We Remember President Lyndon Johnson’s Birthday, 2021

it is my pleasure now to introduce our keynote speaker for today neil spells is an award-winning journalist and long-time associate and friend of president lyndon johnson and the entire johnson family neil came to austin in 1952 to attend the university of texas where he earned three communications degrees it was while attending ut that he began his association with the johnson family and it continues to this day along the way new has received many distinctions to name a few while working at the johnson family ktbc tv station he was single out nationally for his bravery and for saving countless lives as he reported under fire and in real time the then unimaginable horrors of history's first mass school shooting that took place from atop the university of texas tower ut's college of communication made him an outstanding alumnus and permanently named the neil spells broadcast journalism studio in his honor neil was ceo of a company that pronoun produced an american moment with charles corral and an american movement with james earl jones that were featured on tv in more than 100 u.s markets he has won numerous life lifetime achievement awards for his successes in communications and he was named austin's most worthy citizen for his civic and charitable work most recently his first memoir will be published next month by the university of texas briscoe center of american history it is fittingly titled with the bark-off and journalists memories of lbj and a live in the news media by the way with the barkov it's a phrase used by lbj as he dedicated the lbj library and presidential museum in 1972 an event chaired by neil ladies and gentlemen neil spells [Applause] sure lucy thank you for that assistance uh i have a little mobility problem these days at my age sometimes those things happen to you but i do appreciate you and in being here and uh i appreciate that uh nice introduction and colonel your remarks were spot on as well as those remarks about the uh the park service and the role here and the role it played with lbj uh as a 12 year old now that goes back a long way but when i was 12 years old my brother and i ran from our south texas home in raymondville to watch a helicopter fly in and land in a softball park right next to our house i didn't ever know that that was lbj on that helicopter and in fact that didn't mean anything to me 12 years old i was more fascinated by the helicopter than i was by some politician asking for votes that was 1948 in 1956 a 20 year old rookie reporter at ktbc tv in austin that's when i first met senate majority leader lyndon johnson for the first time and that began a relationship with lbj and his wonderful family that uh has endured to this day now what did i take away from that meeting with that man at that moment he said neil be sure and take a picture on this side not the other side so i was told to always look at the left side of his face whenever we were shooting him but before i continue i really i must beg your indulgence to share what's standing here under these stately live oak trees really means to me it was january 1973 that i spent several very cold very wet days here at the cemetery while the president was lying in state in washington the family had asked me to come out here and supervise the burial at this place when i arrived the television crew was already here they had a big huge 18-wheeler truck lying right right up against the wall over there and cameras big old cameras were stationed around the general uh from i think it was fort sam at that time the general came up and says may i help you and i said yes sir i'm an evil spouse i'm here uh representing the family well we're certainly glad to have someone from the family here and i said well general this isn't going to work he said what what is it going to work i said this this truck i said that just looms over this entire bucolic setting and it's going to distract from a very very important moment and he said well neil the television cameras and the television networks we promised them that they could have access well sir you you just can't put that truck right there that's not gonna work and he said yes sir we'll take care of it well i came back the next day it's still raining cold i'm shivering i didn't even have a raincoat i had one of those plastic see-through raincoats that just were freezing and i walked up and and the general says we took care of it mr spells i looked over and they had moved that 18-wheeler back in under those live oak trees and thrown camouflage netting over the truck now general a colonel that was what the general did was amazing i mean what he did there it didn't if you look closely you could probably see it but it did not interrupt or disrupt anything that was going on at the time i almost clicked my heels and saluted to him when he did that and also 34 years later i was back here under these same live oak trees as a family spokesman during the final days of mrs johnson i held back tears to help in the celebration to lay her to rest here now i know this is not time to talk about his passing it's here to celebrate his birth but i just had to share this with you what this moment in this setting means to me after so many years of relationship with the johnson family historians i'm sure many of you who are well aware of it as was delivered by the park service uh and they've talked about lbj's accomplishments about his history and his unmatched record of service and his success and that's fitting but frankly i feel a little compelled to take a different tack this morning i want to speak from first-hand experience and it involves lbj's impact on this neck of the woods the hill country and austin in my memoir which the university of texas briscoe center for american history will publish next month i lead the first sentence with this through his ascending political leadership in congress from the late 1930s and well into his presidency in the 1960s lyndon baines johnson laid the groundwork for austin and the texas hill country to become the dynamic and fascinating place it is today i don't think it would have been as happened as quickly without the worldwide attention and prestige that the 36th president of the united states brought to a government paycheck small college town with no fortune 500 companies at that time no large private industry no major airport and only one tv station which was owned by president and mrs johnson without going into great detail here i did mention everything from his work as a young man to bring electricity flood control water recreation and a rising standard of living throughout the hill country area and he brought worldwide attention to the area with the many events that he held here and yes to the obj library and presidential museum that he agreed to locate on the university of texas campus but more than his personal fingerprints there's another legacy that he left to those of us who are fortunate to call this area home and that's his family think about that lbj set an example of service to people in fact one of his four favorite quotes for throughout his entire public service career is one that is etched on a majestic pylon in the obj library and this is what it reads these are his words the great society asked not how much but how good not only how to create wealth but how to use it not only how fast we are going but where we are headed it proposes as the first test for a nation the quality of its people my oh my did he ever instill this example and his family look at ladybird johnson my goodness all she accomplished for people right here in central texas to name just a couple the development of a crown jewel of a park along hiking bike trail and park alongside a downtown lake that's now named in her honor and the establishment of the internationally renowned university of texas treasure the lady bird johnson wildflower center i could go on and on that's a legacy that will never be forgotten and the apple it just doesn't fall far from the obj tree lucy johnson his youngest daughter has made a home here in austin and you can find her involved in many charities especially in the healthcare area and lbj's oldest daughter catherine linda robb she doesn't live here but her daughter lbj's granddaughter catherine robb has taken leadership roles in many endeavors that enhance the lives of people they're just they're just too many family members lucy likes to call them generations of i love that phrase as such that are carrying on the lbj example and we just can't name all of them but you get the point as i said in my memoir all of us in this great part of the country all of us have benefited and still are benefiting from the example and the great works of this giant of a man and his inspiring family let me close by saying that today we celebrate the birth 113 years ago and the life of one man a man who left an indelible mark on mankind and especially right here on the hill country you're walking on his dirt you drive down the roads out here and in his austin area accomplishments that have been carried forward through his family now hold on i gotta say it wasn't a perfect life he he had some acknowledged faults i know lbj chewed out my butt on many occasions and some of those butt chewings might might even have been deserved we've all lived through his life those who've been associated with you know the 65 years since i first met lyndon johnson i really wish i could claim to have uncovered startling revelations about this mesmerizing man that i found the absolute truth about this monumental figure that has impacted so many lives but i really haven't i just know that the awe and respect that i always felt has been enriched over the years by the love that i felt for him and his family happy birthday mr president [Applause] thank you all for coming thank you lucy would you like to say some words well i just think i'd be in major trouble with my mother and my father if i didn't thank each and every one of you for coming out under these circumstances and at 74 i've come to realize that there's a lot more of life in the rearview mirror than there is that lies ahead and i don't want to hopefully get to heaven one day and say that i didn't publicly thank each and every one of you for coming to celebrate my father's birthday because nobody loved his birthday more than the nin johnson i look out and i see faces like jewel malachak whose husband ran this ranch with daddy uh and who worked for the park service for many years i see old family friends from the kleinsen a family that indeed was a master of all electric and all plumbing issues and was never called anything but mister due to our respect for him to come to the aid of of our family and i think about uh what the colonel and what neil have said so eloquently today it's all summed up in my father's words that the hill country is a place where they know when you're sick and they care when you die and they come and they rally and they say in good times and in bad how can i be here for you my neighbor how can i show you my love well two of those who represent my father's love every day of their lives are additionally here that i haven't thanked yet and that is of course the marks marx mark lawrence from the lbj library and mark up to grove from the lbj foundation each of them are adding to the stature of this moment by their presence and i'm so grateful to have their leadership and their love but most of all of course our thanks really goes out today to the president of the united states for sending this beautiful wreath in honor of my father and i want to express on behalf of the lives of generations of johnsons how much we feel his pain how much we value his sacrifice how grateful we are for his willingness to lead us and how deeply indebted we are to the 13 men and women who in service to our country gave their lives yesterday and all of those who were wounded in afghanistan and we pray we pray we pray for unity in our country in support of our men and women in the armed forces and the president who leads us now each time my father told me you start thanking people lucy and you're bound to leave them out and i looked up and saw in front of me the man who photographed me more than any other single human being who just showed me the courtesy of taking his mask off and i recognized frank wolf and thought oh my gosh how many times you have been here and i see representatives of the lbj museum and in john in uh san marcos associated with texas state the school that daddy loved forever this is a gathering of friends my best friend sandy once more is here as well but to you neil golly nobody loved him more than you and none of us could have loved you more in return you were there for my father in times of trial and times of triumph but whatever the times all of them were made better by your presence so it is only right that you have come here on this 113th birthday to celebrate a life that we all believe was very well lived but we know for sure how much he tried and how much he accomplished could never have been happened if it hadn't been for support like meals and support like all of yours uh we wish the president all godspeed and colonel we wish the men and women in the armed forces every ounce of our prayers and support and justin we are so grateful for the park service uh my father said that the park service he thought was uh the jealous mistress in his family's bed because of my mother's devotion to it we are all indeed one family hopefully in my father's favorite words of isaiah coming and reasoning together to try to leave this world a better place than we found it thank you all for coming thank you neil for being here thank you colonel thank you justin thank you one and all [Applause]

Channel: TheLBJLibrary

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Length: 20min 21sec (1221 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 27 2021