LBJ National Historic Park, Texas White House, LBJ Ranch, Presidential Library & Museum,1/6/14

Yesterday Jamie and I had  a short visit with Colonel Minton Newman, USAF, Retired and his wife Peggy in San Antonio, Texas. They treated us to lunch at a very good Mexican restaurant. Our families have been friends for years and we were stationed together at Misawa Air Base, Northern Japan where Jan and his first wife, Bea, were inseparable and considered each other sisters. After a few photographs Jamie and I drove back to Johnson City,Texas where we spent the night in a Best Western Motel. Johnson City is about 50 miles west of Austin, Texas where President Johnson Library and Museum is located.

Two Old Air Force Friends Grandpa Bill On The Left And Minton Newman On The Right

Johnson City Inn

 That's Just What We Did

I Love These Tall Slender Evergreens

This morning Jamie and I, after breakfast, visited The LBJ National Historical Park a few miles outside of Johnson City, Texas; The Texas White House; The LBJ Ranch then drove to Austin, Texas to see the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum. This part of Texas is known as The Hill Country and it is beautiful. As the name would suggest it is rolling hills with good pasture land, lots of cedar tree and especially the big beautiful live oak trees. At one time before I retired from the U.S. Air Force Jan and I considered buying property in the hill country between San Antonio and Austin building a home  and retiring in that area but the Lord had other plans for us.

Lyndon B. Johnson State Park

Welcome Sign At LBJ State Park And Historical Site Stonewall Texas. Part Of The Visitor Center Is In The Background. The Visitor Center Has A Nice Gift Shop And A Theater That Shows A Excellent Film About LBJ

Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park Visitor Center And Park Headquarters

There Were Numerous Deer In The Park And Ranch. It Is A Large Area And With No Hunting Allowed The Deer Seem To Know They Are Safe. Here A Buck Keeps An Eye On His Small Herd Of Does.

The Land For The State Park Was Acquired In 1967 And Dedicated In 1970.

Map Of The LBJ State Park And The LBJ National Historic Park. This Is An Interesting Example Of State And Federal Agencies Working Together. They Have A Common Visitor Center. In The Map Above the State Park Is Shown In The Tan Color And The National Park Area Is Shown In the Blueish Green Color. They Are Separated By The Pedernales River Which LBJ Loved. They Share Common Road Ways.

Displays In The Visitor Center. A Love Of The Outdoors And LBJ National Historical Park

Enlargement Of A Love Of The Outdoors. She Was Born Claudia Alta Taylor But We Know 

Her As Lady Bird Johnson

Continuation Of Enlargement Of A Love Of The Outdoors. Lady Bird Johnson

LBJ National Historical Park

Enlargement Of LBJ National Historical Park

Enlargement Of LBJ National Historical Park

Continuation Of Enlargement Of LBJ National Historical Park

Padre Island National Seashore Dedication April 8,1968

Enlargement Of Padre Island Dedication

Continuation Of Enlargement Of Padre Island Dedication

Padre Island Dedication Plaque

Lady Bird Special

Whistle Dixie

Lady Bird On The Campaign Trail For The Johnson / Humphrey Ticket

Lady Bird Meets Hecklers On The Campaign Trail Because Of LBJ's Civil Rights Stand

Lady Bird Meets Hecklers On The Campaign Trail Because Of LBJ's Civil Rights Stand

Whether You Like It Or Not The President Is The President Of All The People Not Just A 

Select Few.

Big Bend National Park, April 1966

Enlargement Of Big Bend National Park, April 1966.

Lady Bird Attends Dedication Ceremonies At Fort Davis National 

Historic Site, April 4, 1966

Lady Bird Attends Dedication Ceremonies At Fort Davis National 

Historic Site, April 4, 1966

Enlargement Of Lady Bird Attends Dedication Ceremonies At Fort Davis National 

Historic Site, April 4, 1966

Does She Believe In Heaven

Enlargement Of Above.

LBJ Boyhood Home

LBJ Boyhood Home

LBJ Boyhood Home In Johnson City,Texas. There Is A Nice Visitor Center With A Movie 

About LBJ And Another One About Lady Bird As Well As A Gift Shop. Guided Tours As

 Park Rangers Conduct You Through The House.

LBJ Boyhood Home

LBJ Boyhood Home Bedroom

Old Telephone

LBJ's Father Samuel Ealy Johnson,Jr

LBJ's parents were involved in politics and in fact his father was in the state legislature for twelve years. At the age of ten Lyndon was on the campaign trail with his father. He learned 

a lot from his father.

LBJ's Mother Rebekah Baines

His mother was a college educated individual who had a passion for education. In the boyhood home she instructed her children as well as the neighborhood children how to debate. LBJ later said that he learned from his mother that you should never form an opinion on a issue or person based on your first impression.

LBJ Boyhood Home Bedroom. Ranger Who Led The Tour Stands In A Doorway.

LBJ Boyhood Home Bathroom Dressing Room

Toys.

LBJ As A Young Boy

LBJ Boyhood Home Looking From A Bedroom Into The Bathroom. Notice The Old Stove

 For Heat

Part Of The Kitchen

Part Of Kitchen

Old Radio The Family Listened To. Look At The Big Horn Speaker

LBJ As A Child

Metal Plate Cover Over Stove Pipe Hole In Chimney. Most Of These Would Be Just Plain. This Painting Is A Nice Touch.

LBJ Boyhood Smoke House

LBJ Boyhood Home Out House

LBJ Boyhood Home  Water Tower. A Pump Provided Water To The Tower And Then 

To The House.

 This Photograph From 1921 Shows The Five Johnson Children. From Left To Right Are. 

Lucia, Josefa, Rebekah, Lyndon And Sam Houston

Next we will go through the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park which is administered 

by the National Park Service.

LBJ Ranch

Junction School That LBJ Attended

Junction School That LBJ Attended

Inside Junction School Which LBJ Attended

Teacher's Desk At Junction School. One Of The Books I Could Identify Was A McGuffey Readers Which Is On The Right End Of The Books. These Were A Series Of Graded

 Primers Including Grade Level 1 - 6 Which Were Widely Used In The Mid-19th Century.

Stove To Heat The School. Note The Bucket And Shovel To Remove The Ashes From The Stove

There Was A Chalk Board And Over It Was The Alphabet Showing Upper And Lower Case Letter To Help Teach How To Write Cursive Which Is Fast Becoming A Lost Art Today.

The Junction School

The Junction School Had 30 Students In Seven Grades. LBJ Attended Just A Few Months.

President Johnson Signed The Elementary And Secondary Education Act At This School 

With His First Teacher By His Side.

President Johnson Signed The Elementary And Secondary Education Act At This School 

With His First Teacher By His Side.

LBJ Sign  Education Bill

LBJ Plays Basketball In 1916. Check Out That Goal Post.

Following our looking at the Junction School we hurried back to the Texas White House

so we could catch the next guided tour. The Following is a nice photograph of the Texas White House.

The Texas White House

The House And Parking Lot Are Surrounded By These Beautiful Live Oak Trees. If Pruned When They Are Young They Will Grow Straight. If Not Pruned They Will Have The Large Limbs Hanging Down and Sometimes Resting On The Ground.

There Was  An Area Of Nothing But Cement Squares Such As This One Where LBJ Had His Guest To The Ranch Sign Their Names. In This One LBJ Says Welcome to LBJ Ranch Aug. 1952.  There Is A Beautiful Swimming Pool By The House. The House Has Been Renovated Several Time. Mostly To Make Changes Lady Bird Wanted.

I am sorry to say that photographs were not permitted inside the house for reasons I do not understand. I later asked one of the Rangers and he said it was at the request of the family. I ask him if there was a specific reason given and he said they were afraid that someone might photograph an item lets say of furniture and that someone might find a piece of furniture that looked like it and try to sell it on e-bay as an item from the Texas White House. That doesn't make sense to me because there are thousands of photographs of the interior of the house in books authorized by the state and government as well as videos which can easily be copied. Anyway no photographs.  There were a few items of interest. LBJ had three televisions sitting side by side. At that time there were only three networks and each set was tuned to a different network so he could see what they were showing and saying. He had numerous telephones throughout the house. He never wanted to be away from a phone. The dining room table was placed so from his place at the end of the table he could look into the other room and see what was on the three TV set. Attached to the leg of the dining room table where he sat there was a phone. There were telegraph machines and teletype machines in the house close to him. His secretary and one other person had a desk at the house always close to him.He often worked so late reading and making calls that Lady Bird had a separate bedroom made for him. It was not unusual for him to call people at 2 or 3 o clock in the morning to ask a question or discuss some issue. Lady Bird lived at the house until she died.

Following the tour of the house Jamie and I continued our driving tour of the ranch starting with a look at the vehicles which LBJ had.

Presidential Aircraft Which LBJ Called Air Force 1/2. He Would Fly Into Bergstrom Air Force Base In Austin Texas Or Randolph Air Force Base, San Antonio And Then Fly In This Lockheed Jet Star To The Ranch

The Jet Age Arrives

Information About The Lockheed JetStar  C-140B

Information About The Lockheed JetStar  C-140B

Information About The Lockheed JetStar  C-140B. It Is Said That After LBJ Started Using A JetStar Elvis Presley Bought One. I Don't Know If This Is True Or Not.

Presidential All-Terrain Vehicle. At That Time The Road Goes Went Over The River Dam. 

You Can See The Two Levels Of Water Spilling Over The Dam And The Car Driving Through The Water. This Vehicle Was A 1934 Ford Phaeton Which Featured A V8 Lincoln Zephyr Engine With  Rifle Racks, Steel Plate Mounted Underneath And A Wet Bar With Water Faucet Mounted Behind The Front Seat.

Description Of LBJ All-Terrain Vehicle.

Nice Old Red Convertible

LBJ White Lincoln Convertible

LBJ White Lincoln Convertible

Another Lincoln Continental

German Manufactured " Amphicar " Which Was A Boat And A Car.

Amphicar

1910 Motel T Ford. Lyndon Is Standing In Front Of The Car In This Family Photograph

Enlargement Of The Wordage About The Photograph Above

Old Ford Convertible

Aviation: The Key To The Texas White House

Aviation: The Key To The Texas White House

Continuation Of Aviation: The Key To The Texas White House

Continuation Of Aviation: The Key To The Texas White House

Continuation Of Aviation: The Key To The Texas White House

Jamie and I finished our touring of the area around the Texas White House so we returned to the Driving tour around the ranch. We went back by the school and the next stop was the Johnson Family Cemetery

Johnson Family Cemetery

Words Written In A Country Church Yard

Grave Stones Of Claudia Taylor Johnson ( Lady Bird ) And Lyndon Baines Johnson

These Words Were Part Of The Eulogy Reverend Billy Graham Delivered January 25, 1973. Lady Bird Died July 11, 2007.

View Of The Johnson Family Cemetery

The Pedernales River Runs Through The LBJ Ranch

Enlargement Of The Pedernales River Runs Through The LBJ Ranch

Enlargement Of The Pedernales River Runs Through The LBJ Ranch. Earlier I Showed A Photograph Of Him Driving Through The Water Crossing.

The Pedernales River Goes Through The LBJ Ranch On Its Way To Join The Colorado River.

A More Perfect Society Vision Was Cast In His Home Town.

Enlargement Of A More Perfect Society Vision Was Cast In His Home Town.

Enlargement Of A More Perfect Society Vision Was Cast In His Home Town.

Mr. Jelly Bean

Enlargement Of Mr. Jelly Bean

Continuation Of Mr. Jelly Bean

Trinity Lutheran Church. There Was A Head Start Program At This Church

President Johnson In 1968 

As We Travel On Around The Tour Route We Come To The Reconstructed Birth Place Of Lyndon Johnson

Enlargement Of Birth Place Of Lyndon Johnson

Enlargement Of Birth Place Of Lyndon Johnson

Enlargement Of Birth Place Of Lyndon Johnson

Enlargement Of Birth Place Of Lyndon Johnson

Enlargement Of Birth Place Of Lyndon Johnson

Sam Early Johnson, Sr. House

Sam Early Johnson, Sr. House

Enlargement Of Sam Early Johnson, Sr. House

Enlargement Of Sam Early Johnson, Sr. House

Enlargement Of Sam Early Johnson, Sr. House

Enlargement Of Sam Early Johnson, Sr. House

Enlargement Of Sam Early Johnson, Sr. House. This Photograph Previously Shown Above.

Housing The World

Enlargement Of Housing The World

Enlargement Of Housing The World

Remodeled Sam E. Johnson, Sr. Farmhouse For Overnight Visitors

The Cedar Guest House

Visitors Saw A New World

Away From The Chaos Of Washington

Secretary Of Labor Willard Wirtz On The Left And Secretary Of Commerce Luther Hodges Center And LBJ On The Right. 1964

LBJ Demonstrates An Old Hand Pump On A Well
As Jamie and I continue our driving tour around the LBJ Ranch we pass by this pair of Emu. They had a pair of chicks that kept running along the fence in front of me and I could never 
catch them standing long enough to get a good photograph.

Emu

Sheep Keeping An Eye On Me

Don't Know About These Two Whether They Managed To Get Out Or If They Have The Privilege Of Just Running Free But They Sure Wanted To Get Inside The Fence.

The Environmental First Lady

Enlargement Of The Environmental First Lady

Enlargement Of The Environmental First Lady. I Wish We Had More People Who Felt This 
Way Rather Than Making Our Roads, Parks And Streets So Junky

 Enlargement Of The Environmental First Lady

Enlargement Of The Environmental First Lady

 Enlargement Of The Environmental First Lady

Enlargement Of The Environmental First Lady

Watering The Landscape 

Enlargement Of Watering The Landscape  

Enlargement Of Watering The Landscape  

Enlargement Of Watering The Landscape 

Hereford: Breed Of Choice. Presidential Aircraft Are In The Background

Enlargement Of Hereford: Breed Of Choice  

Enlargement Of Hereford: Breed Of Choice

 Bringing Washington Home. Aerial View Of Texas White House And Runway

 Bringing Washington Home. Aerial View Of Texas White House And Runway

 Bringing Washington Home. Aerial View Of Texas White House And Runway

 Bringing Washington Home. Aerial View Of Texas White House And Runway

  Bringing Washington Home. Aerial View Of Texas White House And Runway

 Bringing Washington Home. Aerial View Of Texas White House And Runway. Aircraft 
Taking Off

 Bringing Washington Home. Aerial View Of Texas White House And Runway

 Bringing Washington Home. Aerial View Of Texas White House And Runway. You Can See The Swimming Pool In This Photograph.

The Show Barn

Enlargement Of The Show Barn

Enlargement Of The Show Barn 

Enlargement Of The Show Barn 

Enlargement Of The Show Barn 

My Beautiful Daughter Jamie Patiently Trying To Stay Warm While Dad Takes Picture And Reads Every Poster And Sign Board.

The Working Corrals

Enlargement Of The Working Corrals

Enlargement Of The Working Corrals

LBJ The Ranch

Enlargement Of LBJ The Ranch

Enlargement Of LBJ The Ranch

Show Box Grooming

Pappy Hereford Takes A Nap. Life Is So Hard. Notice The Small Items On The Tips Of The Horns. These Are Small Weights To Cause The Horns To Curl Down

Mommy Hereford Looks On. Looks Like She Is About Ready To Go To Sleep

Baby Hereford Joins In The Family Nap Time.

LBJ - The Image

 Enlargement Of LBJ The Image

Enlargement Of LBJ The Image

Enlargement Of LBJ The Image

Enlargement Of LBJ The Image

Jamie and I have finished our tour of the LBJ Ranch and now we head back to Austin, Texas Some 50 or so miles away to take a look at the LBJ Presidential Library And Museum. It is getting late so we figure we can at least spend a hour or so there and come back the next morning to finish up.

LBJ Presidential Library And Museum 

The Gulf Of Tonkin ( Comments On This Attack Are Elsewhere In This Posting )

U. S. Destroyer Attacked By North Vietnamese Torpedo Boat

Model Of The USS Maddox Which Was Attacked By North Vietnamese Torpedo Boat

LBJ'S Farewell 

Enlargement Of LBJ'S Farewell 

Enlargement Of LBJ'S Farewell  

Enlargement Of LBJ'S Farewell 

7/8th Scale Replica Of LBJ'S Oval Office 

7/8th Scale Replica Of LBJ'S Oval Office 

 Looking Out Over A Balcony At An Old Texas University Stadium Which I Think Is The One Where I Ran On As An Arkansas Razorback

Replica Of Lady Bird's Office 

 Portrait Of First Lady 

LBJ Presidential Library And Museum

To say the least Jamie and I were disappointed at what we saw in this library and museum. This is a magnificent building of ten floor and three are devoted to the museum and open to the public The other seven floors are record storage for research and study. There are some 45 million document for scholarly research.  The display of Lady Bird although small was very good. From a museum point of view this one was not close to the Two Bush museum we toured. I don't feel that we missed anything because there was so much at the LBJ Ranch, The Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and The Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park. We thought they were wonderful. In short we did not see any reason to come back the next day.

In closing lets take a short look at Lyndon Johnson the man and the President.

Lyndon Baines Johnson was born August 27, 1908 in Stonewall, Texas and died January 22, 1973 in Stonewall, Texas. He was the 36th President Of The United States.  He was the 37th Vice President Of the United States. He assumed the Presidency when President Kennedy was assassinated. He is one of only four people  who served in all four elected federal offices of The United States: Representative, Senator, Vice President, and President. He served as a United States Representative from 1937 to 1949 and as a Senator  from 1949 to 1961. He served six years as United States Senate Majority Leader, two as Senate Minority Leader and two as Senate Majority Whip. These were extremely important and powerful positions that provided him with a wealth of experience. He was unsuccessful in his attempt to be the Democratic nominee for president in 1960 but John F.Kennedy asked him to be his running mate in the 1960 election. As noted above LBJ assumed the Presidency following the Assassination Of President Kennedy o November 22 1963. He served out the Kennedy term and was elected President in his own right by beating Barry Goldwater in the 1964 election. Following his election and with the support of Democrats on Capitol Hill he put forth what was known as the Great Society. This included many provision which we have today; namely; civil rights laws, medicare, public broadcasting, medicaid, environmental protection, urban redevelopment, aid to the arts and education, and the Immigration and Nationality Act. The voting rights act guaranteed the right to vote regardless of race. The Immigration and Nationality Act removed all quotas for immigration.  Despite all of these domestic laws and reforms he was struggling with the Vietnam War. Basically up to this time American Force were being used as advisers and support to the South Vietnamese. This activity was gradually increasing. This war was very unpopular and anti-war and anti-government and in fact anti military activities were increasing in the United States. Meanwhile in the Gulf Of Tonkin a North Vietnam Torpedo Boat fired on a U. S. Naval Vessel the USS Maddox. This gave the administration what it needed to directly join the fight and Congress passed the Gulf Of Tonkin Resolution. This in reality gave President Johnson the authority to escalate the war with out asking Congress to declare a state of war. Our troops there increased for 16,000 in 1963 to over a half million in 1968 and at the same time casualties increased and in spite of the bombing of North Vietnam there did not seem to be an end of the war in sight. While he began his presidency with widespread approval, support for Johnson declined as the public became further upset with both the war and the growing violence at home. The Democratic Party was split in multiple feuding factions, and the American electorate was deeply divided because of the war and in some parts of the country because of the laws pushed through congress as well as economic matters.  In the New Hampshire primary President Johnson did not make a good showing so he stopped his efforts for reelection. I was on active duty in the U. S. Air Force during the entirety of the Vietnam War and I know first hand the anti-military attitude of many Americans both here in the US as well as overseas in Japan. The organization I was assigned to wore civilian dress suits with no outward evidence of our connection to the military. While assigned to downtown New York City as the Commander of that unit I was permitted to wear my uniform which I often did especially in the summer time when I wore a pants, short sleeve shirt with no tie and cap.and that was very comfortable in the heat. I stopped wearing my uniform because of people spitting on me especially in the subways and the many derogatory comments directed at me.  The spitting would take place on stairs where someone on a higher level would spit down where I was. The comments were usually " murderer " , " stop killing the children ", stop spraying the poison ". This referred to the spraying of agent orange on the forest and people. Also from my position I could see that the administration was not being truthful in telling the American people what was really going on in the war. I was very close to giving up my Air Force career.

We had a wonderful day despite the temperature in the high teens and feeling  much colder wind chill factor. Tonight we are in a Best Western Executive Motel in Round Rock, Texas very tired but eagerly awaiting the start of the BCS football game. When I get back to Ohio I will do the complete posting which will be long. Tomorrow Jamie and I return to Tulsa.

Remember what I always say God Loves you and so do I.

Grandpa Bill

Comment: " Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he has visited and redeemed his people. And has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David. " Luke 1: 68 - 69. NIV.

BLOG UPDATE:

I asked Jamie to write her thoughts about the trip and what we saw and enjoyed and the following is what she contributed. This covers several stops we made on this trip and all are furnished here rather than breaking them out to the individual portions of the trip.

Hi dad,

I am just going to wrtie my recap here in an email and you can copy and past it to the blog when you have time.  I have also attached a few pictures.  Sara remembered you saying you would love to know what the library looked like with flowers bloomed so she took some pictures for you.  It is beautiful.

Guest Blog Post:

This is Bill's daughter Jamie and I was blessed to go along with my dad on the Texas Presidential Library tour.  He asked me when we got back to write my own post about the trip and I am very tardy in doing so, 5 months later! What a fun trip. I throughly enjoyed every minute of it.  I wondered to myself before if dad and I would find stuff to talk about for 5 days and so much time in the car, but there were not very many minutes that we just didn't talk away.  

Each one of the libraries was so different.  Probably my favorite was George W at SMU in Dallas.  I loved the christmas in the White House special display and that was all so current that it was amazing to see.  He is such a man of integrity (as is his father) and it was so evident in their libraries.  They were both very humble about all this was for the US people.  So different than those in the government now.  

The Johnson Library was disappointing.  BUT, going to the Texas White House was great.  It was quite a place and LBJ was quite a man.  He accomplished so much in his time there.  

I have also included some pictures of the flowers in bloom in May from Bush Library on campus of A & M in College Station.  Dad and I both commented on how  beautiful all 3 of the places we went would be once the flowers bloomed in spring and as you can see it did not disappoint.  Sara was sweet enough to go take some pictures before leaving for summer.  

Getting to go down to College Station and stay with Sara, my daughter, was an added bonus!  It was fun to tour A&M, it has such history and tradition.  She was an excellent hostess and tour guide!

It was also fun to visit Col. Newman.  Been years since I have seen him and fun to catch up on his family.  I have since befreinded most of his kids on facebook and been fun to see their families now.  One of the good things about Facebook.  

I am so grateful dad invited me to go and timing was good.  We had some of the absolutely coldest weather possible when we were in Austin and thought we were going to freeze to death, but otherwise the entire trip was so wonderful.  I am thankful dad is seeing so much of our beautiful country.  God has done a mighty work in His creation.  Thanks dad for asking me to go and for your generosity.  

 Flower Beds In Front Of George Bush Library And Museum. Photograph By My Granddaughter Sara Watkins.

Other Pieces Of The Berlin Wall Being Run Over By These Horses. This Display Is On The 

 Plaza Of George H. Bush Presidential Library And Museum. Photograph By My Granddaughter Sara Watkins.

I appreciated Jamie taking the time to make this trip with meand for this guest contribution. Thank you Jamie.

Grandpa Bill