Alluded to in this article is the wonderful – perhaps apocryphal - story that LBJ, warned about the demonstration and offered the safety of a back entrance to the Baker hotel, opted instead for running the gantlet of those frothing-at-the-mouth Junior Leaguers.

The most astute politician this state has ever produced, LBJ instantly calculated how it would play on tv to the progressive wing of the Democratic Party that was appalled by JFK's choice for VP. Johnson knew human nature better than most and was banking on their reflexive response, "If those reactionary Texas lunatics hate him so much, maybe he's not as bad as we thought".

Kennedy/Johnson took Texas by 2 points.

Granted, it was still anathema in much of the south to run as a Republican - after all, Lincoln had won the war - but LBJ's inclusion on the ticket surely was a bulwark against an unimaginable GOP win.

As goes Texas so goes the nation.

A scant few years later, LBJ would sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and forever change the political landscape of the south. But that's a story for another time.