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 Tourism - Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, Austin, Texas Posted by:  JimmyEv
N 30° 17.145 W 097° 43.748
14R E 622224 N 3351133
Besides housing the presidential archives, the LBJ Museum explores six decades of American history and examines both the accomplishments and failures of the Johnson Administration. On the tenth floor is a scale reproduction of Johnson’s Oval Office.
Waymark Code: WM1VCA
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 07/12/2007
Views: 136
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On the University of Texas campus, the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum is one of 11 Presidential Libraries and Museums scattered about the country. The LBJ Library is the only one with free admittance, as specified by the former president.
The major exhibit chronicles the story of America over six decades, from 1908, Johnson’s birth, through his death in 1973, flanked by the individual stories of Lyndon Johnson and Claudia ‘Lady Bird’ Johnson. The two were married in 1934.
In his political career, Johnson lost his first run at the U.S. Congress, but won in a second run in 1937. Exhibits explain how voter fraud in the Texas Democratic Primaries may have cut both ways, first causing Johnson’s loss, then helping his win. Johnson was the first member of Congress to volunteer for the armed forces after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. By 1948, he had become a Senator representing Texas. His success at power-brokering in the Senate didn’t win him the Democratic nomination for President in 1960, but it did get him an offer from John F. Kennedy to be Vice-President. Three years later, on November 23, 1963, Johnson became president when JFK was assassinated. On that fateful day, Lady Bird began taping an audio diary. You can hear her poignant recollections, recorded hours after the event. Johnson was handily re-elected to the Presidency in 1964.
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The focus then shifts to the Johnson presidency, both its accomplishments and its failures. Equal time is given to Johnson’s concept of the ‘Great Society’ – an expansion of Rooseveltian principles – and the Vietnam War. The unpopularity of Johnson resulting from America’s growing involvement in Vietnam is easy to understand. But the fact that he was able to push through a massive domestic agenda in spite of this unpopularity is simply amazing. During his administration, over 1,000 bills were passed, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act, the Wilderness Act and Medicare. No president since Franklin D. Roosevelt
has increased the size and scope of the federal government so dramatically. And, for better or worse, it hasn’t been undone since.
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One year, 1968, sealed the Johnson administration. In that year, Martin Luther King was assassinated. The Vietnam War turned for the worse. Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated. Cities across the country broke out in riots. Newark, New Jersey was declared to be a ‘City in Rebellion.’ Johnson wrote about 1968, “...one of the most agonizing years any president spent in the White House. I sometimes felt that I was living a continuous nightmare.” Johnson choose to leave this nightmare – he didn’t run for re-election. He died four years later.
Other exhibits on the first floor showcase two cars – a Model T given to Johnson and the 1968 Lincoln Presidential limousine – Johnson family photos and the desk used for the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. And, as in most museums, there is an orientation theater.
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A grand staircase leads to the second floor exhibits. At the top of the stairs you can see the main purpose of the museum – rows upon rows of archived presidential documents, 40,000,000 of them, stacked on four illuminated glass-faced floors. The second floor contains murals of Johnson with assorted political figures, such as John Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt; presidential gifts from other countries, including a Diego Rivera painting; portraits of the presidents; portraits of the first ladies; gifts given by Americans to the President; and the museum’s one piece of tackiness – an animatronic Johnson spinning the yarns he was known for.
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To get to the 10th floor exhibits, you’ll have to find the elevator. Here is a replica of Johnson’s White House office, with a portrait of Franklin Roosevelt hanging above the mantle and recoding equipment connected to the phone. One of the funniest things are the three side-by-side television sets. Johnson would watch the evening news on all three networks, ABC, CBS and NBC. How many televisions would he have to have now?
A good portion of the 10th floor is devoted to Mrs. Johnson, including narrated letters from Lady Bird to her husband. Lady Bird was the first wife to hit the presidential campaign trail for her husband by herself. Like most first ladies, she focused on a few causes important to her, one of which was Head Start. But what Lady Bird was most known for was her goal of beautifying American roadsides through wildflowers. You can even see the presidential china she had decorated with Texas wildflowers.
Parking, always a premium on the University of Texas campus, is available free for museum visitors in Lot 38 off of Red River Street.
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The "Official Tourism" URL link to the attraction: [Web Link]
The attraction’s own URL: [Web Link]
Hours of Operation:
Daily, 9am-5pm.
Admission Prices:
Free.
Approximate amount of time needed to fully experience the attraction: Half of a day (2-5 hours)
Transportation options to the attraction: Personal Vehicle or Public Transportation
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