Tunnel vision*

Magnet #735 - Lyndon B. Johnson (1963 - 1969)

Oops. I was picking magnets and was like, I thought I already did Nixon. Sad. Especially given the mantle Lyndon B. Johnson had to take up after Kennedy's assassination.

I can't even imagine - how do you step into those shoes?

I tend to get to know some presidents better than others, for obvious reasons. Mostly, I get to know the cold facts - when they served, major events, random info, etc. But for my favorites, I end up learning who the man was behind the office. Their personality, sense of humor, their family lives, etc.

I'll be honest, I don't know all that much more about LBJ, other than remembering him in that iconic Air Force One inauguration image with Jackie O. Though, apparently, his biographer might shed some light on him here.

I also know that he was a Texan, that he served in WWII and reported to MacArthur in Australia at some point, and was part of those Chicken War between France and Germany. Oh, and that he had three Beagles, Him, Her and Edgar.

That last tidbit leads me to believe that he must have had a sense of humor, no?

*The real reason I picked number 36 today, is because I was looking up LBJ quotes, and he won me over with the below. Even though he's (sadly) referring to Vietnam, I'm snaking it for here, because it's so apropos for the current work crazy.

“Light at the end of the tunnel? We don't even have a tunnel; we don't even know where the tunnel is.”

- Lyndon B. Johnson