On February 14, 1964 President Lyndon B. Johnson came to St. Louis University.I was the first student to place myself "dead center" behind a fence. It was 8:00 AM. This was the first campus visited by LBJ. Security was tight with men atop buildings with guns. I observed a white telephone on a platform.I observed everything as the crowd grew. Johnson worked the crowd getting to me. I shook his hand and asked him for his pocket hand kerchief! "He replied 'No Son I made need it later on!" This was the beginning of my "romance" with LBJ.While in the U.S.Army I got stationed at Fort Sam and got to visit the L.B.J. Ranch.I sent my folks a postcard from Johnson City on October 8.1966.In reading the book L.B.J by George Reedy he describes JFK as glamorous, polished, sophisticated, and vibrant where LBJ was stormy, unpredictable , earthy and gigantic." Despite his foibles Johnson got things done. I will always have a place in my heart for LBJ!
ROBERT LOUIS POTVIN
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