Presidential Quotes (12 of 16): Lyndon B. Johnson

Today, we quip President Lyndon B. Johnson who abruptly took over for John F. Kennedy after the first Catholic president was murdered by Lee Harvey Oswald (note: Oliver Stone begs to differ).

Johnson left a mixed legacy as he was heralded for Civil Rights, but blamed for the failure of the Vietnam War. LBJ is one of three modern-era presidents from Texas: the other two are George Bush and George W. Bush.

The LBJ LIbrary is in Austin, Tex., which is also the capital of Texas and where the University of Texas is.

Here is LBJ's quote:

"Peace is a journey of a thousand miles and it must be taken one step at a time."

http://www.lbjlibrary.org

Presdiential Quotes (11 of 16): John F. Kennedy

To answer your question, especially those of you who read this blog in Kazakhstan (we're not making that up!): "Yes, it was our intention to have this series of quotes from American presidents overlap with the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's assassination, which occurred on Nov. 22nd.

This is also the 20th anniversary of the release of Oliver Stone's controversial film about the Kennedy assassination "JFK." The year before, then-independent filmmaker Richard Linklater poked fun of Kennedy assassination  conspiracy theorists in a segment for his film "Slacker," filmed in Austin, Tex. JFK was killed in Dallas, Tex.

President Kennedy who hailed from Massachusetts is perennially ranked as the most popular 20th Century president, eclipsing both Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan.

Ironically, he has even been praised by conservatives who generally opposed the Democratic Party, which all of the Kennedys (also Sens. Robert and Teddy) were a member of. Sen. Ted Kennedy, who died in 2009, was the last remaining Kennedy brother.

The right-wing spoof film "An American Carol," which generally got bad reviews, from the makers of "Airplane" actually included a positive representation of Kennedy, who was played by character actor Chriss Anglin.

Along with Robert Kennedy, JFK is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Va., just outside of Washington, D.C. and the JFK Presidential Library is located in Boston, Mass.

Here is JFK's quote:

"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolutions inevitable."

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org

http://www.jfklibrary.org

Quote of the Day- Josh Brolin

We conclude our series of quotes of actors who have played real-life American presidents with a quip from Josh Brolin, 44, who played George W. Bush in the Oliver Stone film "W" (2008). Interestingly, his father James Brolin played another Republican president Ronald Reagan in the tv movie "The Reagans" (2003).

Josh Brolin also played the title in the Oscar-winning film "No Country for Old Men."

Here is the quote from the younger Brolin:

" 'W' is not necessarily a political film, but it was sort of a contrasting reality for me to get into George W. Bush as a character because of how I felt about his administration before I started making the film."

Quote of the Day/Week- Jean-Michel Basquiat

As we continue to quote famous artists this month, we turn our attention to someone who died all too young from AIDS at the age of 27. But, Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) left behind an amazing legacy. He made this painting "Untitled" (Head) in 1981.

He was a protege of Andy Warhol who died just a year earlier in 1987, also from AIDS complications.

Basquiat was the subject of the film "Basquiat" (1996), which was interestingly enough directed by someone who knew him in real life, fellow artist Julian Schnabel. A very young Jeffrey Wright, who would end up portraying Secretary of State Colin Powell in Oliver Stone's film "W" many years later, plays the artist in the film which also features David Bowie playing Warhol.

Here is the quote from Basquiat:

"I don't think about art when I'm working, I try to think about life."