Supriya Ghosh (Editor)

Lyndon B. Johnson in popular culture

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Lyndon B. Johnson's person has been shown or mentioned in various forms of media and popular culture.

Contents

Video games

  • He is present in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, conversing with Nikita Khrushchev and at the end awarding the protagonist with a medal and a rank.
  • Archival footage of Johnson appears in the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops, which takes place during the 1960s.

    • Music

  • Referenced in the anti-war song "Super-bird" by Country Joe & the Fish, and "Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation" by Tom Paxton.
  • A snippet of a Johnson speech is used for the opening of "Killing Floor" by the Electric Flag.
  • English band Enjoy Destroy named a song LBJ with the chorus containing the slogan, Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?
  • Steven Stucky's work August 4, 1964 to be premiered in Dallas in celebration of the 100th anniversary of President Lyndon B. Johnson's birth. The piece focuses on two events that came to a head on August 4, 1964, events that defined Johnson's presidency and defined that time for many Americans — the discovery of the bodies of three slain civil rights workers and the Gulf of Tonkin Incident(s).
  • The musical Hair includes the song "Initials (L.B.J.)", that is sung by the Tribe.
  • The band Garfunkel and Oates in their song "Blandjob" that quotes "I might never know how to HJ your LB Johnson".
  • The band Electric Needle Room wrote a biographical song about Lyndon Johnson.

    • Television

  • In the popular television series Seinfeld, Lyndon B. Johnson was considered by George Costanza to be the ugliest world leader of all time. In the third season episode, "The Boyfriend", Kramer believes Michael and Carol's baby girl looks like Lyndon B. Johnson. In addition, after George Costanza's boss, Mr. Wilhelm, gave him orders for a special project while sitting on the toilet, Jerry stated that he had "pulled an LBJ" because, according to Jerry, Johnson was known for making his aides follow him into the bathroom so he could continue giving orders while relieving himself.
  • In the animated television series King of the Hill, Hank's boss and businessman Buck Strickland is based on Lyndon Johnson, both in appearance and personality. Hank's dog is also named Lady Bird after Johnson's wife.
  • On the Futurama episode "All the Presidents' Heads", Lyndon Johnson's head appears in the New New York Head Museum along with most of the other former US Presidents. In the episode, Zoidberg drank the liquid from his jar, which took him, as well as Professor Farnsworth and Amy Wong, back in time, to the 1960s.
  • In the sketch comedy show The Whitest Kids U'Know Johnson is portrayed by Sam Brown, and is shown encouraging the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
  • In an episode of Wizards of Waverly Place, Alex is talking to her aunt about "sticking it to the man", and being involved in the peace movement, to which her aunt replies: "No way LBJ!"
  • In an episode of The Venture Bros., Johnson and his wife "Lady Hawk" appear as super villains.
  • Johnson appeared as an animated caricature of himself in an episode of The Flintstones entitled, "Shinrock A Go-Go", that originally aired on December 3, 1965.
  • In the Netflix series House of Cards, Lyndon B. Johnson was used as a source of themes and issues addressed in the series in relation to the series protagonist Frank Underwood played by Kevin Spacey. A photo of Johnson with Richard Russell, Jr. and references to their political relationship can be seen in the first episode of season 2.

    • Books

  • In the Odd Thomas series of novels by Dean Koontz, Johnson appears as one of the famous ghosts that haunt the titular character's home town of Pico Mundo, still wearing the hospital gown he had on when he died. When Johnson realizes Odd can see him, he responds by mooning him.
  • In the short story collection Girl With Curious Hair by David Foster Wallace, the piece entitled "Lyndon" describes a large extent of Johnson's political career through his interactions with the narrator, an administrative assistant who rises to become a senior staff member and close friend of Johnson's.
  • In Kevin Given's novel "Last Rites: The Return of Sebastian Vasilis" Lyndon Johnson is turned into a vampire. The novel was adapted into a series of comic books "Karl Vincent; Vampire Hunter" and "Files of Karl Vincent" Files of Karl Vincent #1 tells how Lyndon became a vampire.

    • Theater

  • Johnson's rise to the presidency inspired the satirical play MacBird! by Barbara Garson.
  • Johnson's relationship with Martin Luther King and his support of the Voting Rights Act are depicted in Christopher Hampton's play Appomattox, which debuted at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis in September 2012.
  • Johnson's time in office between the assassination of JFK and his reelection in 1964 is portrayed in the Robert Schenkkan play All The Way. It was premiered at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. It was later followed by a production at the American Repertory Theater starring Bryan Cranston as Johnson. The play won a Tony Award for Best Play in 2014.

    • Movies

  • In 1968 Ward Kimball directed a two-minute animated short called Escalation, which criticized Lyndon B. Johnson's Vietnam War policy by portraying him as a giant head whose phallic nose rise to erection until it explodes. The short is unique for being the only animated cartoon made independently from the Disney Studios by one of Disney's Nine Old Men. The short is further noticeable for its satirical edge and political and erotic content.
  • LBJ (1968): subject of Cuban propaganda film.
  • The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover (1977): played by Andrew Duggan.
  • King (1978, TV): played by Warren Kemmerling.
  • Hair (1979): The song "Initials/LBJ" mentions Johnson in the lyrics repeatedly.
  • Kennedy (1983, TV): played by Nesbitt Blaisdell.
  • The Right Stuff (1983): played by Donald Moffat.
  • Robert Kennedy & His Times (1985, TV): played by G. D. Spradlin.
  • J. Edgar Hoover (1987, TV): played by Rip Torn.
  • LBJ: The Early Years (1987, TV): played by Randy Quaid.
  • LBJ (1988, TV PBS): played by Laurence Luckinbill.
  • JFK (1991): played by Tom Howard and John William Galt. (voice)
  • Forrest Gump (1994): archive footage, voice-over by John William Galt.
  • Thirteen Days (2000): played by Walter Adrian.
  • Path to War (2002): played by Michael Gambon.
  • RFK (2002): played by James Cromwell.
  • The Kennedys (2011): played by Don Allison.
  • The Butler (2013): played by Liev Schrieber.
  • Selma (2014): played by Tom Wilkinson.
  • All the Way (2016, TV movie): played by Bryan Cranston.
  • LBJ (2016): played by Woody Harrelson.
  • Last Rites: The Return of Sebastian Vasilis (2016) played by David Raizor
  • Jackie (2016) : played by John Carroll Lynch

    • References

    Lyndon B. Johnson in popular culture Wikipedia
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