We got another good mid-morning start and headed into Austin, 30 minutes away to visit the Lyndon Johnson Presidential Library. Again everything in Texas is done an a grand scale. Did I mention that we saw every box store in the world along I-35 several times over on our way into Austin. Just before downtown we exited I35 and enterd the University of Texas campus and the LBJ Presidential Library. The building is huge, no windows except for the penthouse floor.
I thought this was another good quote.
I decided to go head to head with LBJ and Elaine caught the moment.
I think Johnson was a very impressive public servant who dedicated his life to trying to do the right thing. Yes he got caught in a war he did not want, that was started by the French back in the 1950's. The library did a good job pointing out all the tremendous legislation that Johnson got passed like the Civil Rights Act, and the War on Poverty.
The presidential desk, but I was not allowed to sit at it!
Thsi caught my eye. A phone control panel built into the coffee table in Johnson's Oval Office. That was one thing made clear, Johnson was always on the phone, usually twisting someone's arm.
Here is a view out the 10 floor window towards the UT stadium.
Of all the presidential libraries this one was the hardest to take. It brought back all the memories of the 60's and early 70's: the protests, that stupid war, and tumultuous events in my own life. Sitting here lakeside on that same afternoon, I realize that I have lived through a lot of history, and I am fortunate to be able to calmly look back on it 50 years later.
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