LBJ Presidential Library

Address 2313 Red River St

The LBJ Presidential Library on the UT campus is one of the great presidential libraries — not because of the building (though the brutalist exterior is striking) but because of the scope and accessibility of the Johnson presidency's documentation. Lyndon Johnson was one of the most consequential American presidents of the 20th century: the Great Society domestic programs, the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, and the catastrophic escalation of Vietnam all happened on his watch.

The museum levels cover all of this with unusual candour, including the Vietnam War exhibits that pull no punches. The 44 million documents in the archive above are available to researchers. The animatronic LBJ in the corridor tells presidential anecdotes in an eerily accurate Texas drawl. Free admission; open every day except Christmas.

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A story
Lyndon Johnson insisted that the library contain not just the flattering material but all the documentary evidence of his presidency — including classified documents that would eventually embarrass him. He said he wanted researchers to be able to find out what he was doing and why. The library also contains an animatronic LBJ that tells jokes and stories in the President's Texas drawl, installed after his death at his own request.

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