Chapter 1, Growing Up Summary and Analysis

The complexity of the personality of Lyndon Baines Johnson has its roots in his relationships with his mother and father during his childhood and adolescent years.

Born in Stonewall, Texas, Johnson spent his early years in a small farmhouse, about a mile away from the expansive ranch home he later built to raise his own family. His mother, Rebekah Baines, was the daughter of an apparently middle-class family that prided itself in its commitment to education and civility.

Rebekah marries Sam Johnson, a small farmer and real estate investor. He was a big man, burly, hard-drinking, and vulgar in speech, and the complete opposite of her father. Lyndon was the first child of this union, and it became Rebakah's solemn vow that he would be raised with all of the cultural and educational advantages with which she...