Gonzalo barrientos biography

On Nov. 3, 1959, Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Baines Johnson spoke during a fish fry at the American Legion Park in Bastrop.

Ostensibly, Johnson was running for reelection, but an organized crowd of 600 pressed the Texas senator to throw his hat in the ring for the presidency, as well.

Banners read "All the Way with LBJ for President," "Lyndon in '60," "Lee County for Johnson" and "Blanco County for Johnson."

According to newspaper reports, Johnson insisted to the crowd that he ought to win one political race at a time.

"I shall place the interests of my country before the interests of my party or myself," Johnson said, "in the full knowledge that when you do your best for America, America will do what is best for you."

On cue, the Bastrop High School band struck up "Happy Days Are Here Again."

Among the student players was a wide-eyed trumpeter named Gonzalo Barrientos, who Gonzalo Barrientos: Austin civil rights pioneer still helping ...

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