How Did President 'LBJ' Make His Money ? ~ A Disturbing Story of His Political Rise and Corruption
Category - Education
Published on Feb 19, 2014
In 1937, Johnson successfully contested a special election for
Texas's 10th congressional district, that covered Austin and the
surrounding hill country. He ran on a New Deal platform and
was effectively aided by his wife. He served in the House from
April 10, 1937, to January 3, 1949.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt found Johnson to be a welcome
ally and conduit for information, particularly with regard to
issues concerning internal politics in Texas (Operation Texas)
and the machinations of Vice President John Nance Garner and
Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn. Johnson was immediately
appointed to the Naval Affairs Committee. He worked for rural
electrification and other improvements for his district. Johnson
steered the projects towards contractors that he personally
knew, such as the Brown Brothers, Herman and George, who
would finance much of Johnson's future career. In 1941, he ran
for the U.S. Senate in a special election against the sitting
Governor of Texas, radio personality W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel.
Johnson lost the election.
In the 1948 elections, Johnson again ran for the Senate and
won. This election was highly controversial: in a three-way
Democratic Party primary Johnson faced a well-known former
governor, Coke Stevenson, and a third candidate. Johnson
drew crowds to fairgrounds with his rented helicopter dubbed
"The Johnson City Windmill". He raised money to flood the
state with campaign circulars and won over conservatives by
voting for the Taft-Hartley act (curbing union power) as well as
by criticizing unions.
Stevenson came in first but lacked a majority, so a runoff was
held. Johnson campaigned even harder this time around, while
Stevenson's efforts were surprisingly poor. The runoff count
took a week. The Democratic State Central Committee (not the
State of Texas, because the matter was a party primary)
handled the count, and it finally announced that Johnson had
won by 87 votes. By a majority of one member (29--28) the
committee voted to certify Johnson's nomination, with the last
vote cast on Johnson's behalf by Temple, Texas, publisher
Frank W. Mayborn, who rushed back to Texas from a business
trip in Nashville, Tennessee. There were many allegations of
fraud on both sides. Thus one writer alleges that Johnson's
campaign manager, future Texas governor John B. Connally,
was connected with 202 ballots in Precinct 13 in Jim Wells
County that had curiously been cast in alphabetical order and
just at the close of polling. Some of these voters swore that
they had not voted that day.[22] Robert Caro argued in his 1989
book that Johnson had stolen the election in Jim Wells County
and other counties in South Texas, as well as rigging 10,000
ballots in Bexar County alone.[23] An election judge, Luis Salas,
said in 1977, that he had certified 202 fraudulent ballots for
Johnson.[24]
The state Democratic convention upheld Johnson. Stevenson
went to court, but—with timely help from his friend Abe
Fortas—Johnson prevailed. Johnson was elected senator in
November and went to Washington tagged with the ironic label
"Landslide Lyndon," which he often used deprecatingly to refer
to himself.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lbj
