LBJ Fans: Some Great Pics for y'all

[Taverner]

This one may be a strange choice, but for me it always captured his humanity from his final years. I truly think he felt remorseful about his decision to go into Vietnam...and his final years seemed to point to that. Hard to explain, but growing long hair in 1972 was a big statement.

[LTR]

1. Now that's an interesting pic

Never saw him with long hair. The closest I've seen was a few with side burns.

But LBJ was the type of guy that didn't really care what others thought of him. He was a tough, intimidating SOB. He actually carried on conversations while taking a dump. Pretty eccentric guy.

The long hair pic was taked roughly a year before his death. He wasn't that old (65?), but he had lived a pretty hard life, and it had caught up with him. Died of a heart attack in early '73.

The one right below it with MLK really shows how hard he worked to bring civil rights legislation into law.

[Taverner]

2. Why can't we have a sonofabitch like him today?

I used to hate LBJ...but lately I've been thinking of how much he did, and how if politics is indeed hell, we need more fighting types on our side...

Seriously - why can't we get past this bipartisan bs and just elect a sonofabitch who kicks ass and chews bubblegum...and is all out of bubblegum?

[LTR]

3. I wish that every day.

Now that would be something.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

10. What's so eccentric about carrying on conversations while taking a dump?

:hurts:

[No2W2004]

17. It was....um....stranger than just that.

He would be talking with you in the oval office, and when "nature called", instead of excusing himself, he would motion for you to follow as he went to the restroom and took the presidential dump, all the while talking as if nothing was going on. When he was finished, you would follow him back to the oval office and continue the conversation where it started.

[Fenris]

4. Alright, T! You found a longhair pic! Kick ASS!

/He went to my university.

[H2O Man]

5. He was fascinating.

Although I have strong feelings about Vietnam, I think that it is important to recognize the amount of good he did. To really get a grasp of the good vs bad LBJ, I recommend reading at least five good books about him. Three by Robert Caro are top-shelf: "Means of Ascent," "Path to Power," and especially "Master of the Seanate." (Caro's 4th volume will cover the presidency, etc.) Also great is Robert Dallek's "Flawed Giant." Then read Michael Beschloss's "Taking Charge," which is the transcripts of the LBJ White House tapes. Oh, man, are they a great piece of history!

I think RFK is my favorite politician of the 1960s, and the contrast and conflict between the two is also fascinating. Of course, they had a lot in common, though neither could admit it. And LBJ would have patched up the rift, but RFK would never have considered it.

The recent crap about LBJ playing a role in JFK's death is about as true as saying LBJ killed Abe Lincoln. LBJ was aware, however, of the implicite message in Dallas, hence the Vietnam War, etc.

Finally, LBJ was way different than bush in the single most important way: he was tortured by the deaths of the young men he sent to kill and die in Vietnam.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

21. And his Son-In-Law was in the war, too. Here is a great pic

of him listening to a tape his Son-in-Law sent from VietNam.



tell me * ever cries like that.

[Neecy]

22. Compare and contrast...

How Bush* acts when the nation is at war and our soldiers are dying...



Isn't it fun playing pResident?

[Taverner]

25. That is a fucking amazing pic

Ahhh...when this country had real presidents...

[Parrcrow]

23. I agree Waterman

The Caro books are a fascinating portayal of a fascinating man. As a non-American looking at the situation it is startling to consider where Civil Rights in the US would be if Johnson had not put his considerable legislative skill behind the anti racist movement. Given Nixon, given Carter (because he's from Georgia), given Reagan, without Johnson segregation might very well still be the case in the States.

Does that seem odd, Apartheid lasted well into the eighties, didn't it?

[Anarcho-Socialist]

6. Those are wonderful LBJ pictures, Taverner!

They really are full of character!

Dubya is 0.000000000000001% of a man that LBJ was.

Do you have any more pictures or know where I can find more?

[Taverner]

7. I got these from the online LBJ library

At : http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/

They have so many you need to search through them via a search engine.

I really would like to see the complete LBJ papers someday....

[Anarcho-Socialist]

8. Thanks! Definitely one for the bookmarks

:toast:

[argyl]

9. On domestic issues he accomplished more than Kennedy would have,

had he lived.That's strictly opinion of course but LBJ was a true Southern populist Democrat who believed in the Civil Rights and social programs such as Medicare that were passed while he was President.

As a Southerner his backing of Civil Rights legislation lent it more weight than had it been backed by JFK.Similar to the anticommunist Nixon being able to make overtures to China that might have been considered suspect in a more moderate President.

He used his considerable power with legislators(he was Senate Majority Leader before becoming JFK's VP)to ensure their passage.He was also aware of the effect Civil Rights passage would have on the Democratic Party in the South,saying it would cost them that region for a generation(we're working on three with no end in sight)but did it anyway because it was the right thing to do.

Love the long hair picture.Remember seeing him on TV with long hair around '72 at Memorial Stadium in Austin watching the Longhorns play.That was way back in the 'Horns heyday when they either won or lost the National Championship almost every January first.

[H2O Man]

11. Intersting.

And probably true. Yet from Caro's third book in the LBJ series, "Master of the Senate," we can see that Johnson had passed his prime as Senate Majority Leader almost two years before he became VP. In fact, as VP he made a strange effort to have an office in the Senate Building, and was hurt when former allies reminded him that he was in a different branch of the government. His work on Civil Rights had changed the base of support he once enjoyed, as had the retirements and deaths of some of the old men he had as mentors.

Also, we can be very sure that the death of JFK helped LBJ get his most important Civil Rights/Great Society bills passed. Far be it from me to question his sincerity -- but LBJ knew how to use this situation to his full advantage.

But for the Vietnam War, LBJ might be remembered as one of the top 3 or 4 presidents in our history.

[SarahB]

12. I always think of this classic shot from Life Magazine

(I think it was Life.)
...where he shows the scar from his gallbladder operation. He was definitely a kick ass Democrat.

[NightTrain]

13. Call me naive or idealistic, but I like to believe that...

...Johnson's heart was in the right place.

According to a documentary I saw on him in the early '90s, Johnson once told an aide, "If I could just sit down at the bargaining table with Ho Chi Minh, I know we could work something out." If only that had happened.... :(

[Taverner]

16. I am honestly holding out in my heart

That Kerry will be an LBJ of sorts. Part of LBJ's sucess was that many people owed him favors, D and R alike. When president, he cashed those in.

I may be naive hoping for this, but Kerry has built up some favors - and let's hope he doesn't waste them on his way up.

[demosincebirth]

14. I always liked...

his saying when he was talking about a certain opponent..."he's all hat and no cattle."

[VolcanoJen]

15. He became a bit of a LongHair in his old days, eh?

Beautiful photos, Taverner! Thank You!!

[No2W2004]

18. Here are some more good ones

President Lyndon B. Johnson holds his beagle up by the ears as members of the press look on


President Lyndon B. Johnson on his birthday in swimming pool with dog and grandson


President Lyndon B. Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson walking in wildflowers


President Lyndon B. Johnson and grandson, Lyn Nugent, play with Yuki

[Taverner]

19. The Beagle one has an interesting story

The story has it, when the photo was being taken of LBJ (that is, Little Beagle Johnson) he lifted the dog by the ears and said something like "Look at the unit on this one!"

The man had a sense of humor :)

[warrior1]

20. Wow I never knew he had curly hair

My dad was station in Texas on John Connely AFB, so we were there when JFK was shot. I was told by my mom the LBJ drove past our house on the way to the base in a big black car one day.

[LTR]

27. He had a weird fascination with sex

Supposedly, he liked to watch animal mating films.

On a side note, he called his little "Johnson" Jumbo.

And, as another intimidation tactic, would walk down to the White House pool with his staffers, strip down to his birthday suit, and jump in, while encouraging all the others to do likewise.

Scared the hell out of the Kennedy people still working there. But his own guys, like Jack Valenti, were pretty used to it.

LBJ was certainly not boring.

[LTR]

28. I like this pic

Miss Courtney Valenti, daugther of Jack Valenti watches a litter of beagle puppies. The puppies were sired by "Him."

Jan. 5, 1966

How many dogs did LBJ have?

[Maestro]

24. I just went by his home, ranch and state park

last weekend to pick up our new dog. If anybody asks why I want to stay in Texas, a place where most of my ancestors and present family come from, even though it is overrun with repukes, it is because that Texas Hill Country where he is from is unbelievable and I am just waiting for some hard-nosed s-o-b democrat like him to rise again and take back this state.

Actually, it could be me! Vote for me or else! ;)

My grandmother has a pic with him from the 70's. I need to find a scanner and scan it. My mother said he was quite the gentleman and very friendly. He even told his secret service agents to back off when my grandmother came around. I think my grandparents were visiting Johnson City, Texas.

[Atlanticist]

26. I've just started Robert Caro's multi-volume biography of LBJ

2 things immediately strike me -

1. what a great writer Caro is;

2. what a fascinating character LBJ is.

I wonder if anyone has written a better biography of any American President ?