LBJ and Grassroots Federalism by Duke Robert H.;

Author:Duke, Robert H.; [Duke, Robert Harold]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
Published: 2014-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Harlan Fentress and LBJ at Waco Dam groundbreaking (mislabeled in the photo as “dedication”). Courtesy Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum and by special permission of the Fentress family.

Another indication of the range of interests the project piqued came in the form of a petition signed by some five hundred people, directed to the US Army Corps of Engineers:

We, the undersigned, do respectfully request that you discontinue your plans for acquiring in fee title any of the land above the 470’ above sea level owned by K. H. Easley out of the site on which he has planned to relocate the Lake Waco Golf Course which will be inundated by the new Waco Reservoir, thereby releasing Mr. Easley to proceed with the development of the new golf course without any further delay. As the Lake Waco Golf Course is the only public golf course in the Waco area and as Mr. Easley’s new course is the only other such course completely planned and under construction, we, the undersigned citizens and participants in the game of golf will be without a golf course to play on unless Mr. Easley is permitted to complete his new course as planned.52

Winners and losers would emerge from the project, especially those losers with property on or near the banks of “old” Lake Waco, and those winners whose properties gained instant value from the expansion of the lake. Inevitably, grumbling losers gave way to what most people saw as progress. In the 1950s the local newspaper publisher and editor carried significant clout, and in the medium-sized city of Waco, the political culture found them deeply engaged with efforts of friendly persuasion. Winning federal funding for a new dam represented a top agenda item for these community boosters. Appearances at congressional hearings were carefully coordinated with Bob Poage.

For example, Harlan Fentress received this background letter from Poage concerning final arrangements for their visit to Washington in May 1955, when they would testify before a House committee:

I know Joe Evins, John Fogarty and Ben Jensen personally, and I do not expect any trouble from them. I do not know Mr. Murray and although I know Mr. Hand, I do not know him as well as I do the first three. I will try to find an opportunity to discuss the project with each of these men and will, of course, keep you advised of any difficulties that might arise. I presume that you boys will be here a day or two in advance of the hearing anyway, and that you will have an opportunity to meet some, if not all, of the members of the Sub-Committee before the hearing. Yesterday afternoon, Arthur Perry [Johnson aide] called. He stated that inasmuch as your group will be here around the 11th of May, that he has been trying to get the Senate Committee to grant you a hearing on the morning of May 11, but up to the present time he has been unsuccessful.53

Previous correspondence between Kultgen and Johnson addressed

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