Panini Presidents

I posted some of the 2015 Topps Archives Presidential Chronicles cards last month which led to a comment about these, the Presidents subset from 2012 Panini Americana.

Now I consider myself a 'penny-pinching presidential collector'. There is no way I'm going to spend what it takes to get an original Lincoln campaign ribbon for example, or an authentic LBJ signature. Those are two items I'd just love to have but won't pull the trigger on. 

But when it comes to my presidential collecting I love cards, cheap campaign pins and other knick-knacks. These cards were cheap, and they are really pretty nice. Black and white photos seem to suit a set like this. The gold presidential seal and the red/white/blue logo give them just enough color. A couple of the pics used are definitely too familiar but others are new to me.

Every President (and a couple of First Ladies) is included in the subset. The rest of the full base set comprises a weird mix of track athletes, women soccer players, astronauts, the Tuskeegee Airmen and heaven knows what else. But all I'm interested in is the Presidents.

I pulled and scanned the eight Chief Executives that I'm most interested in. 

Honest Abe......IMHO our greatest president. 

Teddy Roosevelt....maybe the most interesting guy to ever occupy the office. I've read five or six books about him in the last couple of years and I still haven't tired of him.

JFK, my first hero (outside of Johnny Unitas I guess).

LBJ....my favorite president. A man of great strengths and great (maybe greater) flaws. I love this photo of him.

Richard Nixon..... he let his paranoia overwhelm his genius.

Gerald Ford.... seems to me to have been the nicest guy to ever serve as President, at least in my lifetime. I'd have loved to have met him to find out.

Bill Clinton...another very smart man who did some very dumb things.

Barack Obama...not the best picture of the bunch but it kind of shows the stress that comes with dealing with the political world today.

How's that for a "no politics" rundown of political guys?

About the same time I was buying these I came across a couple of other items that fit neatly into my collection but didn't kill my budget. One is a JFK pennant. Purports to be authentic but condition (nice) and price (cheap) left me with some doubts. I have it on my wall and it's a nice item either way.

The other is an souvenir LBJ pen. The seller speculated that it came from the White House gift shop but did that sort of thing even exist back then? It might have come from the LBJ Library gift shop but no matter the origin it makes a nice addition to my Johnson collection.

Sorry for the oversized photos. 

All The Way

Last Saturday I was in Austin for a performance of All The Way, a play by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan based on Lyndon Baines Johnson’s first year as President. It was quite an experience and many of the themes, political manuvering and social justice in particular, resonate today. I'm an LBJ-phile of sorts and I've been looking forward to seeing it for some time.

The play had a hugely successful Broadway run in it's limited engagement. Bryan Cranston starred as LBJ up there. Steve Vinovich, Cranston's Broadway understudy stared as President Johnson and did a great job. Some of the supporting actors were not quite as polished but overall it was a great show.

The LBJ Library in Austin was heavily envolved in bringing the show to Austin and they had a lobby presence. They had a few items on sale including the LBJ bobblehead above. I've been wanting to pick one of those up for quite awhile and happily they were selling them for less than I'de seen them in other places.

I also purchased a campaign pin and "Stetson" LBJ hat pin while I was there.

The Alley Theater in Houston, with perhaps best regional theater comapny in the country, has announced All The Way as part of next year's schedule. I'm looking forward to seeing their version.

LBJ 'Stuff' from the LBJ Library & Museum

Over the Christmas break my wife and I took a trip over to Austin to listen to some live music (Austin is a great town for that) and to visit the recently refurbished LBJ Library & Museum on the University of Texas campus. We'd been to the place many times in the past and although it's always interesting (I've mentioned many times my interest in LBJ) we both felt it was time for them to make some changes and last year they did just that. The re-opening was in early December and we had heard good things.

Indeed the Museum is greatly improved with some wonderful memorabilia and displays invoking the life of the former President and particularly the decade of the 60's when he served as President. If you have an interest in that rather remarkable decade or know someone who does it's a worthwhile trip for sure. It had always been free to the public but they have started charging for admission. But since we arrived at 3 p.m.  they waived the $8 and asked for a donation instead. We went back the next day and did the same.

First have a look at a Topps 1972 card of Johnson from their U.S. Presidents set. I picked this up online a few weeks ago. I had been unaware of it until I happened upon it somehow. 

This is an older brochure from the Museum. I picked up new ones but damned if I can find them right now.

One really fun thing to do is pick up these 'phone' receivers they have scattered among the displays. You can listen to some recently declassified phone conversations that were taped by the presidential staff. Fascinating stuff, especially those that give you a taste of Johnson giving a friend or adversary a bit of his ....ahem... persuasive tone.

Below are a few items I picked up in the gift shop. First, a couple of 1960 Kennedy/Johnson campaign pieces. A pretty neat place in and of itself. I think I had the lapel pin already but for $1 I grabbed another one to display. . In those days my folks were serious Democrats and we were a 'Kennedy Catholic' household. That changed over the years and by the early/mid 70s my parents were consistently voting Republican. 

1968 Hubert H. Humphrey campaign button, also from the gift shop. He was LBJ's vice president. Back in those heady days Humphrey was a hero of mine for his liberal stances on social issues. I've wondered how this country would have been different if he had defeated Dick Nixon in 1968. I was surprised to find that when I googled 'HHH' the first pages returned were about some dipshit wrestler that went by that moniker. Sweet Jesus, have we come to that?

1968 George Romney (Mitt's Dad) campaign button. See, they are an open minded museum. G. Romney didn't win the Republican nomination. Richard Nixon did and we all know how that turned out.