This being Texas and all, it's not nice to be anything but fawning over the dearly departed, but Slate argues that Lady Bird Johnson won't be able rest in peace until the full story of the fortune she made with her Austin radio station is told.
And its a great story. It illustrates the relationship we've touched on between congress, executive agencies and business interests.
The story begins in 1943 when the FCC, about to be abolished, was saved by young House Rep. Lyndon Johnson. Johnson developed a friendship with one of the FCC commissioners who helped clear the road for Lady Birds application for the station's license to be fast tracked. A fixer named Tommy "the Cork" Corcoran helped it along the way as well.
Once she owned it, in fast order the station was allowed to:
- broadcast 24 hours a day
- move to an "uncluttered" area on the dial where it would have little competition and broad coverage
- quintuple its power
- become a part of the CBS Radio network even though an affiliate existed within listening distance
Johnson also used threats to remove local army bases as leverage to persuade local business to advertise with the station. He (excuse me, she) was eventually allowed to add a television station to his/her holdings, which made them wealthy.
Politics is a contact sport in Texas as we all know. I've always thought that a political history of the use of government power to build fortunes would be a worthy project.
