Sam Houston Johnson

Sam Houston Johnson was born on January 31, 1914, in Johnson City, Texas. He was the son of Samuel Ealy Johnson Jr. and Rebekah Baines. Johnson attended Southwest Texas State Teachers College, the same institution as his elder brother, Lyndon B. Johnson, and later studied at the University of Texas at Austin. In 1934, he earned a law degree from Cumberland School of Law.

Throughout most of his life, Johnson served as an aide and adviser to Lyndon B. Johnson. He was part of a network of supporters that Lyndon B. Johnson utilized to monitor and influence political activities in Texas. In the 1930s, when Lyndon Johnson was appointed Director of the National Youth Administration (NYA) in Texas, Sam Houston Johnson replaced him as the chief aide to Congressman Richard M. Kleberg. Johnson also worked for the NYA in Texas and served as an appraiser for the Federal Land Bank in Houston, reporting on its activities to his brother.

During World War II, Johnson contributed to the War Production Board's work and was part of his brother’s Senate staff. He also participated in Lyndon B. Johnson's election campaigns. In addition to his political activities, Johnson worked as an insurance executive and served as the Mexico representative for a Texas-based international trucking company.

Later in life, Johnson struggled with alcoholism. His physical health was affected by a broken hip, which, along with his drinking, reduced his effectiveness within his brother’s political organization. In 1970, Johnson authored a memoir titled *My Brother Lyndon*, which largely praised Lyndon B. Johnson but also included critical observations. At that time, Johnson described himself as estranged from his brother, though he stated that his book was not the cause of the estrangement. The two brothers reconciled before Lyndon B. Johnson’s death.

Johnson reportedly ceased drinking in 1972 and experienced a religious conversion. He became a regular attendee at services of Austin’s non-denominational Community Church. Historian Robert Caro, in his research for *The Years of Lyndon Johnson*, interviewed Johnson as a source. Caro initially considered Johnson unreliable due to his drinking but regarded him as more credible after Johnson's sobriety and religious commitment.

In 1976, Johnson was diagnosed with cancer; he had a malignant tumor removed from his lung. The cancer recurred, and he died on December 11, 1978, at Holy Cross Hospital in Austin, Texas. He was interred in the Johnson Family Cemetery in Stonewall, Texas.

Johnson married twice. His first marriage was to Albertine Summers in 1940; the couple divorced in 1944. They had two children: a daughter named Josefa Roxane (born in 1941) and a son named Samuel Summers (born in 1942). In 1955, Johnson married Mary Jane Michelson Fish, but this marriage also ended in divorce.