Have you heard of “the Johnson Treatment?” The term is named for former President Lyndon Johnson, who was “famous for his powers of persuasion” and, as the University of Virginia’s Miller Center describes it, for using “his imposing physical size and intimidating personality to emphasize his point.”
An article in Forbes Magazine put it this way: Johnson “was willing to push people. For better or worse, he would harangue, threaten, flatter and bully … He made people uneasy. He invaded their space. And he kept after them.”
There is an exhibit about this at the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, Texas. In the above collage, the photo on the right is on display at the LBJ Library and shows the president giving the treatment to Abe Fortas, leaning over the future Supreme Court Justice and invading his space as he makes a point.
The above photo on the left, meanwhile, was taken at the LBJ Ranch in Stonewall, Texas, which has a fun cutout of Johnson leaning over any visitor who dares takes a picture with him. Obviously, that’s me getting the cardboard version of the Johnson Treatment, along with my book, Quest for the Presidency. Hey, at least LBJ is smiling, it can’t be all bad. Right?
Here is another example of the Johnson Treatment, with LBJ towering over and leaning into the face of former Rhode Island Senator Theodore Green:
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