The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 96, July 1992 - April, 1993 Page: 182
681 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Hzstorical Quarterly
companies in New England, distributed up to 15 percent of the state's
pecan crop, and marketed Texas turkeys around the nation. From
there, he branched out into real estate ventures and many other prof-
itable investments.4
While continuing his business pursuits, Miller turned to municipal
politics in 1931 at the urging of Col. Andrew Zilker, who was dissatis-
fied with the performance of City Manager Adam Johnson. Defeated
in his initial run for the Austin City Council, Miller won in 1933 on a
slate known as the "People's Ticket." At its first meeting following the
election, the new City Council unanimously selected Miller to serve as
mayor, a position he held without break until 1949 when he briefly
retired from politics. Mayor and council quickly named Guiton Mor-
gan city manager and set out to limit and reverse the Great Depres-
sion's impact on Austin utilizing financial resources available in Wash-
ington, D.C., where Franklin Roosevelt was launching the New Deal.
With Miller at the forefront, the entire council enjoyed success and won
reelection without opposition in both 1935 and 1937. His selection as
a director of both the Austin Chamber of Commerce and the American
National Bank reflected his growing influence with Austin's politically-
active business community. By the time of Congressman Buchanan's
death, Mayor Miller wielded significant power in the capital city and vari-
ous observers floated his name as a possible replacement for Buchanan.5
By contrast, Lyndon Johnson was a little-known administrator in
Franklin Roosevelt's governmental bureaucracy. Born and raised in the
Texas Hill Country west of Austin, he had learned his early political
lessons from his father. Sam Ealy Johnson, Jr., had served in the Texas
Legislature alongside Sam Rayburn and remained politically active
long after leaving office. While still a student at Southwest Texas State
Teachers College in San Marcos, young Johnson played a significant
role in Welly Hopkins's successful campaign for the state senate. When
Richard Kleberg won election in 1931 to fill the vacancy created by the
sudden death of Congressman Harry M. Wurzbach, the political ser-
vices of both father and son resulted in Lyndon's appointment as
4Floylee Hunter Hemphill, "Mayor Tom Miller and the First Year of the New Deal in Austin,
Texas" (M A thesis, University of Texas at Austin, 1976), 2-10o Austin American-Statesman,
May 7, 1967.
'Hemphill, "Mayor Tom Miller," 23-60, 71-73, 80-81 Anthony M. Orum, Power, Money
and the People. The Making of Modern Austin (Austin: Texas Monthly Press, 1987), 136-140.
Austin American-Statesman, Mar. 7, 1937. Edward A Clark to Anthony Orum, May 12, 1983,
oral history interview, tape 1 (Austin History Center, cited hereafter as AHC). John E. Babcock
to Michael L. Gillette, Nov. 22, 1983, oral history interview, AC 84-80, transcript, p 36 (Lyn-
don Barnes Johnson Library, cited hereafter as LBJL); Emmett Shelton to Michael L. Gillette,
June 15, 1982, oral history interview, AC 85-41, transcript, pp. 48-49 (LBJL); Joseph H.
Skiles to Michael L. Gillette, Feb. 14, 1979, oral history interview, AC 82-51, transcript, p. 32
(LBJL).182
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 96, July 1992 - April, 1993, periodical, 1993; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101215/m1/226/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.