Background
Sam Houston Johnson was born in Johnson City, Texas on January 31, 1914, the son of Samuel Ealy Johnson, Junior. and Rebekah Baines.
Sam Houston Johnson was born in Johnson City, Texas on January 31, 1914, the son of Samuel Ealy Johnson, Junior. and Rebekah Baines.
He attended Southwest Texas State Teachers College, as had his brother Lyndon, and the University of Texas at Austin.
He received an ll.b. degree from Cumberland School of Law in 1934. When Lyndon Johnson was appointed Director of the National Youth Administration in Texas in the 1930s, Sam Houston Johnson replaced him as chief aide to Congressman Richard M. Kleberg. Sam Houston Johnson later worked for the National Youth Administration in Texas.
During World World War II, Sam Johnson worked on the staff of the War Production Board.
Sam Houston Johnson was an alcoholic. The two reconciled before Lyndon Johnson"s death.
According to published accounts, Sam Houston Johnson stopped drinking in 1972 and underwent a religious conversion, becoming a regular attendee at services of Austin"s non-denominational Community Church. Historian Robert Caro interviewed Sam Houston Johnson as one of his numerous sources while conducting research for The Years of Lyndon According to Caro, he at first considered Sam Houston Johnson to be unreliable, largely as a result of his drinking.
Caro said that he considered Johnson more credible in their subsequent encounters, largely because of his sobriety and religious conversion.
In 1976 Johnson was diagnosed with cancer and had a malignant tumor removed from his lung. His lung cancer returned, and Johnson died at Holy Cross Hospital in Austin, Texas on December 11, 1978. He is buried in the Johnson Family Cemetery in Stonewall, Texas.
In addition, he was employed as a member of his brother"s Senate staff, and worked on Lyndon Johnson"s campaigns. In his later years, his drinking, coupled with physical disability caused by a broken hip, limited his effectiveness as a member of his brother"s organization.