Details
JOHNSON, Lyndon B. Typed letter signed ("Lyndon"), as U. S. Senator, to Adrian A. Spears, 22 February 1949, WITH 37-WORD AUTOGRAPH POSTSCRIPT SIGNED ("LBJ"). 1 page, 4to, United States Senate stationery, with two punch-holes along top edge.
"LANDSLIDE LYNDON" DISMISSES ATTACKS ON HIM FROM THE "TEXAS CAVALIERS": "AFTER FIFTEEN YEARS IN POLITICS, I'M NEVER VERY SURPRISED AT WHAT PEOPLE DO OR WHAT THEY SAY"
A feisty political letter in which Johnson brushes away charges of neglecting Bexar County in his 1948 Senate contest and mentions President Truman. "After fifteen years in politics, I'm never very surprised at what people do or what they say. So, I wasn't especially startled to know that the Cavaliers - at least some of them - are saying what you report. I never made such a statement. I don't think the day will ever come when I will make such a statement. Bexar County has always been just like a home county to me, and you know full well how proud I was of the support and the returns from Bexar County in the runoff. I thought those fellows looked a lot like Republicans when I saw them - I know it now...and I am sure that you will know what to tell any of the people who are putting it out, if you run into them. Frankly, I think one Adrian Spears is equal to any and all die-hards left in San Antonio."
In the autograph postscript, LBJ adds: "I came thro' the rain to spend 2 hrs with the Cavaliers. I spent hours trying to get them in the White House to see the man most of them fought. I expect their conscience just hurts them. LBJ." The "Texas Cavaliers" is a civic group founded in 1926 dedicated to preserving the memory and the ideals of the Texas heroes who died at the Alamo. Although Johnson here attacks the group for its Republican tilt, in 1948 LBJ himself ran to the right of his earlier New Deal liberal commitments. He backed the anti-labor Taft-Hartley Act, opposed federal Civil Rights legislation, and backed the interests of the rich oilmen. The primary runoff between LBJ and former governor Coke Stevenson went through several recounts and litigation over charges of ballot-stuffing on the part of the Johnson campaign. LBJ was ultimately declared the winner by a margin of 87 votes - hence his Senate nickname, "Landslide Lyndon."
"LANDSLIDE LYNDON" DISMISSES ATTACKS ON HIM FROM THE "TEXAS CAVALIERS": "AFTER FIFTEEN YEARS IN POLITICS, I'M NEVER VERY SURPRISED AT WHAT PEOPLE DO OR WHAT THEY SAY"
A feisty political letter in which Johnson brushes away charges of neglecting Bexar County in his 1948 Senate contest and mentions President Truman. "After fifteen years in politics, I'm never very surprised at what people do or what they say. So, I wasn't especially startled to know that the Cavaliers - at least some of them - are saying what you report. I never made such a statement. I don't think the day will ever come when I will make such a statement. Bexar County has always been just like a home county to me, and you know full well how proud I was of the support and the returns from Bexar County in the runoff. I thought those fellows looked a lot like Republicans when I saw them - I know it now...and I am sure that you will know what to tell any of the people who are putting it out, if you run into them. Frankly, I think one Adrian Spears is equal to any and all die-hards left in San Antonio."
In the autograph postscript, LBJ adds: "I came thro' the rain to spend 2 hrs with the Cavaliers. I spent hours trying to get them in the White House to see the man most of them fought. I expect their conscience just hurts them. LBJ." The "Texas Cavaliers" is a civic group founded in 1926 dedicated to preserving the memory and the ideals of the Texas heroes who died at the Alamo. Although Johnson here attacks the group for its Republican tilt, in 1948 LBJ himself ran to the right of his earlier New Deal liberal commitments. He backed the anti-labor Taft-Hartley Act, opposed federal Civil Rights legislation, and backed the interests of the rich oilmen. The primary runoff between LBJ and former governor Coke Stevenson went through several recounts and litigation over charges of ballot-stuffing on the part of the Johnson campaign. LBJ was ultimately declared the winner by a margin of 87 votes - hence his Senate nickname, "Landslide Lyndon."