LBJ’s Texas

From Midland we drove the back roads of Texas to Stonewall where we visited the Lyndon B. Johnson State and National Historical Park which includes the LBJ ranch, replica of the home where he was born, family cemetery where LBJ is buried, Junction School which he attended at age 4, and the visitors center. Johnson’s mother was one of the few college educated women in the area and she impressed on him the importance of education and a compassion for human needs, and from his father he learned about politics in the tradition of agrarian liberalism. At the Johnson City District of the park, we visited Johnson’s childhood home where the family moved when he was five after a flood destroyed the cotton crop, resulting in loss of the farm. The visitor’s center had an excellent display of events of Johnson’s life, especially his political life, along with a world timeline. There were also exhibits about Lady Bird Johnson and films about their lives. From here we drove to Austin where we stayed at McKinney Falls State Park and checked out the kite festival in Zilker Park on Sunday afternoon. Monday was cold, rainy, and very windy, but it was a full and interesting day. We began with a visit to the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and Museum where we spent far longer than we had expected. It was a very well presented, varied exhibit depicting LBJ’s life and presidency and included exhibits of gifts given to the U.S. during his presidency, a replica of his Oval Office, and a First Lady exhibit about Lady Bird Johnson. We were awed by the sheer volume of legislation he got passed through his skills of persuasion. We were not aware of the consumer protection legislation and environmental legislation that he passed. We enjoyed his humor presented thru exhibits, an actor representing him as Senator, and a Disney-esque lifesized figure of LBJ telling spinning Texas tales. After visiting the LBJ Libray, we took a brief tour of the Texas Capitol which is an outstanding example of a mid-19th century Renaissance Revival building made of Texas red granite. Of note in this year when a woman is running for U.S. President is the fact that a Texas woman served as governor in the 1930’s. And speaking of a woman running for President, we attended a rally for Hillary Clinton held at the Burger Center in Austin. We learned of the rally from a Clinton volunteer at Zilker Park on Sunday afternoon and later that evening heard about it on TV news. Having attempted to attend her rally in San Antonio a few weeks earlier, we decided to try again. The cold winds may have kept some people away, thus shortening the line, and so the arena didn’t fill up before we got in. Standing in line we met 2 young men who are active Democrats who are enthusiastic Hillary supporters. Irene was impressed by a family of 6 women from grandmother to granddaughters attending the rally together, proud to be supporting a woman for president. A number of local politicians spoke first and finally Hillary, along with Chelsea, took the stage. She spoke to a very enthusiastic audience with lots of cheering. We felt we were living a significant part of history whether Hillary Clinton receives the nomination or not. To see more pictures of the Hillary rally click on http://picasaweb.google.com/gharpercomcast/HillaryRally