when you’re talking.” With the possible exception of the trial-and-error kind of…

[jkanelis]

LBJ is spinning over GOP change in tone

LBJ is spinning over GOP change in tone

Lyndon Baines Johnson is considered to be the father of the Voting Rights Act, but the 36th president of the United States needed help to get it done. It came from Republicans in the Senate and the House of Representatives. Yes, the Texan reached far across the aisle to counter the Southern Democrats — many of whom were ardent racists — who resisted efforts to grant full voting rights to Black…

[deadpresidents]

How Lyndon Johnson Got His Name

Lyndon Baines Johnson is one of those few Presidents or political leaders who is instantly identifiable by his initials -- "LBJ" -- an exclusive club also populated by TR, FDR, and JFK but few others. Richard Nixon spent years and tons of energy working to become a member of that group, going as far as naming his autobiography RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon. But LBJ's initials became a recognizable brand long before he became President; he also had the added advantage of being able to monogram everything in his home -- naturally called the LBJ Ranch -- with his initials since they were also shared by his wife (Lady Bird Johnson), his two daughters (Lynda Bird Johnson and Luci Baines Johnson), and even one of his dogs ("Little Beagle Johnson" -- which wasn't one of the dogs President Johnson was famously photographed picking up by their ears, those beagles were creatively named "Him" and "Her").

But where did the name "Lyndon" come from? LBJ's middle name -- "Baines" -- was his mother's maiden name, but "Lyndon" wasn't a family name. In fact, LBJ didn't have a name for the first three months of his life. The man who would one day become the 36th President of the United States spent the first three months of his life just being called "Baby". Of course, he couldn't spend the rest of his life with the name "Baby", so LBJ's parents, Sam Ealy Johnson and Rebekah Baines Johnson, finally came to an agreement on what he would be called. Since LBJ was a far better storyteller than I will ever be, I'll let him explain, courtesy of the LBJ Library's always-incredible Oral History Project, as well as former @lbjlibrary​ Director Mark K. Updegrove's awesome book, Indomitable Will: LBJ In The Presidency.

According to LBJ:

"I was three months old when I was named. My father and mother couldn't agree on a name. The people my father liked were heavy drinkers -- pretty rough for a city girl. She didn't want me named after any of them.

Finally, there was a criminal lawyer -- a country lawyer -- named W.C. Linden. He would go on a drunk for a week after every case. My father liked him and he wanted to name me after him. My mother didn't care for the idea but she said finally that it was alright, she would go along with it if she could spell the name the way she wanted to. So that is what happened.

[Later] I was campaigning for Congress. An old man with a white carnation in his lapel came up and said, 'That was a very good speech. I want to vote for you like I always have. The only thing I don't like about you is the way you spell your name.'

He then identified himself...as W.C. Linden."

[brookstonalmanac]

Birthdays 8.27

Beer Birthdays

Fred Bowman (1944)

Five Favorite Birthdays

Barbara Bach; actor (1947)

C.S. Forester; English writer (1899)

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel; German philosopher (1770)

Tarzan of the Apes; fictional character (1912)

Jeanette Winterson; English writer (1959)

Famous Birthdays

Patrick J. Adams; Canadian actor (1981)

Andreas Alföldi; Hungarian archaeologist and historian (1895)

Fernest Arceneaux; singer and accordion player (1940)

G.W. Bailey; actor (1944)

Gordon Bashford; English engineer, Range Rover co-creator (1916)

Tim Bogert; singer and bass player (1944)

Carl Bosch; German chemist (1874)

"Downtown" Julie Brown; V.J. (1959)

Sarah Chalke; actor (1976)

Alice Coltrane; pianist and composer (1937)

Jeff Cook; singer-songwriter and guitarist (1949)

Audrey C. Delsanti; French astronomer and biologist (1976)

Daryl "The Captain" Dragon; pop singer, songwriter (1942)

Theodore Dreiser; writer (1871)

Charles Fleischer; comedian and actor (1950)

Tom Ford; fashion designer (1961)

Chuck Girard; singer-songwriter and pianist (1943)

Samuel Goldwyn; film producer (1882)

Jeff Grubb; game designer and author (1957)

Johann Georg Hamann; German philosopher (1730)

Lyndon Baines Johnson; 36th U.S. President (1908)

Tony Kanal; British-American bass player and songwriter (1970)

Tom Lanoye; Belgian author, poet, and playwright (1958)

Ira Levin; writer (1929)

Alex Lifeson; Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (1953)

Norah Lofts; English author (1904)

Glen Matlock; English singer-songwriter and bass player (1956)

Katharine McCormick; biologist (1875)

John Mehler; drummer (1948)

Kenji Miyazawa; Japanese author and poet (1896)

Ann Murray; Irish soprano (1949)

Giuseppe Peano; Italian mathematician and philosopher (1858)

Kim Petras; German singer-songwriter (1992)

Jimmy Pop; singer-songwriter and guitarist (1972)

Norman Foster Ramsey Jr.; physicist (1915)

Man Ray; photographer, artist (1890)

Martha Ray; actor (1916)

Harry Reems; porn actor (1947)

Paul "Pee-Wee Herman" Reubens; actor, comedian (1952)

Robert Richardson; cinematographer (1955)

Tommy Sands; pop singer (1937)

Diana Scarwid; actress (1955)

Sonny Sharrock; guitarist (1940)

Reece Shearsmith; English actor, comedian and writer (1969)

Léon Theremin, Russian physicist, engineer, Theremin inventor (1896)

Kay Walsh; English actress and dancer (1911)

Tuesday Weld; actor (1943)

Chandra Wilson; actress (1969)

Lester Young; saxophonist and clarinet player (1909)

[bobmccullochny]

August History

August 27

Birthday - Charles Dawes (1865-1951) was born in Marietta, Ohio. He served as U.S. Vice President from 1925-29, and is best remembered for his "Dawes Plan" for German reparations following World War I. He received the 1925 Nobel Peace Prize.

Birthday - Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-1973) the 36th U.S. President was born near Stonewall, Texas. He ascended to the presidency upon the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Johnson served until January 20, 1969.

Birthday - Mother Teresa (1910-1997) was born (as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu) in Skopje, Yugoslavia. She founded a religious order of nuns in Calcutta, India, called the Missionaries of Charity and spent her life working to help the poor and sick of India.

[stone-cold-groove]

Lyndon Baines Johnson - 36th president of the United States.

[richardnixonlibrary]

#OTD 1/24/1973 President Nixon placing a wreath at the casket of the 36th President of the United States, Lyndon Baines Johnson. Two days earlier, President Johnson died of a massive heart attack at home. Prior to his state funeral the following day, Johnson lay in state in the Capitol Building Rotunda. (Image: WHPO-E0099-25A)