Harry J. Middleton
Harry Joseph Middleton Jr. (October 24, 1921 – January 20, 2017) was an American journalist, author, and library director who served as Lyndon B. Johnson's Presidential speech writer and staff assistant from 1967 to 1969. Middleton was also director of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum from 1971 until 2002, and led the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation from 1993 until 2004. Early life and education Harry Middleton was born in Centerville, Iowa, on October 24, 1921. Following two years of study at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas from 1941 to 1943, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving in World War II and later as an officer in the Korean war. He completed his education at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, earning a BA in Journalism. In his career as a professional writer, Middleton worked as a reporter for the Associated Press and a news editor for Architectural Forum and published articles and stories in Reader's Digest, Sports Illustrated, Collier's, Cosmopolitan, and Life. Working with LBJ It was in 1966, while Middleton was working on a report for the National Advisory Commission on Selective Service, that President Lyndon B. Johnson met Middleton and hired him as a speechwriter. From January 1967 until January 20, 1969, he served as Staff Assistant to President Johnson in the White House, writing speeches for the President and drafting messages to Congress delineating need for new legislation. Following the inauguration ceremony of Richard Nixon on January 20, 1969, Middleton returned to the LBJ Ranch in Stonewall, Texas, with Lyndon Johnson in the role of Special Assistant to the former President. From 1969 until May 18, 1970, he worked with Johnson on two books: The Choices We Face, (March 1969) and The Vantage Point: Perspectives of the Presidency 1963–1969 (1971). In 1970, Johnson named him the director of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum (LBJ Library) on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. The building and grounds for the LBJ Library, the first to be located on a university campus, were donated by the University of Texas and are operated by the National Archives of the General Services Administration. The Library opened on May 22, 1971 and Middleton was responsible for its direction for the next 31 years until his retirement in 2002. Middleton also served as Executive Director of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation from 1993 until 2004. Although Middleton had no credentials as an archivist, Johnson told him that he was a capable writer and supported his appointment. Historian Michael Beschloss called Middleton "the Joe DiMaggio of Presidential Library directors," Former President Gerald Ford said, "President Johnson would be proud of the leadership Harry has provided...in setting standards that have transformed the Presidential Library system." In 1971, at Johnson's request, Middleton worked with former National Security Advisor Walt Rostow to prepare a rationale that Johnson could present to President Nixon that would persuade him to expedite declassification of foreign policy documents of Johnson's administration, including documents concerning the