Great Society Speech: Trivia

    Great Society Speech: Trivia

      LBJ liked to let it all hang out. He brought up the idea for the Great Society speech while swimming with two advisers—naked. (Source)

      LBJ went nuclear on his opponent, Barry Goldwater, in the 1964 presidential campaign. An ad featuring a little girl, a daisy, and an atomic bomb aired only once, but it ushered in a new era of negative political advertising. (Source)

      Way to save on monogrammed towels. The whole Johnson clan had the same initials: Lyndon Baines Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson, Lynda Bird Johnson, Luci Baines Johnson. And don't forget the family pooch: Little Beagle Johnson. (Source)

      LBJ got the Texas Hill Country to turn on and tune in. As a first-term congressman, he helped bring electricity to the region under the New Deal's Rural Electrification Administration. (Source)

      Lady Bird Johnson knew when to stop and smell the roses…and bluebonnets and coneflowers. She founded the National Wildflower Research Center in 1982 to study North America's native plants. It grew out of her Great Society work on behalf of the environment and is now named in her honor. (Source)

      Richard Goodwin, speechwriter for JFK and LBJ, was a special investigator for the House Subcommittee on Legislative Oversight in 1959 when Congress looked into charges that popular TV quiz shows were rigged. Alex Trebek would never stand for that (but he's Canadian). (Source)