April 26, 2008

April 26, 2008

Although LBJ was born west of here on the ranch, Johnson City, TX is where he grew up. The second part of the National Historic Park is here and centered on his boyhood home. We take a guided tour of it and are quite impressed. Although Johnson claims to have grown up poor he lived in the largest house in this small town, one larger than our former house in Lombard.

In the Visitor Center we watch a couple films on his and Lady Bird’s life and then peruse exhibits on his life story and presidency. I have to admit I am not a Johnson fan. For me he left us with a terrible socialist legacy. He believed in big government so much he expanded the role of government more than any other president in history. Something we are paying the terrible price of today! Normally I would have passed this tourist spot by but I was curious to find out how he came to be so misguided. Easy. He grew up the son of a politician, married into a political family, and virtually the only jobs he ever held were as a politician handing out money. Like my wife he thought money just grew on trees and as a politician he thought there wasn't a problem that couldn't be solved with a new law.

Afterwards we spent the rest of the afternoon driving east staying at a private park west of Houston, TX.