Collection - Home Is Where the President Is
President Lyndon Baines Johnson was born near Stonewall, Texas on August 27, 1908. Johnson began his career as a teacher before entering politics in 1930. After serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, Johnson was elected to the vice presidency in late 1960. He became President on November 22, 1963 upon the assassination of John F. Kennedy, but won the presidency in his own right in the 1964 election and held that office until 1969. During his presidential tenure, Johnson was involved in several significant national and international events including the creation of Medicare and Medicaid, the signing of the Civil Rights Act, as well as the escalation of the Vietnam War. Although eligible, Johnson did not run for reelection in 1968. He died after suffering his third heart attack on January 22, 1973.
From Lyndon Baines Johnson’s first foray into public service, the entire Johnson family, LBJ’s wife Lady Bird and their daughters Lynda and Luci, lived in front of the camera. Like all presidential families, the Johnsons existed in a unique space between public exposure and private experience, and where political necessity often took priority over personal privacy.
The Johnson family’s “home,” both a traditional safe haven and, at the same time, a powerful marketing tool, provides an excellent case study to examine the complicated construction of political identity. For the Johnsons, the LBJ Ranch became the well-publicized site of orchestrated public events, while the White House, a publicly funded government mansion, became host to family rites of passage including the marriages of both daughters. “Home is Where the President is,” showcases films taken at both homes, before and during the Johnson presidency, to explore the construction of political identity through the spaces in which it was lived.
The LBJ Ranch, aka The Texas White House
Purchased from a family member in 1951 while Lyndon B. Johnson served in the U.S. Senate, “the ranch,” located in the Texas Hill Country where Johnson had grown up, quickly became a beloved family home. The LBJ Ranch made its debut to the general American public during Johnson’s vice presidency when it was used to host state visits of foreign dignitaries, high-ranking Washington politicians, and campaign functions. The following films present a sample of some of those events that transformed the ranch from private home to political landmark, and ultimately, into The Texas White House.
Chancellor Adenauer Visits Vice President Johnson in Texas
The first official state visit at the LBJ Ranch after Johnson became Vice President was Chancellor Konrad Adenauer of West Germany. The Chancellor had always dreamt of travelling to the American West, and at age 85, his lifelong wish was fulfilled. This film documents the Chancellor’s visit to Texas, which included a barbecue at the LBJ Ranch held in his honor and a tour of the Hill Country and highland lakes.
America Welcomes President Ayub
The LBJ Ranch proved to be an excellent place to entertain visiting dignitaries, as it allowed the Vice President to show off a part of the United States far removed from the hustle of Washington D.C. and the East Coast. The ranch again served as an official state destination during the visit of President Muhammad Ayub Khan of Pakistan. This film, produced by the United States Information Service to document President Ayub’s state visit, presented the LBJ Ranch to an international audience.
Christmas Tour of LBJ Ranch, 1963
At times, the intersection of private and public events at the ranch caused tension between family members. The 1963 holiday trip to the LBJ Ranch was the first time that Johnson returned home to Texas after assuming the presidency. On Christmas Day, the ranch was teeming with people, both members of the large Johnson family who had come for dinner, and the press who were there to take the family's Christmas picture. The President treated the press to an extensive tour of the ranch grounds and house, including the dining room, his study, and the master suite, all while Christmas dinner grew cold. According to newspaper reports, an increasingly irritated First Lady made it clear that her gravy “was not getting better with age.”
1964 Campaign Barbecue at the LBJ Ranch
In October, 1964, Lady Bird opened her home to the press for a campaign event that included photo opportunities and a tour of the house and grounds. Two hundred journalists, nearly all of them women, were invited to a ranch barbecue to kick off the First Lady’s three-stop campaign tour through Texas.
Tour of LBJ’s Birthplace
Following the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, the Johnsons returned to Stonewall, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Humphrey. The Humphreys’ visit to the LBJ Ranch included a tour of President Johnson’s birthplace, where Lyndon and Lady Bird acted as tour guides. A few members of the media, including Washington Post Co. President Katharine Graham, and Austin camera man Gordon Wilkison were invited to participate in and document the event.
LBJ and Hubert Humphrey Victory Barbecue
The ranch served as a place to conduct official state visits and press conferences, but it also was Johnson’s favorite place to celebrate. Following the 1964 election, President Johnson invited Vice President-elect Hubert Humphrey and wife Muriel to the ranch for a last minute victory celebration. Among the festivities was a “press barbecue” that included food, musical entertainment, and photo ops of Johnson and Humphrey riding horseback.
Barbecue at the LBJ Ranch for Latin American Diplomats
Preceding the April 1967 Punta del Este summit in Uruguay, President Johnson invited the ambassadors to a weekend at the ranch that included one of his famous barbecues. The purpose for the festivities was to provide a casual setting for the attendees to get acquainted before the formal meetings the following week.
The White House
Upon the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, Lyndon Johnson assumed the presidency. Wanting to afford Mrs. Kennedy the time she needed to gather her family’s things from the White House, the Johnsons did not move in until December 7th. With deference to the slain president, Johnson refrained from redecorating the Oval Office until he was elected President in his own right in 1964. While the Johnsons did not immediately claim the White House as their own, the family utilized films and photographs to assert their arrival, role and identity throughout their stay.
The following films, all produced by the White House Photographic Unit, document every facet of the Johnsons’ lives during their White House tenure. These productions capture the blurred boundaries between the public and private lives of the Johnsons, providing a glimpse of the first family that is not unlike the reality television programs popular today. This selection illustrates the manner in which their intensely private, sometimes mundane, family moments are interspersed among the official state business, travel, and press events.
Once In a Lifetime
While the press covered the events surrounding Lynda Bird’s marriage to Marine Captain Charles S. Robb, this film chronicles the festivities from an insider’s point of view. Interspersed among the official pronouncements, receptions and ceremonies are such intimate moments as a lingerie shower for Lynda Bird and the President’s toast at the rehearsal dinner.
The President’s House
On her tour of some of the private rooms in the White House, the First Lady ponders the public and private uses of these spaces. Her explanations of the historic and official uses of the rooms are offset by candid scenes of the family, such as baby Patrick Lyndon Nugent crawling through his birthday cake on the floor of the Formal Yellow Oval Room, a room normally reserved for receptions of state.
The President - June 1966
The first of the "The President" series, this film records several meetings with foreign leaders and planning the bombing of the Hanoi Oil fields. It also captures vacation time at the LBJ Ranch, including time in the swimming pool with the family dog.
The President - August 1966
August, 1966 was an especially busy month for the President on all fronts. In addition to the usual grueling schedule of official events, Luci Baines Johnson married Pat Nugent. Also documented is the President’s very casual and personal 58th birthday party at the ranch, where he opened presents and carried on, surrounded by friends (including Texas Governor John Connally) sitting on the living room floor.
The President - November 1966
November 1966 found President Johnson spending most of the month at the LBJ Ranch preparing for and recovering from surgery. This film documents official state business and press conferences held at the Texas White House, but the camera is also rolling as the Johnsons vote in Johnson city, and celebrate their anniversary in the hospital room where the President recovered from his operation.
The President - September 1967
September 1967 found the Johnsons mostly attending to affairs in Washington, D.C. Amongst the important events reported on is the courtship and engagement of their eldest daughter, Lynda Bird.
The President - November 1968
Like the other films in this series, this episode contains a mixture of official and private footage of the Johnsons. Official business features an awards ceremony at the ranch for the Apollo 7 Astronauts and the President stumping for Hubert Humphrey at the Astrodome. Personal business includes Thanksgiving dinner and President Johnson showing off photographs of his daughter’s Hawaii reunion with her military husband. An intense moment illustrating the intersection of the Johnsons’ public and private lives occurs as the president watches the broadcast of his announcement to halt bombings in Vietnam while his toddler grandson pets and kisses his image on the television screen.
The White House Photographic Unit films courtesy of the LBJ Library.
