Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum
The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, often known as the LBJ Presidential Library, is Lyndon Baines Johnson’s presidential library and museum. He was the 36th President of the United States (1963–1969). It is one of 13 presidential libraries managed by the National Archives and Records Administration and is located on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin. The LBJ Library has 45 million pages of historical records, including President Johnson’s papers as well as those of close allies and others.
History
Discussions of establishing a presidential library for President Johnson began immediately after his electoral victory in 1964. In February 1965, William H. Heath, chairman of the Board of Regents of the University of Texas at Austin, proposed establishing the library on campus, along with funding to construct the facility and the establishment of the Johnson School of Public Affairs on campus. On September 6, 1966, the agreement was finally signed. Unlike previous Presidential libraries, which were funded by private donations, the University of Texas paid $15 million of the $18 million needed to build the complex and donated the land for the library, which was formerly a low-income neighborhood acquired by the university through eminent domain.
Lady Bird Johnson, the First Lady, toured existing Presidential libraries and university campuses to consult on the library’s architecture. Lady Bird presented President Johnson with three possible architects, one of them being Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Construction began in 1967, after the design was completed in the summer of 1966. The Library was dedicated on May 22, 1971, in the presence of Johnson and then-President Richard Nixon.
Queen Elizabeth II visited the museum in 1991 and met with President Johnson’s family.
Lady Bird Johnson’s body was laid to rest at the Library and Museum following her death in July 2007, much as her husband’s had been 34 years earlier in January 1973.
The LBJ Library had a multimillion-dollar renovation in 2012, during which most of the displays were shuttered. The Library reopened to the public on December 22. In 2013, the Library charged admission for the first time since its creation in 1971. Mark Atwood Lawrence is the LBJ Library’s current director.
Features
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill architects Gordon Bunshaft and R. Max Brooks created the 10-story skyscraper, which is covered in cream Italian travertine. The Library is situated on a 14-acre (57,000 m2) plot of land adjacent to the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. Although the Library is located on the UT Austin campus, it is operated by the federal government and is not linked with the institution. The top floor of the Library features a 7/8ths scale replica of the Oval Office, replete with the Johnson desk, as it was during Johnson’s administration. Another display has an animated LBJ. The view of the Texas State Capitol from the library’s terrace was classified as one of the Capitol View Corridors in 1983, which are protected from obstruction by tall structures under state and municipal legislation.
Over 125,000 individuals visit the LBJ Library each year to explore its permanent historical, cultural, and temporary exhibitions. It is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week, all year. The Library will be closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.
Naomi Savage designed a photoengraved mural representing scenes from Johnson’s life, which is on exhibit at the Library and Museum.
LBJ Liberty & Justice for All Award
The library bestows the “LBJ Liberty and Justice for All Award” on public leaders. The award is given to leaders who demonstrate civility and bipartisanship. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, President George H. W. Bush, Congressman John Lewis, Congressman John Dingell, Senator Carl Levin, and Senator John McCain have all received the award.
President Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (/lndn benz/; August 27, 1908 – January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as President John F. Kennedy’s 37th vice president from 1961 to 1963, and was sworn in shortly after Kennedy’s assassination. Johnson was a Democrat from Texas who served as a representative, senator, and Senate majority leader. He has the distinction of being one of the few presidents who have held all elected federal positions.
Johnson, who was born in a farmhouse outside Stonewall, Texas, to a local political family, worked as a high school teacher and congressional aide before being elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1937. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1948 after a tight and acrimonious Democratic Party primary. He was appointed Senate Majority Whip in 1951. He was named Senate Democratic leader in 1953, then majority leader in 1954. Johnson sought for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1960. Senator Kennedy eventually defeated Johnson and his other competitors for the nomination, and then stunned many by proposing to make Johnson his vice presidential running partner. The Kennedy-Johnson ticket won the 1960 presidential election. After President Kennedy was slain on November 22, 1963, Vice President Johnson seized the president. Johnson was elected president the next year by a landslide over Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, receiving 61.1% of the popular vote in the 1964 presidential election, the greatest proportion received by any presidential candidate since the 1820 election.
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