LBJ Eulogy
Airdate:
Monday - January 22, 1973 (Airdate Confirmed)
WOR Show Original Airing
(NOTE ABOUT TIME REFERENCES: Since there are many different copies of shows out there from different sources, all time references are from the beginning of one single recorded copy, since various copies, depending on when the recordee started recording, had news at the beginning or shortened themes. The times would vary from copy to copy.)
First Spoken Line After Theme Ends
Well, here we are, hello, get everything working here. . .
Show Description
[ Courtesy: GROK Summary - - ]
Main Commentary Themes
- **Historical first**: Shep notes this is the first time in his lifetime with no living ex-president (following the recent deaths of Hoover, Eisenhower, Truman, and now LBJ). Presidents mark eras of both national and personal history; their deaths feel like the close of a phase of one's own life.
- **LBJ's character and style**: Portrayed as the last "frontier" type of president - big, gusty, full of appetites (bourbon, dogs, fast driving), more John Wayne than the cool, polished style of JFK or the reserved Nixon. He had little TV charisma but strong physical presence and personal magnetism in person. Anecdotes include:
- A stray mutt living in the White House.
- Driving his Lincoln Continental at high speed (claimed ~120 mph) around the ranch, frustrating the Secret Service.
- Late-night bull sessions with reporters over Old Charter bourbon.
- Love of authentic country-western music (e.g., Maybelle Carter / Carter Family "Will the Circle Be Unbroken"), which sometimes puzzled East Coast journalists.
- **Achievements and tragedy**: Credited with major domestic reforms and civil rights advances (one Black leader is quoted saying blacks owe more to LBJ than any president since Lincoln). Also noted for expanding American art in the White House/National collections with little fanfare. Counterbalanced by Vietnam, framed as a classical Greek-tragedy arc of idealism leading to disaster. Johnson is predicted to be remembered as highly controversial and vivid because of the turbulent 1960s.
- **Broader points**: Contrasts him with more intellectual/Eastern elites; notes politics' rapid reversals (hero to bum); compares reevaluation of Truman; reflects that history is short and the U.S. might still be in its early stages rather than decline. Ends with a poetic farewell: "Hale and farewell sweet prince… sweet bourbon drinker."
This Show
