Lyndon B. Johnson, America’s 36th President, was born, raised, and died in the Texas Hill Country near the small community of Johnson City. We took the short drive today to visit the National Park unit which commemorates his life.
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| Cows on the ranch |
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| LBJ birthplace |
There are two parts to this Park—one in Johnson City and the other about 10 miles west on US 290 at the LBJ Ranch. We started our tour at Johnson City at the National Park Visitor Center. We toured the museum area as we waited for the guided tour to begin. The Ranger led us across the street to the boyhood home of LBJ. The house has been restored by the Park Service and furnished with period pieces. There are only a few items which were original to the home. We were the only tour participants so Gene got to asked several questions. After our tour we returned to the Visitor Center to watch the film. They offer two, but we felt we didn’t have time for both so selected to one which featured Lady Bird. It was very well done. Since she lived until recently, it was nice to actually hear her discuss her life rather than have others speculate on what they thought she was like.
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| The Ranch |
Also included in this portion of the park is the Johnson Settlement—a reproduction of Lyndon’s grandfather’s homestead. Sam Johnson and his wife came to the area after the civil war. Sam and his brother, Tom, were cattlemen who drove herds to Kansas. This is no longer a working farm (I suppose the word is “ranch” in Texas), however, there were chickens, a couple horses, and a couple longhorns on the park property. I have no idea why.
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| Boyhood home in Johnson City |
After our self-guided tour of the settlement and a quick picnic lunch, we headed over to the LBJ Ranch. In the past there have been bus tours of this portion of the park. Those have been discontinued. Today we stopped in at the Gift Shop and picked up the audio tour which we listened to as we drove our own truck around the ranch. First on the auto tour was the one-room school which LBJ attended and at which, as President, he signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. A reproduction of the small home where LBJ was born is also located on the Ranch. This home, as well as his boyhood home, was much nicer than what we would have imagined. They were not “high-class”, but certainly more up-scale than most early 1900s frontier, working man’s home.
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| Sam Johnson home at Johnson Settlement |
The ranch is still a working ranch, so there was cattle grazing and ranch hands ranching. The ranch is now in the hands of the Johnson daughters and it was the wish of President Johnson that it be kept as a working ranch.
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| The Texas White House |
The Texas White House has only be acquired by the Park Service since the death of Lady Bird in 2007. The only portion of the home which is open to the public at this time is the office. The rest of the home is being restored to the way it appeared when LBJ was President and will be open to the public sometime in the future. We again had a guide for this portion of the tour. The office from which Johnson conducted the business of our country was small considering what went on there. There were a couple desks for secretaries, a sofa for guests (Heads of State, Cabinet Members, grandchildren, etc), and two recliners bearing the presidential seal in front of the fireplace. The home, itself, seemed quite modest. I wish it had been opened.
Also on display were several of Johnson’s cars. That was pretty interesting, especially the “hunting” car and the aqua car.
President and Lady Bird Johnson are buried in a private cemetery on the Ranch.
Overall, we were impressed as we usually are with any National Park Service unit. However, we both agree that it will be better when the Texas White House is open for touring. We have been to the homes of Eisenhower, Truman, Franklin Roosevelt, Jefferson, and Jackson. The ranch experience was good, but it is not his home and the home makes the whole experience so much better.
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