LBJ & THE CAPITOL OF THE LONE STAR STATE

(MARCH 20, 2018)  It was another beautiful day in Texas, a little chilly when I was packing the care this morning in Killeen. As I pulled out of the hotel parking lot the temperature on the Honda was 44. I was late starting this morning by design as I wanted to give rush hour traffic in Austin time to clear out.

It was an easy 60-minute drive down I-35 to my first stop of the day at the Lyndon Johnson Presidential Library and Museum.  Traffic had cleared out and I quickly found the Museum's designated parking area adjacent to the Campus of the University of Texas.

Bible Used by LBJ on Air Force One
to take the Oath on Nov. 22, 1963

I found the LBJ Museum very interesting as there were several displays leading up to the 1960 election. There was political tension in the Democratic Party and I remember reading years ago that the Kennedy's camp was going to publicly off the Vice-President to Johnson during the convention. But Johnson was supposed to decline saying he could do me to help Kennedy by remaining the Majority Leader of the Senate. With Johnson as the leading democrat in the Senate and fellow Texan Sam Rayburn as Speaker of the House the the Democratic agenda was assured if Kennedy was Elected.

By offering Johnson the Vice President, and having Johnson publicly turn it down would go along way in delivering the Texas vote to the Democrats. The problem was, when Johnson was offered the job of Vice President, rather than turning it down, Johnson publicly accepted which enraged the Kennedy camp especially Bobby Kennedy.

During the hours leading up to the formal nominations, the party broke into two camps, the Kennedy Camp and the Texas Camp.  The Kennedy's looked for a way to withdraw then offer but could not come up with a way without inflicting more damage on the party.

At one point I remember reading that Bobby Kennedy was so angry that he stormed into Johnson's hotel room and had to be physically restrained by Speaker Rayburn and other in the Johnson Camp.  When all was said and done, the Kennedy-Johnson Ticket was nominated and went on to defeat the Republican Ticket of Richard Nixon and Henry Cabot Lodge.

But the rift between the Johnson and the Kennedy's never healed and Bobby Kennedy made no effort to hide his hatred for Johnson.

After President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas in 1963 and Johnson became President he had a recording system installed in the Oval Office and more than 600-hours of of recorded conversations are housed here at the Johnson Library and visitors can listen to many of them.

One of the more entertaining conversations captured on tape is of President Johnson order new pants from a tailor. Take a listen to the 5-minute recording below.

I spent about 3-hours at the LBJ Museum and really enjoyed it. One of the displayed that I found especially interesting was the once dealing with the day in Dallas and the events leading up to President Johnson taking the Oath of Office on Air Force One at Love Field.  Featured in the exhibit is the Bible that President Johnson used when he took the oath and the suit and dress he an Lady Bird were wearing that day.  

After finishing my tour of the LBJ Museum I decided to leave my car parked in the Free lot and walk to the Texas Capitol and downtown Austin.

It's was a beautiful day but there was a sense of tension in the air due to the recent rash of bombing that had taken place in and around Austin.  Just this morning another bomb exploded at a FedEx facility down near San Antonio and another device was intercepted at another FedEx facility before it could be detonated. And as I am writing this I just got an alert on my phone that another device had exploded at a Goodwill Store in South Austin.

As I was walking about Austin this afternoon I was paying more attention of my surroundings and anything lying on the sidewalk or nearby.  Even a soda can caused me to give it a wide berth and to look before stepping over it. 

It was a little over a half a mile walk from the LBJ Library to the Capitol Grounds and I made it without incident. 

I was able to roam the capitol grounds and enjoyed seeing the statues depicting the great event in Texas History.  I was able to take a self guided tour of the capitol and was especially awe struck with the Capitol Rotunda.  From the star on the floor to the star at the top of the Rotunda it is a total distance of 218 feet. 

Following my visit to the Capitol, I made the walk back to my car and made the short mile and a half drive over to the Texas State Cemetery.  This is a bucket list location for me as many great Texan's are buried here, including the Father of Texas, Stephen F. Austin

One of the more unique graves is that of General Albert Sidney Johnson.  His tomb reminds me of a bird cage similar to that of President James Monroe's tomb at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.Also resting here is Navy Seal and American Hero Chris Kyle, Former Governor Ann Richards, Senator Ralph Yarborough.Senator Yarborough was riding in the Motorcade the day that President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.  Yarborough's feud with then Governor John Connally and other conservative democrats was one of the reason that Kennedy had decided to come to Texas. He had hoped to mend the rift between the two factions of the party.

Also resting here is Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, who was one of the most eloquent speakers that I have ever heard. I remember listening to her during my high school years and was just awe struck by the eloquent way she spoke.  I could listen to this wonderful lady speak on any subject for hours at a time. 

My visit to Austin ended with my visit to the State Cemetery and because of the notorious Austin traffic it took me almost 40 minutes to make the 15-mile drive north to my Hotel in Pflugerville, Texas.

Tomorrow the plan is to head down to Lockhart for some real Texas BBQ at either Smitty's, Blacks or Kreuz. Then I am heading over to the Hill Country for the next Couple of Days. 

TODAY'S MILES:    123 (Not counting the 14.6-miles I walked around Austin)

TOTAL MILES:       2680