Samuel Ealy Johnson Jr.

Samuel Ealy Johnson Jr. (October 11, 1877 – October 23, 1937) was an American politician, businessman, and farmer who served six terms as a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives in the 29th, 30th, 35th, 37th, and 38th Legislatures. Residing in the Texas Hill Country, he faced challenges as a farmer and cattle speculator. Johnson was the father of Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th President of the United States, and the son of Samuel Ealy Johnson Sr.

Early life Samuel Johnson was born in Buda, Texas, in 1877, the fifth child of Eliza Jane and Samuel Ealy Johnson Sr., and showed intelligence at an early age. When he was ten years old, his family moved from Buda to the Pedernales. On his family's Pedernales farm, Johnson developed a strong sense of competition. In his teens he developed a desire to be "more than a farmer" and began attending a local school. When he returned home, Johnson had ambitions to become a teacher; however, the hill country had no state-accredited high schools and no colleges at that time. He learned that he could get a state-issued teaching certificate without finishing high school by passing a state examination.

Johnson passed the exam and, for the next three years, taught in one-room school houses throughout the hill country. He died in Austin, Texas, in late October 1937, aged 60.

Political career

Sam Johnson served five terms in the Texas House of Representatives as a Populist Democrat. During his time in the state legislature, he fought against conservative Democrats who served business interests. Texas effectively became a one-party state, like the other states of the former Confederacy in this period, and blacks were blocked from the political process until civil rights legislation was passed in the mid-1960s.

From 1867 to 1874 the Reconstruction era Republicans in the Texas Legislature had raised taxes to provide for the first universal free education, and to start establishing welfare institutions such as hospitals, to serve the people. To restrict the power of the legislature, the Democratic-dominated legislature amended the Constitution of Texas in a measure passed by remaining white voters. The amendment scheduled the legislature to meet only every other year as well as setting legislators' pay at five dollars a day—which would be reduced to two dollars a day if the legislature ran longer than 60 days.

First term (1905–1907) Sam Ealy Johnson Jr. as a Member of the Texas House of Representatives in 1905 Samuel Johnson's political career began in 1904, when his brother-in-law, Judge Clarence W. Martin, a former State Representative, encouraged him to run for the Democratic nomination to the state house from the 89th district. Given the Democrats' dominance by this time, the primary was the only competitive contest. Johnson won the Democratic nomination unanimously and in his acceptance speech, he cast his campaign as part of a larger populist movement, although the Populist Party had largely died out. He won the election against his Republican opponent by winning large margins in Johnson City as well as the small towns along the Pedernales River. His opponent, a Texas-German speaking lawyer, won only Gillespie County, a largely German and Republican area. Although largely successful in terms of passing legislation, he and other populists were often on the losing side in trying to gain legislation to regulate Texas' large corporations. He had the support of newspapers in the four counties that comprised the 89th district. He won such large margins in the primary that the county Republicans did not put up a candidate for the general election.

In the 1907 session of the Texas State Legislature, the re-election of Senator Joseph Weldon Bailey was the most controversial issue. In 1907, Senators were still elected by their state legislatures. The Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which allowed for the direct election of Senators, had not yet been passed. Although Joseph Weldon Bailey had been one of the most prominent populists in the country at one time, in 1906 his opponents had accused him of taking large legal fees from railroads, lumber companies, and Standard Oil. Samuel Johnson was one of a few members of the legislature who tried to postpone Bailey's election until the Texas House of Representatives had conducted an investigation. When Bailey, backed by a number of railroads and oil companies, arrived at the Texas State Capitol, his forces bribed nearly all 133 members of the House of Representatives to vote in his favor. Despite being thousands of dollars in debt, Samuel Johnson refused any attempt to sway his vote. He did not vote for Bailey, and he was one of seven members to vote present.

His stand against business interests made him a hero to political observers in Austin as well as his constituents in the 89th district.

Sixth Term (1923) In 1923, Johnson was chair of the House Committee on Municipal and Private Corporations.

Business career

Samuel Johnson had made gains in the cotton futures market in 1902, 1903, and 1904; however in 1905, he lost all of the money he had invested. His son Lyndon later noted, "My daddy went busted waiting for cotton to go up to twenty-one cents a pound, and the market fell apart when it hit twenty". Johnson began to buy and sell real estate in addition to farming. He did well in selling real estate, so much so that he hired a local teenager as a chauffeur and paid a staff of cleaning ladies to handle household tasks for his wife. However, Johnson would also lose money, which resulted in the Johnson family living in poverty. He re-invested the profits from real estate into buying local businesses. Johnson bought several ranches, a small movie theater, as well as the only hotel in Johnson City. In 1916, he bought the local newspaper, the Johnson City Record, an "eight page weekly" from its owner. Four months later, Johnson sold the paper to Reverdy Giddon, as many of his subscribers could not pay in cash. Having regained his financial footing, he ran for a third term in 1917.

In 1920, Johnson sold all of his real estate, and went $40,000 into debt to restart cotton farming. He was motivated by post-WWI cotton prices, which were $0.40, but expected to rise to $0.50 or $0.60. Heavy spring storms repeatedly washed away the crops, and cotton prices fell to $0.08. The Johnson family lost everything.