Photograph as originally submitted to this page in the Historical Marker Database www.HMdb.org. Click on photo to resize in browser. Scroll down to see metadata.

Photographer: Allen C. Browne
Taken: August 9, 2015
Caption: Lyndon B. Johnson
Additional Description: This 1967 portrait of Lyndon B. Johnson by Peter Hurd hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.

“No political figure harnessed the forces of American politics better than Lyndon Johnson as majority leader of the Senate. His decision to serve as John Kennedy's vice president seemed like a demotion, but when Johnson became president upon Kennedy's assassination, his mastery of the legislative process and legendary persuasiveness produced a string of landmark legislation and actions: far­reaching civil rights acts, "war on poverty" initiatives, Medicare, Medicaid, major federal funding for education, and the appointment of the first African American —Thurgood Marshall— to the Supreme Court. Unfortunately, Johnson's escalation of the Vietnam War transformed his presidency from one of the most popular to one of the most maligned.

This portrait by Peter Hurd was meant to be Johnson's official White House likeness. But that plan was quickly scrapped after Johnson declared it ‘the ugliest thing I ever saw.’ Soon the pun was making the rounds in Washington that ‘artists should be seen around the White House-but not Hurd.’ ” — National Portrait Gallery
Submitted: November 28, 2015, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland.
Database Locator Identification Number: p339966
File Size: 1.126 Megabytes

To see the metadata that may be embedded in this photo, sign in and then return to this page.