The White House Country Fair
| |
| |
Type Of Activity
|
White House Staff
Event
|
Location
| |
Location
|
Washington DC
|
Date of Activity
| September 9th 1968 |
LBJ White House Country Fair Monday
Sep. 9 1968
In 1968 LBJ had one of his famous BBQ's on the south lawn of the White House
for the Staff and their Spouses. The
1968 election was about two months away and a new President would be elected,
and the Johnsons were saying Thank You to the entire White House staff for the
last four years of support. WHCA was in the middle of an election campaign that
for the first time included support for all active candidates.
When Joanne and I received the
invitation, we didn’t know if we would be able to attend because Joanne was
pregnant with our oldest daughter Kathie and I was traveling a lot making
numerous campaign stops. Joanne had quite an ordeal to find the right dress to wear
to The White House.
Invite to the White House Country Fair |
We arrived at The White House
with Al and Sonia Jensen that evening and to our amazement there was a typical
Country Fair on the South Lawn of the White House, complete with a Ferris Wheel
and Merry-Go-round.
The President did go to the South Grounds to the Country Fair for White House staff
members and spouses at about 8:30 pm. He spent about a half an hour at the fair
and then returned to the residence in The White House.
View of the midway from Top of the Ferris wheel |
You could win little trinkets
like a 6" ruler with White House Country Fair 1968 inscribed on it or a
ball point pen with the same inscription. Joanne and I had our
picture taken with the White House in the background, but we have unfortunately
misplaced that photo. There was plenty of beer and food and we had a
great time.
South Lawn at The White House |
BBQ was the main course |
Joanne and I loaded up on the BBQ and sat down at a table that was across from Liz Carpenter who was the press secretary to the first lady, Lady Bird Johnson (1963–1969), for whom she also served as staff director. Suddenly the lights went out and we set there in the dark for only a few seconds, when they came back on Liz made the comment, “I wonder if Lyndon is trying to tell us it’s time to go home”!
The entertainment that night was Buck Owens and his son. He was great and
their music was perfect for this occasion.
Buck Owens on the South Lawn of The White House (1968) |
That was one thing that LBJ was good at was including WHCA
in these staff functions like the children's Christmas parties as well as
the staff Christmas parties. In less than two months from this event we
had a new President and the Johnson’s would then return to Texas and the ranch.
No comments:
Post a Comment