Barn Burning Barn Building; Tales of a Political Life, from LBJ Through George W. Bush and Beyond
Albany, TX: Bright Sky Press, 2006. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. 256 pages. Illustrations. Inscribed by the author on the half-title page. The inscription reads: "To Melvyn Goodman, a new friend whom I appreciate very much", Ben Barnes". Benny Frank Barnes (born April 17, 1938) is an American real estate magnate, politician, and crisis manager, who formerly served as Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives from 1965 to 1969 and the 36th Lieutenant Governor of Texas from January 21, 1969, to January 16, 1973, for two two-year terms. He was a vice-chair and top fund-raiser of John Kerry's presidential campaign. Barnes was one of only eight persons who raised over $500,000 for Kerry. Lisa Dickey, a native of Pensacola, Florida, is an American author and ghostwriter. Since 1997, she has worked on more than 20 nonfiction books, in fields ranging from technology to politics to Hollywood memoirs, including ten New York Times bestsellers. In January 2017, St. Martin's Press published her first non-collaborative book, Bears in the Streets: Three Journeys Across a Changing Russia. How did the Democratic Party-of JFK, LBJ, and civil rights-fall from glory? How did Texas, home of its most promising players, become Bush territory? What do politicians on either side need to do today to get our country back on track? Ben Barnes has the answers. His political savvy and bravado made him a standout in the rough-and-tumble world of Texas politics. He won a seat in the Texas Legislature in 1960, and four years later he became the youngest speaker of the House since the Civil War. In 1968, he helped Congressman George Herbert Walker Bush get his son into the National Guard-a controversy that would rage during the 2004 presidential election. In 1970, Lyndon Johnson told the public that Ben was destined to be the next U.S. president to hail from Texas. Barnes's rollicking memoir recalls the glory days of his Texas past and blazes a trail for our country's future. Benny Frank Barnes, known as Ben Barnes (born April 17, 1938), is an American real estate magnate, politician, and lobbyist, who formerly served as the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives from 1965 to 1969 and the 36th Lieutenant Governor of Texas from January 21, 1969 to January 16, 1973, for two two-year terms. He was a vice-chair and top fund-raiser of the John Kerry presidential campaign, being one of only eight persons who raised over $500, 000 for Kerry, a U.S. senator from Massachusetts. Barnes was born in Gorman in Eastland County, Texas, on April 17, 1938, and named "Benny Frank Barnes". His parents, B.F. Barnes and Ina B. Carrigan, had another son twenty-one months later, Rick Barnes. The family moved to Comanche County, where Barnes graduated in 1956 from De Leon High School in De Leon. After high school, he enrolled for one semester at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, followed by a semester at Tarleton College in Stephenville, Texas. That spring he married his high school sweetheart, Martha Morgan, and at age twenty began studying at the University of Texas at Austin. While a student at The University of Texas, Barnes worked at the Texas State Health Department. After discovering some financial irregularities that led to the indictment of the state health commissioner, Barnes became interested in politics. He went back to his home area of the state and ran for state representative, when he was barely 21 years old and pulled off an upset victory. Advancing quickly through the Texas legislature, by 1963, Barnes was chairman of the powerful Rules Committee. The U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce recognized Barnes as one of the "Ten Outstanding Young Men in America" in 1965. Barnes served as state Speaker of the House in Texas from 1965-1969. The position opened when Governor John B. Connally, Jr., named Speaker Byron M. Tunnell to succeed the retiring Ernest O. Thompson on the Texas Railroad Commission. Barnes was chosen by House members to succeed Tunnell and hence became the youngest Speaker in Texas history. He was also U.S. representative to the NATO Conference in 1967, and United Nations Representative to Geneva, Switzerland, in 1968. Barnes served as lieutenant governor from 1969 1973, often called the most powerful position in the Texas state government because the lieutenant governor can block a governor's agenda from being considered by the Texas State Senate. While Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives and later Lieutenant Governor, Barnes alleged he was instrumental in enabling numerous sons of both Democratic and Republican politicians to avoid serving in the Vietnam War, one of them being George W. Bush. Barnes said that he did this on his own initiative, as a political favor without being requested. In the late 1990s, Barnes began working GTECH Corporation, a company that operated lotteries in 37 states including Texas. Condition: Very good / Very good.
Keywords: LBJ, Politics, George Bush, John Connally, Richard Nixon, Electrolux, Vietnam War, Civil Rights, Texas Air National Guard, Speaker of the House, Lieutenant Governor, Democratic Party, John Kerry, Real Estate, Political, Crisis Management
ISBN: 9781931721714
[Book #88392]
Price: $125.00