Swearing in of Lyndon Johnson as President on Air Force One.[LBJ Library photo #1A-1-WH63 by Cecil Stoughton]

LBJ’s initial inauguration was in stark contrast to recent ceremonies

Jan 22, 2013

Pomp and ceremony have become the norm for U.S. presidential inaugurations. Those visiting the LBJ Library and Museum Monday were reminded it was quite a different set of circumstances the first time Lyndon Baines Johnson took office.

Amid all the pomp and circumstance that comes with recent presidential inaugurations in Washington D.C. sits a simple 5x7 card in Austin. It contains a few typewritten sentences and corrections made by hand. Those corrections were made by Johnson. The words on the card were his impromptu inauguration speech that followed President John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963. read more