Lyndon Baines Johnson, our 36th president, has been in the news recently. First, Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston is staring on Broadway portraying LBJ in the new play All the Way.And now President Obama is heading to Austin, Texas today to honor President Johnson and the Civil Rights Act he signed 50 years ago.
President Johnson was a complex man serving as president in a complex time. He was physically unattractive, rude and crude. He took office several hours after a beloved, handsome, charming President Kennedy was shot in the head. President Johnson was sworn in with Jacqueline Kennedy standing beside him with her husband's blood all over her pink suit.
During Johnson's time as president some of my friends thought he was wonderful. Some of my friends thought he was evil. I think he was a complex man, with an almost impossible task.But he did get the Civil Rights Act passed. He knew how to horse trade with congress, something that might be impossible in this day.
In 1966 when my husband, Ken was in theology school at Emory University and we were extraordinarily poor, living in a country parsonage with two babies, we, in kind of a magical way, received an invitation to the President's Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C.
I remember having to almost move heaven and earth to get our children cared for and get plane tickets. But we did it. It was a great experience and we met a number of exciting people with whom we stayed in touch when we eventually returned to Florida.
The invite here is for Ken only. Because the prayer breakfast, at that time was segregated by sex. He had breakfast with LBJ. I had breakfast with Lady Bird.
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| Resting in Washington D.C., 1966 |
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