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Visitors Gallery

Gerald Ford/Walter Cronkite
On two evenings in February students received special guest passes from the LBJ Library to listen to talks by former president Gerald Ford and former CBS newscaster Walter Cronkite.

Ford gave the closing address at a symposium entitled "Are the Elephant and Donkey Headed for Extinction?: The Future of Political Parties in America." The talk, on renewing the American political process, was the third annual Harry Middleton Lecture, which is endowed by Lady Bird Johnson and named after the director of the LBJ Library.

The talk by Cronkite was cosponsored by the UT Austin Center for American History.

Governor George W. Bush
Students met with Governor George W. Bush at the Texas Capitol Press Room on April 17 for a discussion on current political topics and a question-and answer session.

The visit was arranged by first-year student Jesse Barba, who is a member of the Public Events Committee.

Clinton Advisers Begala and Caputo
Paul Begala, former senior political adviser to President Bill Clinton, and Lisa Caputo, former press secretary to Hillary Rodham Clinton, were the featured guests at a "Chat Room" sponsored by the LBJ School.

The event included a question-and-answer session on Begala's and Caputo's "roller coaster ride" with the president and Mrs. Clinton.

U.S. News & World Report Editor
James Fallows, an award-winning author and the new editor of U.S. News & World Report, discussed the impact of the media on America's social and political life during a fall lecture at the LBJ School.

In his talk, Fallows discussed the public's complaint that the news media has a liberal bias, stressing that party ideology does not underlie the decision to cover an event, particularly in the national television media and mainstream newspapers and magazines.

Fallows' most recent book, Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy, was released in January. He is also the author of Looking at the Sun and National Defense, for which he won the National Book Award.

A former speechwriter for President Jimmy Carter, Fallows was the Washington editor of Atlantic Monthly prior to becoming editor of U.S. News & World Report in September 1996.

The lecture was sponsored by the LBJ School and the UT Austin College of Communication.

Ambassador Hugo Paemen
Ambassador Hugo Paemen, head of the European Commission delegation in Washington, D.C., visited the LBJ School in March. During his visit, Paemen met with LBJ School staff and faculty members and talked to area representatives of college and university international programs.

George S. McGovern
Former U.S. Senator George S. McGovern gave a March lecture on American foreign policy after the Cold War.

McGovern, the 1972 Democratic nominee for U.S. president, served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1957 to 1961 and in the U.S. Senate from 1962 until 1980.

In his talk, McGovern offered his opinions on a number of foreign policy issues, including post-Cold War defense priorities (he made a case for cutting at least $65 billion from the $265 billion defense budget), the expansion of NATO to the Russian border (he believes expansion would reduce rather than enhance security because it would alienate the Russians), and the peacekeeping role of the United Nations (he advocates using the U.N. World Court to settle most international disputes).

Currently, McGovern is the president of the Middle East Policy Council in Washington, D.C., and is on the Board of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependency.

McGovern's visit was coordinated by the LBJ School Ph.D. Colloquium and the Public Events Committee.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., came to the LBJ School on April 11 for an informal talk with students and a reception given in his honor.

Kennedy, who serves as chief prosecuting attorney for the Hudson Riverkeeper organization and senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, was in Austin in conjunction with Wildflower Days at the National Wildflower Research Center.

Kennedy's involvement in environmental affairs is well known. The New York City watershed agreement, which he negotiated on behalf of environmentalists and New York City watershed consumers, is regarded as an international model in stakeholder consensus negotiations and sustainable development.

Willie Morris
Mississippi author Willie Morris, one of the South's premier literary figures, visited the LBJ School in February to give a lecture entitled "Why I Am an Author."

A former editor of Harper's, the Texas Observer, and the Daily Texan, Morris has written various books, including North Toward Home, which won the 1996 Richard Wright Medal for Literary Excellence.

Brown Bag Talks
This year's Public Events Committee brought numerous speakers to the LBJ School for lunch-hour talks with students. The visitors included Steve Bartlett, former Dallas mayor and congressman; UT Austin President Robert M. Berdahl; Michael Brintnall, president of the National Association of Schools and Public Affairs and Administration; Texas Monthly Executive Editor Paul Burka; Juan Escobar, U.S. Customs agent and former immigration officer; Dianne Hardy-Garcia, executive director, Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of Texas; Joseph Hulings, former U.S. Ambassador to Turkmenistan; Tom Luce, Dallas attorney and activist; Mark McKinnon, former Democratic campaign consultant; Bill Miller, political consultant; John Ralston Saul, Canadian philosopher and writer; and Robb Southerland, chief executive officer and founder of the Austin Crime Prevention Institute.