Michael L. Gillette | |
---|---|
![]() Gillette in 2012 | |
Born | San Antonio, Texas | December 23, 1945
Occupation | Historian, Executive Director |
Nationality | American |
Subject | American History |
Michael Lowery Gillette (born December 23, 1945) is an American author and historian, and Executive Director of Humanities Texas. [1]
Michael Lowery Gillette was born in San Antonio but grew up in Baytown, Texas, where his father, Robert L. Gillette, practiced law. His mother, Sue Alexander Gillette, was a housewife and volunteer. In 1964, Gillette enrolled in the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned a B.A. in government in 1968 and a Ph.D. in history in 1984. His campus activities included the Tejas Club, the Silver Spurs, the Friar Society, the varsity debate team, and the Texas-Chilean Leadership Student Exchange Program. After completing his undergraduate studies, Gillette served as a VISTA Volunteer for two years, working with a Model Cities program in Worcester, Massachusetts.
While enrolled in graduate school, Gillette joined the staff of the LBJ Presidential Library in January 1972. He began recording oral history interviews for the Library the following year and was appointed Chief of Oral History and Acquisitions in 1976. During his two decades at the LBJ Library, Gillette conducted more than 600 oral history interviews with people associated with Johnson, including Lady Bird Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Russell Long, Sargent Shriver, Lawrence F. O'Brien, Joseph A. Califano, Jr., Ellsworth Bunker, and Mary Lasker. [2]
During the period, 1989–1991, Gillette also recorded more than 400 interviews on the 1988 presidential election for the LBJ School of Public Affairs.
In 1991, Gillette was selected to serve as the Director of the Center for Legislative Archives at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. For 12 years, Gillette administered the historical records of the United States Senate and the House of Representatives in the Archives. [3] He oversaw the development of traveling exhibitions and education resources using historic documents. These projects included the Presidency of Thomas Jefferson, 1801–1809 and Our Mothers Before Us, which was based on women's petitions to Congress before the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Gillette was also instrumental in the creation of the Foundation for the National Archives and served as the agency's liaison to the foundation from 1992 to 1997. Upon his retirement from the Archives in 2003, the Senate passed a unanimous resolution expressing gratitude for his dedication to preserving and promoting the records of Congress. [4] The House of Representatives presented him with the gavel that the Speaker had used to convene the 107th Congress. [5]
In 2003, Gillette returned to Austin as the Executive Director of Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. [1] This statewide non-profit educational organization works with local schools, libraries, and museums to advance the humanities disciplines thought grants, publications, and traveling exhibitions. In December 2006, Humanities Texas purchased the century-old Byrne-Reed House as its headquarters. [6] The building's restoration was completed in 2010. The Byrne-Reed House has won 11 architectural awards. [7]
Gillette's books include Launching the War on Poverty: An Oral History and Lady Bird Johnson: An Oral History, which was released in November 2012, and featured on The Diane Rehm Show [8] and C-SPAN. [9] His articles have appeared in books, scholarly journals, encyclopedias, and such newspapers as the Houston Chronicle, [10] the Dallas Morning News, the Austin American-Statesman, and Roll Call.
Gillette has been involved in a number of boards and professional organizations. He was a founder of the Association of Centers for the Study of Congress in 2003 and a member of the board of directors of the Everett McKinley Dirksen Congressional Leadership Center for six years. He is member of the Philosophical Society of Texas, serving as its president in 2009. He currently serves on the Board of Advisers for the John Glenn School of Public Affairs at Ohio State University [12] and the Board of Directors of the Congressional Education Foundation.
Gillette is married and has three adult sons.
Lyndon Baines Johnson, often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice president from 1961 to 1963 under President John F. Kennedy, and was sworn in shortly after Kennedy's assassination. A Democrat from Texas, Johnson also served as a U.S. representative, U.S. senator and the Senate's majority leader. He holds the distinction of being one of the few presidents who served in all elected offices at the federal level.
Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Johnson was First Lady of the United States from 1963 to 1969 as the wife of President Lyndon B. Johnson. She previously served as Second Lady from 1961 to 1963 when her husband was vice president.
Lynda Bird Johnson Robb is the elder daughter of the 36th U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and former First Lady Lady Bird Johnson. She served as chairwoman of the Board of Reading is Fundamental, the nation's largest children's literacy organization, as well as chairwoman of the President's Advisory Committee for Women. She is a magazine editor who served as First Lady of Virginia from 1982 to 1986, and as Second Lady of Virginia from 1978 to 1982. She is the oldest living child of a U.S. president, following the death of John Eisenhower on December 21, 2013.
The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, also known as the LBJ Presidential Library, is the presidential library and museum of Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th president of the United States (1963–1969). It is located on the grounds of the University of Texas at Austin, and is one of 13 presidential libraries administered by the National Archives and Records Administration. The LBJ Library houses 45 million pages of historical documents, including the papers of President Johnson and those of his close associates and others.
Luci Baines Johnson is an American businesswoman and philanthropist. She is the younger daughter of U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife, former First Lady Lady Bird Johnson.
Mary Elizabeth Sutherland Carpenter was a writer, feminist, reporter, media advisor, speechwriter, political humorist, and public relations expert. As the first woman executive assistant to Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson from 1961 to 1963, and then as press secretary for First Lady Lady Bird Johnson from 1963 to 1969, Carpenter was a prominent member of the Johnson White House and also a close personal friend of the Johnsons.
Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park in central Texas about 50 miles (80 km) west of Austin in the Texas Hill Country. The park protects the birthplace, home, ranch, and final resting place of Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th president of the United States. During Johnson's administration, the LBJ Ranch was known as the "Texas White House" because the President spent approximately 20% of his time in office there.
The Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs is a graduate school at the University of Texas at Austin that was founded in 1970 to offer training in public policy analysis and administration for students that are very interested in pursuing careers in government and public affairs-related areas of the private and nonprofit sectors. Degree programs include a Master of Public Affairs (MPAff), a mid-career MPAff sequence, 16 MPAff dual degree programs, a Master of Global Policy Studies (MGPS), eight MGPS dual degree programs, an Executive Master of Public Leadership, and a Ph.D. in public policy.The LBJ School is currently ranked 7th among public affairs programs in 2022 by U.S. News & World Report, up from 8th in 2021.
William Pettus Hobby Jr. is an American Democratic politician who served a record eighteen years as the 37th Lieutenant Governor of Texas. He held that office from January 16, 1973 to January 15, 1991 for an unprecedented five terms; he was the last lieutenant governor to serve a two-year term and the first elected to a four-year term when the Texas Constitution was amended to lengthen terms for statewide elected officeholders to four years beginning with the 1974 elections. The principal duty of the Texas lieutenant governor is to preside over the Texas State Senate.
Frank Neville Ikard was a Democratic United States Representative from Texas' 13th congressional district, centered about Wichita Falls, Texas.
LBJ: The Early Years is a television movie that appeared on the NBC network in February 1987, depicting the pre-presidential life of Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th president of the United States. Actor Randy Quaid won a Golden Globe award for his portrayal of Johnson.
Porfirio Salinas was an early Texas landscape painter who is recognized for his depictions of the Texas Hill Country in the springtime. He was one of the first Mexican American artists to become nationally recognized for his paintings. He was described by The New York Times as being United States President Lyndon B. Johnson's favorite painter. Works by Salinas are displayed in the Texas State Capitol, the Texas Governor's Mansion and in a number of museums including the Witte Museum in San Antonio, Texas and the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum.
Mark K. Updegrove is an American author, historian, journalist, and Presidential Historian for ABC News. He is the president and CEO of the LBJ Foundation in Austin, Texas. Previously, he served as the director of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum for eight years.
The D. B. Hardeman Prize is a cash prize awarded annually by the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation for the best book that furthers the study of the U.S. Congress in the fields of biography, history, journalism, or political science. Submissions are judged on the basis of five criteria: (1) contribution to scholarship, (2) contribution to the public's understanding of Congress, (3) literary craftsmanship, (4) originality, and (5) depth of research. Members of the national selection committee are: Senator Tom Daschle; Lee Hamilton, Director of The Center on Congress; Thomas Mann of The Brookings Institution; Leslie Sanchez of Impacto Group; and Nancy Beck Young of The University of Houston.
Harry Joseph Middleton Jr. was an American journalist, author, and library director who served as Lyndon B. Johnson's Presidential speech writer and staff assistant from 1967 to 1969. Middleton was also director of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum from 1971 until 2002, and led the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation from 1993 until 2004.
The Texas Capitol Vietnam Veterans Monument, is a memorial designed by New Mexico artist Duke Sundt, installed on the grounds of the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas, United States. It serves as a tribute to all Texans who served in the Vietnam War and a memorial to the 3,417 who died. Ground was broken on March 25, 2013 on the northeast side of the Capitol. The monument was dedicated on March 29, 2014.
LBJ is a 2016 American political drama film about the beginning of the presidency of United States President Lyndon B. Johnson following the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy. It was directed by Rob Reiner and written by Joey Hartstone, whose script was on the 2014 Black List. The film stars Woody Harrelson as the titular President, along with Richard Jenkins, Bill Pullman, Kim Allen, Michael Stahl-David, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jeffrey Donovan, Doug McKeon, C. Thomas Howell, and Michael Mosley.
The family of Lyndon B. Johnson is an American political family related to Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th president of the United States (1963–1969), and his wife Lady Bird Johnson, the second lady of the United States (1961–1963) and the first lady of the United States (1963–1969). Their immediate family was the First Family of the United States from 1963 to 1969.
Horace Wooten Busby Jr. was an American opinion journalist, speechwriter, consultant, and public relations expert. He was considered one of Lyndon B. Johnson's closest confidants before and during his term as President of the United States.
Edwin Dorn is a political scientist who served as dean of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs from July 1997 to December 2004. He previously served as Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness from March 1994 to July 1997.