OCTOBER 2019 21
often overbearing and crass, yet he cared
deeply for the poor and brought opportu-
nity to neglected communities.
So, this past spring, I decided to take
my own field trip back to these historic
sites. What would I recognize from those
initial visits years ago? What ideas that I
overlooked then would resonate with me
now that I had another few decades of
education and life experience?
My first stop was the LBJ National His-
torical Park Visitor Center in Johnson
City, where I read about legislation John-
son signed into law. As a high school stu-
dent, I skimmed the names and dates—
boring. But today, I quickly saw the
connections between these laws and my
life. For example, the Public Broadcasting
Act of 1967 facilitated the development of
Sesame Street and 3-2-1 Contact, two of
my favorite childhood television shows,
and the rural electrification programs
Johnson championed as a congressman
included the formation of the Pederna-
les Electric Cooperative, the utility that
served my childhood home.
Like many kids, I once saw govern-
ment and policy as the stuff of textbooks,
far removed from my daily existence.
Now, after years of voting, reading the
news, and calling my elected officials,
I understand the significance of LBJ’s
work. He wasn’t just the hometown boy
made good; he effected change that in-
fluenced my life, decades after the legis-
lation was signed.
Down the road in Stonewall, I stopped
at the LBJ State Park & Historic Site. This
includes the Sauer-Beckmann Living
History Farm, where interpreters man-
age farm and household chores the way
settlers did around 1915. Johnson wanted
the farm preserved to show what life was
like when he grew up, before he helped
bring electricity to the Hill Country.
Another nine
never hurt.
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