LBJohnson Presidential Library, Austin, TX (Travel)

LBJ Presidential Library, Austin, Texas

People make history come alive. My husband and I both enjoy history, especially the study of the interesting, intriguing people who make up history. The LBJ Presidential Library also opened many topics for conversation as we reminisced about pivotal events in our lives as young people over 50 years ago!

US Presidential Libraries

Presidential Libraries are a great way to not only study the person in-depth, but also the world events that shaped their era and their presidency. Whether or not one agrees with the political views and decisions of any president, one’s life can still be enriched from visiting the highlights of their term(s) in office and their ultimate legacy as portrayed in their library (actually museum).

To date, we have visited five presidential libraries. Our first was in Boston, MA (John F Kennedy). During our 2021 travels, we utilized an annual pass purchased at our first museum in California (Ronald Reagan) and visited four US Presidential Libraries. We visited three back-to-back in Texas: George H W Bush (College Town), George W Bush (Dallas), and Lyndon B Johnson (Austin).

Each library/museum is as unique as the era and the president they represent. The era of Kennedy and LBJ is reminiscent of and coincided with the times in which we grew up. Details surrounding LBJ’s catapult into the presidency are etched into our memories as we recall the assassination of his predecessor, President John F. Kennedy. Stories still haunt us of friends and family who were caught up in the Vietnam War which coincided with his time in office. Recalling these events and people served to make our visit to the LBJ Library come alive for us.

Lyndon Baines Johnson (August 27, 1908 – January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969.

The Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library

The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, founded 1971, also known as the LBJ Presidential Library, is the presidential library and museum of Lyndon Baines Johnson. Located in the University of Texas, Austin, its stunning Modern, Monolithic architecture rises starkly and majestically above a spacious courtyard.

A life-size statue (6’3″) of LBJ greets visitors as they enter and exit his library. Created by artist Joshua Krezinski, it is crafted from hard-coated urethane foam and steel with a faux-bronze finish. It was installed on July 1, 2011. Titled, “The Art of Persuasion,” it beckons active debate and dialogue! Johnson was skilled at political persuasion, especially at behind-the-scenes persuasion and arm-twisting versus public debate stages. This was evidenced in his roles as a master legislator and US Senate Majority Leader.

LBJ Legacy: Tragedy or Triumph?

Johnson’s entrance into his presidency is unfortunately due to the tragic assassination of his predecessor, John F. Kennedy

In a eulogy given by Texas Governor John Connally at the LBJ Ranch, January 25, 1973, he said “It is fashionable among some to refer to Lyndon Johnson as a tragic president. But I believe history will describe his presidency as tragic only in a sense that it began through tragedy, for his service was not one of tragedy but one of triumph.”

The JFK / LBJ Ticket

LBJ Becomes President

Lyndon Johnson became Vice President of the United States in November, 1960 along with his much younger and popular running mate, John F. Kennedy, who became the 35th President.

Tragedy Strikes…

“On a sunny day in Dallas, Texas, an assassin changed the nation’s history and the arc of Lyndon Johnson’s life. On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was in Dallas on a swing through Texas to raise money and support for his reelection in 1964. Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson expected to entertain the Kennedys that night at their ranch. But as the President’s motorcade wound through downtown Dallas, three shots rang out. John F. Kennedy was mortally wounded, and Lyndon Johnson became the 36th President of the United States.” (Plaque at the LBJ Library)

Interesting Fact: Four U.S. presidents have been assassinated while serving in office: Abraham Lincoln (1865), James A Garfield (1881), William McKinley (1901) and John F. Kennedy (1963).

Presidential Limo

The assassination Kennedy drastically changed the way Presidents traveled,and it immediately impacted his successor, Johnson. The popular display of the limousine in the LBJ library is a modified replica of the one that carried President Johnson around Washington D.C. (This one is LBJ’s custom-built 1968 post-presidency Lincoln limousine)

The authentic one weighed roughly 10,000 pounds, carried 1,600 pounds of steel plating, and had bulletproof windows eight panes thick. A communications system connected the President to his security detail.that (The limo that John F. Kennedy was riding in during his assassination—which was subsequently rebuilt and regularly used by LBJ—is on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan).

LBJ the Politician

LBJ is quoted as saying “There are no problems which we cannot solve together, and there are very few which any of us can settle by himself”

This quote, noted on a plaque in the LBJ Library, summarizes for me his overriding political philosophy. Given by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson during a press conference at the LBJ Ranch on November 28, 1964. It meant that we can fix big challenges when we work as a team, people cannot fix major issues completely on their own, and cooperation brings better results than working along.

LBJ spent most of his adult life in politics; the political positions he held during his life included:

• US President 1963-1968 (He defeated Barry Goldwater in 1964)
• Vice President 1961-1963
• Senate Majority Leader 1955-1961
• Senate Minority Leader 1953-1955
• Senate Majority Whip 1952-1953
• US Senator 1949-1961
• US Congressman 1937-1949
• Congressional Aide 1931-1935

Challenges as President

Plaques throughout the LBJ Library highlight some of the challenges and turmoil that continued during his presidency.

Cold War & Soviet Union

“When LBJ became President, the Cold War with the Soviet Union dominated foreign policy. Johnson and the Vietnam War will always be linked. He faced foreign policy challenges in Europe, The Middle East and the Caribbean. The international arms race showed no signs of ending. And, as he tried to manage these crises abroad, the world was entering a new age of turmoil. The era of international youth protests, terrorism, and oil embargoes was beginning.”

Civil Rights & MLK

“The Civil Rights movement was forefront in the news. LBJ and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) formed a powerful, complex political partnership. Between 1963 and 1965, their secret coordination and strategy sessions helped pass landmark legislation like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.” The assassination of MLK during this time period added emotional depth to LBJ’s time in office.

Oval Office

A highlight of each presidential library we visited is its replica of that president’s oval office. There are common similarities, yet each one is unique and different and customized by each president.

George Washington

George Washington, the first president of the United States, is typically included in the decor of each oval office we’ve visited, as he is here.

FDR

A portrait of President Franklin D. Roosevelt is also prominently portrayed in LBJ’s Oval Office. LBJ greatly admired FDR whom he credited as a primary inspiration for his career in public service. He also thought of him as a father figure and crucial political mentor. FDR took a liking to the young Texan politician when he met him in the late 1930s. FDR was instrumental in launching LBJ’s trajectory toward the national stage.

The Three TVs

LBJ is remembered for being adamant on keeping up with the news. We were reminded how different it was the 1960s. Competing news reports from ABC, CBS, and NBC were the only readily available sources – viewed on black and white screens of course! LBJ had a custom-built triple-screen television console installed in the Oval Office to simultaneously monitor all three major network news broadcasts.

The Great Hall & The Archives

The heart of the LBJ Library is the impressive Great Hall. It features travertine walls, an engraved presidential seal, a stunning mural and a spectacular view of four floors of glass-enclosed archives. It is 7,686 square fee (equivalent of 6.6 Olympic-size swimming pools!), and includes permanent and revolving temporary exhibitions.

Presidential archives preserve the documents and other materials that show democracy at work, the raw materials of history. The First Lady, Lady Bird wanted the archives on display so that visitors would be aware and better understand why the library, as an institution, exists. This was an important and mindful design decision.

The iconic wall of bright red and shiny gold boxes holds approximately 45 million pages of historical documents from Lyndon B. Johnson’s political career as well as from some of his close associates. The open display of the archives is modeled after Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, which Lady Bird Johnson visited when researching designs for the presidential library.

The First Family

The Johnson family – the President, the First Lady and their two young adult daughters – spent five years in the White House as the First Family. As a young woman myself, I enjoyed keeping up with their busy and colorful lives, lives which were made up of great joy along with their trials of life spent in the international spotlight. The world watched as their lives were mingled with hard work, joy and anxiety. Politics was the family business and everyone was involved. The daughters, Lynda Bird and Luci Baines, like their mother, represented their father’s administration on campaigns and at public events. Both girls, much to the delight of the public, married during their White House years. White House weddings were seen as close to royalty as America could get! Both of their husbands were stationed in Vietnam. After following the adorable toddlers of the previous Kennedy White House, the public enjoyed following the lives and escapades of these two intelligent, vivacious young women!

Lynda (left) Luci (middle) Lyndon and Lady Bird.

Family photos were proudly displayed in the Oval Office.

Andrew Jackson

In his Oval Office, LBJ also selected a photo of President Andrew Jackson, whom he openly admired. As a proud Democrat, Johnson viewed Jackson as the foundational patriarch and fierce populist champion of the Democratic party. He referred to him as his “hero” and respected his aggressive, unyielding defense of the Federal Union and his dominant, larger-than-life presidential personality.

The First Lady

Lady Bird Johnson was a prominent figure as First Lady in the LBJ presidency and the White House. My personal recollections of them as a couple was confirmed by information shared in the LBJ Library. Their relationship was a powerful, complex political and personal partnership. Their whirlwind courtship began with a proposal on their very first date in September 1934. After “pursuing her aggressively like a freight train,” they married just 2 1/2 months later with a $2.50 ring from Sears, Roebuck. Their partnership lasted over 38 years until his death in 1973.

It is common for a US First Lady to pick a cause on which she will focus during her time in the White House. Lady Bird said “My special cause, and one that alerts my interest and quickens the pace of my life, is to preserve the wildflowers and native plants that define the regions of our land–to encourage and promote their use in appropriate areas and thus help pass on to generations in waiting the quiet joys and satisfactions I have known since childhood.”

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Garden just outside Austin, Texas, is the culmination of her vision and dream. Today it is a popular, heavily visited site. It is highlighted in my blog on Austin, Texas.

Lady Bird’s Private Office

The private office of the First Lady is another favorite of visitors to the LBJ Library. She gifted her office, its furnishings and accessories for use as a permanent exhibit. It remains unchanged since her gifting. It includes items such as papers as she left them, family photos, her “Can Do” paperweight and her descriptions of the incredible view from her office windows. Her choice of styles and bright colors is truly reminiscent of the 1960s!

I love one of Lady Bird’s inspirational quotes: “Let your reach exceed your grasp always. And make your little plot in this world greener because you walked there.”

LBJ Humor

A fun exhibit shows a personal side of LBJ. This permanent exhibition features reproductions of real political cartoons hung around a storytelling animatronic figure of LBJ. In many ways, this exhibit balanced with the somber tones with which his presidency began.

The Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum provided us with intimate and deeply felt flashbacks of the people and events in our youth during his time in office. It provided interesting and insightful discussion between my husband and me as we reflected on this pivotal time in both our lives and in history over 5 decades earlier!

One can benefit from visiting a Presidential Library whether one aligns with the the decisions, political views and personalities of the person highlighted.

Sources

• Personal on-site visit by Cher B and Skip B to the LBJ Library, Austin, Texas. 27 December 2021
• Plaques displayed all over the LBJ Library . 27 December 2021
• LBJLibrary.org. 26 August 2026

Visit

Address: 2313 Red River St., Austin, TX 78705. University of Austin, Texas, campus.
Free visitor parking is available in lot #38. Fee for Entrance. (A same-day visitor pass was very reasonably priced. We had purchased an annual pass for to all presidential libraries during our first stop, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California)