LBJ BORN 110 YEARS AGO TODAY
Stonewall, Texas (JFK+50) On August 27, 1908, future 36th POTUS Lyndon Baines Johnson* was born here in Stonewall. Lyndon was the first child of Samuel Ealy Johnson, Jr. and Rebekah Baines Johnson. Sam was a farmer and teacher and also served in the Texas House of Representatives. Rebekah had also been a schoolteacher.
LBJ's grandfather, Samuel Ealy Johnson, Sr**., predicted on the day his grandson was born that Lyndon would one day be a United States Senator.
When he was 5 years old, the family moved to nearby Johnson City, the town named after his grandfather.
Historian Robert Dallek describes LBJ as "not just liked and disliked but adored by some and despised by others." The man could be "kind, generous and compassionate," or "cruel, dictatorial and...vicious."
*Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) graduated from Southwest Texas State Teachers College in 1930. He served as a congressional secretary before being appointed director of the National Youth Administration by FDR in 1935.
LBJ was elected to Congress in 1937 and the US Senate in 1948. He was Senate Majority leader from 1955-1961, Vice-President 1961-1963 and POTUS 1963-1969.
**Samuel Ealy Johnson, Sr. (1838-1915) was born in Alabama & served in the Civil War at the Battles of Galveston & Pleasant Hill. SEJ & brother Tom ran the largest cattle driving operation in 7 Texas counties.
SOURCE
"Lyndon B. Johnson, Character Above All," by Robert Dallek, Essays, www.pbs.org/
LBJ at Home in Stonewall, Texas
LBJ Library Photo (1915)
