Near Stonewall in Gillespie County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)
What is the President pointing to anyway?
Photographed By Duane Hall, November 12, 2015
1. What is the President pointing to anyway? Marker
Inscription.
What is the President pointing to anyway?. . The statue which stands before you is of Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th president of the United States. It was donated by A.W. Moursand, a prominent attorney and past Texas Parks and Wildlife Commissioner. President Johnson wanted this statue placed on the State Park, pointing at the Pedernales River. , , He once said “My first memories are of this river”. He was born and raised in the Texas Hill Country and always remained close to it by saying “I feel at home here”.
The statue which stands before you is of Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th president of the United States. It was donated by A.W. Moursand, a prominent attorney and past Texas Parks and Wildlife Commissioner. President Johnson wanted this statue placed on the State Park, pointing at the Pedernales River.
He once said “My first memories are of this river”. He was born and raised in the Texas Hill Country and always remained close to it by saying “I feel at home here”.
Location. 30° 14.323′ N, 98° 37.542′ W. Marker is near Stonewall, Texas, in Gillespie County. Marker can be reached from Park Road 52, 0.2 miles north of U.S. 290. Marker is located 400 feet north of the visitor center in Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site; the above directions are to the main entrance to the visitor center parking lot. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Stonewall TX 78671, United States of America. Touch for directions.
5. View of Lyndon B. Johnson Statue from Ranch Road 1
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, August 9, 2015
6. Lyndon B. Johnson
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
Credits. This page was last revised on December 21, 2019. It was originally submitted on November 27, 2015, by Duane Hall of Abilene, Texas. This page has been viewed 439 times since then and 11 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on November 27, 2015, by Duane Hall of Abilene, Texas. 6. submitted on November 28, 2015, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland.