Description
Octavo, 636pp. Original red cloth bindings, printed title on spine and cover. Original dust jacket in good condition. Light foxing to fore edge. Inscribed by President Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson to Senator Ralph Yarborough on dedication page: “To Richard Yarborough / from his friend through the years – Lyndon Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson / LBJ Library Dec 20, 1971.” Provenance: Inscribed by Senator Yarborough opposite the inscription with the note: “20 Dec. 71 – Inscribed by President Johnson in my presence at LBJ Library. RWY.”
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.
