Poage Lecture Sheds New Light On Legendary Texan: LBJ

The W.R. Poage Legislative Library will host author and distinguished professor Randall B. Woods in a lecture honoring legendary Texan Lyndon B. Johnson. The lecture will take place at 4 p.m. Thursday, March 18, at the Meadows Recital Hall in the Glennis McCrary Music Building. The lecture is being held in conjunction with the Poage exhibit, "LBJ: Texan, Politician, President." The lecture is free and open to the public, and will be followed by a reception and book signing.

Dr. Woods, the John A. Cooper Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Arkansas, was raised in Johnson's 10th Congressional District and received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas. Because of the release of LBJ's White House Tapes and the declassification of additional documents, Dr. Woods was able to gain deeper insight into the legendary political figure. He also interviewed LBJ's longtime secretary, his Secret Service detail and closest aides and confidants, allowing readers to see the real man behind the myth. He will reveal the Texan, politician and President he discovered while writing his acclaimed book, LBJ: Architect of American Ambition.

Lyndon Baines Johnson was a complex man and astute politician. As President, he achieved revolutionary domestic legislation, bringing about changes that have improved the lives of most Americans. He was also a man with many character flaws and one often remembered by his tragic miscalculations in Vietnam. Dr. Woods will address the complexities and controversies associated with the LBJ presidency.

The annual Poage Lecture was established in 2007 to bring notable speakers to the Baylor campus to present a lecture dealing with a topic or publication related to the political process. Attendees include Baylor students, faculty and staff, as well as citizens from Waco and surrounding communities. Past speakers include: former Texas Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes; Dr. Max Sherman, Baylor alumnus and author of Barbara Jordan: Speaking the Truth with Eloquent Thunder; former U.S Ambassador Lyndon Olson Jr.; and Charlie Schnabel, chief of staff to Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson.

Following the lecture, the reception and book signing will be held at the W.R. Poage Legislative Library, where guests can also view the LBJ exhibit. For more information, contact Ben Rogers, director of the Poage Library, at (254) 710-3540