Thursday, February 14, 2013

And Now For Some Romance



Lyndon B. Johnson met Lady Bird Taylor in September 1934, and had secured her acceptance of his marriage proposal by November of the same year, according to the LBJ Presidential Library, which chose Valentine's Day (I hope with a sense of humor) to highlight some of the earliest letters between the future husband and wife.

LBJ's courtship seems to have used the same methods that he used when getting difficult bills through Congress: cajoles, threats, menacing letters, hyperbole, more threats, "I'm-gonna-get-real-mad-soon" letters. (Also, he proposed to her during their first date). A sample excerpt:
Write me that long letter. Tell me just how you feel -- give me some reassurance if you can and if you can't let's understand each other now. I'm lonesome. I'm disappointed but what of it. Do you care?
And he plied her with, well, with one gift! A book. The title of the tome (pic above) the future U.S. President sent to his betrothed?

Nazism: an Assault on Civilization

What a charmer! Happy Valentine's Day to you all, I mean, to y'all.