Description
223pp. Gray cloth covers, gilt title on spine over black printing. West Wing maps on endpapers. Dust jacket in very good condition. Inscribed by President Johnson on front endpaper: “To Ralph Yarborough / from his friend / Lyndon Johnson.” Provenance: Inscribed by Senator Yarborough on front endpaper with the following: “21 Feb. 1968 – Inscribed by the President in my presence on Air Force One en route to Texas / Ralph W. Yarborough.”
Comments: Senator Ralph Yarborough served in the Senate from 1957 until 1971. He was a Democratic Senator from Texas, with strong ties to former President Lyndon B. Johnson. He was with President Kennedy in Texas, during his November 1963 visit. He initially refused to ride with Vice President Johnson in the motorcade, forcing President Kennedy to have a “heated exchange” with Johnson, demanding that he get Yarborough in line. Johnson acquiesced, and Yarborough was in the motorcade behind President Kennedy on that fateful day. Yarborough would go on to call that day in Dallas “the most tragic day of my life.” In the 1964 senatorial election, he ran against future President George H.W. Bush, prevailing in the election and setting Bush on a path that would eventually lead him to the Presidency. He lost his seat in 1970 Lloyd Bentsen, returning to private life.
