On page 456 in Chapter 34, I share a great anecdote about a stack of currency enclosed in a glass case behind LBJ’s office desk at the Texas White House. I had heard different variations of the story and erred in the book, incorrectly attributing the gift to LBJ’s Treasury Secretary, Henry Fowler. My earnest thanks to Ranger Alexander Shane, historian at the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park, for clarifying the correct details that are being included in a revision, with all the other corrections noted, being pushed out at present. They follow:
“The stack of freshly-minted $1 bills features LBJ’s picture, a post-presidential gift from his longtime political ally and friend, then Secretary of the Treasury John Connally under Nixon. Connally enclosed the money in a secure case to prevent Johnson from spending it.”
I included this story, shared during my first of three Texas White House tours, for its entertainment value as it amused me, but also because it speaks to the personalities involved, indirectly to the illegality of printing the money in the first place, and to the long-held tradition of Texas tall tales, though, as with this one, some are true.
