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Lyndon Johnson on Technology
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Obsessive need for information; fanatic about facts
It was obsessive, LBJ's need for information. It was unending and unceasing and the more information the president had, the more he wanted. He was never satisfied. I never saw him approach any problem where he was not in possession of a trunk-full of
information, far more than any other man in the room, and oftentimes on subjects in which the official to whom he was talking was supposed to be expert. He was simply and clearly a fanatic about facts. He could never get enough information.
Source: A Very Human President, by Jack Valenti, p.163
, Dec 1, 1976
1968: created national public broadcasting system
The president declared himself in favor of public broadcasting and the design of the first federally-financed public broadcasting apparatus. On March 6, 1968, the Senate Commerce Committee met to hold confirmation hearings on the newly appointed
fifteen members of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, created by President Johnson to fund a national public broadcasting system.
Source: A Very Human President, by Jack Valenti, p. 84&127
, Dec 1, 1976
LBJ's FBI never wiretapped MLK
In early 1975, press reports surfaced about former agents of the FBI claiming they were ordered to wiretap Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy at the convention to relay vital information to LBJ.
My only comment on this is the reporting must have been done by extra-sensory perception. I saw every piece of paper that crossed the president's desk. I was with him so much
I heard almost every phone conversation he had during these convention days. I can certify without a doubt that I never saw or read one sliver of anything that resembled a wiretapping report from the FBI or anyone else. I don't know whether or not the
FBI tapped King and Kennedy at the convention, but I am willing to declare it would have been a minor miracle for any of these reports to get to the president without me knowing about it.
Source: A Very Human President, by Jack Valenti, p.202
, Dec 1, 1976
Rural Electrification raised farmers' incomes
The "power trust" was a favorite target of the New Deal. Johnson joined wholeheartedly in the fight against it. He was a fervent advocate of the recently established Rural Electrification Administration.Johnson argued, "There is no reason why the
farmer should not have electricity at cheap prices now. He needs it to help him with his work, make his home a better and more comfortable place to live, and to give him the opportunity available to city folks."
One result of his fight for extension of
electric service to rural homes was the establishment of his own district of the biggest rural electrification project in the world. In 1939 the Central Texas empire of public-owned electric utilities had become a reality with the execution of a contract
for purchase by the Lower Colorado River Authority of properties owned by a private company in a 16-county area. Rates paid by farmers for electric power were slashed 25%. Their use of electricity zoomed and the resulting benefits were plain.
Source: The Lyndon Johnson Story, by Booth Mooney, p. 31-33
, Jun 1, 1964
1957: Pushed UN for international cooperation on Space Age
Johnson, the leader, literally led the US into the Space Age. When Soviet Russia sent Sputnik whirling into space in the fall of 1957, Johnson's Preparedness Subcommittee immediately launched a searching investigation to find out why the
US was lagging behind. Johnson called for the permanent Aeronautical and Space Sciences Committee. The Majority Leader early gave heavy emphasis to the importance of international cooperation in the use and exploration of space.
He presented the American position on the subject in an appearance at the UN in NY. The New York Herald Tribune editorially congratulated
Johnson for his "forceful affirmation" of US policy, saying his "eloquent performance undoubtedly made a deep impression on the uncommitted nations."
Source: The Lyndon Johnson Story, by Booth Mooney, p. 149-150
, Jun 1, 1964
Page last updated: Apr 28, 2013
