How to Tour the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum in Austin, Texas

The LBJ Library houses exhibits about the thirty-sixth president's life, as well as archives related to his lengthy political career.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Life. Lyndon Johnson (1908-73) worked as a school teacher, Congressional aide and Texas Director of the National Youth Administration before being elected to Congress. After a controversial election in 1948, he served in the United States Senate, eventually becoming Majority Leader. Elected Vice-President in 1960, he succeeded to the Presidency after John Kennedy's assassination.
2. The Museum. The museum contains exhibits devoted to the lives of Lyndon Johnson, his wife Lady Bird and their family, a replica of Johnson's White House Oval Office, a display of gifts given the Johnson by heads of state, a gift shop, two cars (a presidential limousine and a Model T Ford) and an animatronic LBJ that tells jokes. The museum frequently hosts temporary exhibitions and sponsors presentations and forums in its ground floor auditorium.
3. The Library. The building is dominated by a lofty atrium with a large staircase. Visible from the atrium are several floors of archive stacks, with shelves containing row after row of material stored in red boxes with gold seals. The Library has over 45,000,000 pages of documents, as well as oral histories and audio-visual material.

Tips & Warnings

• The LBJ Library is located on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin, within walking distance of the Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, Texas Memorial Museum and the Blanton Museum of Art. It is open every day except Christmas and charges no admission. The museum can be viewed thoroughly in less than two hours.