In 1969, President Lyndon Baines Johnson invited a group of individuals to join him in supporting two institutions that were under construction at The University of Texas at Austin-- the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and to the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library. Soon after LBJ left the White House, this group was incorporated as the Health Education and Conservation (HEC) Foundation by Harry H. Ransom, Frank C. Erwin, Jr., and William W. Heath. The mission of the HEC Foundation was to provide special support to the LBJ School and to the LBJ Library.
In 1973, the HEC Foundation was renamed the Lyndon B. Johnson Foundation. However, it continued its mission of supporting the educational and historical work of the LBJ School and the LBJ Library. Harry Middleton, who acted as Director of the LBJ Library from 1971 to 2002, was invited to serve as Executive Director of the Lyndon B. Johnson Foundation. Its board grew to include a number of other distinguished individuals: Joe L. Allbritton, Perry R. Bass, George R. Brown, Robert Strauss, George Christian, Jane Engelhard, Henry H. Fowler, Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson, W. Thomas Johnson, Larry E. Temple, General Hugh Robinson, Arthur B. Krim, Mary Lasker, Harry J. Middleton, Elspeth Rostow, Lynda Johnson Robb, Luci Baines Johnson, Texas Lieutenant Governor William Hobby, Texas Lieutenant Governor Ben Barnes, E. Don Walker, and Lew R. Wasserman. Harry Ransom was selected as the first President of the Board and when his tenure ended, Frank Erwin served as President.
Within the first few years of its creation, the LBJ Library received additional aid from a group of supporters known as the Friends of the LBJ Library. With the approval of the Lyndon B. Johnson Foundation, the Friends of the Library launched a $1 million fundraising campaign that was co-chaired by Ed Clark and Jake Pickle. The Friends surpassed their $1 million goal and raised approximately $3 million.
The LBJ Library is part of a system of presidential libraries administered by the National Archives and Records Administration. In accordance with the wishes of President Johnson, the LBJ Library does not charge for admission. Because the LBJ Library was mandated to remain completely open to the public, it was the first institution in the system of Presidential libraries to simultaneously establish a foundation to provide financial support for its endeavors. Since its inception, the Lyndon B. Johnson Foundation has served as a model that has been emulated by other Presidential libraries.
Today, under the leadership of Tom Johnson, Chairman, and Larry Temple, President, the Lyndon B. Johnson Foundation continues in its efforts to support the academic and historic work of the LBJ Library and the LBJ School of Public Affairs.