LBJ's Dog Problem

LBJ died on this day in 1973 — he was just 64 years old. He certainly looked older!  In the picture, above, he was just 56.

In 1964, when Lyndon Johnson ran for the first time, he lifted one of his beagles up by the ears. The dog howled, and the press corps got a picture. As fast as you can say "Bob's your uncle," the Goldwater campaign got supporters parading signs with "Beagles for Barry."

Goldwater posed with a posse of carefully recruited young people (all white) who were given "Goldwater glasses" and beagles for the photo opportunity. Goldwater, of course, lost the campaign.  No one wanted to give him the code to the "Nuclear football.