LBJ Adviser McPherson Dies At 82

Published February 18, 2012 2:09AM (EST)

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Henry McPherson Jr., who was an adviser to President Lyndon B. Johnson, has died. He was 82.

The Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library in Texas said McPherson died Thursday. The library said McPherson had cancer.

McPherson served as special assistant and special counsel to Johnson. He influenced the president on a range of policies from civil rights to bombing in Vietnam. He helped write Johnson's 1968 speech announcing a halt in bombing in Vietnam and that Johnson would not run for re-election.

After working for Johnson, McPherson worked as a lawyer and lobbyist in Washington, D.C. He wrote a 1972 memoir, "A Political Education," recalling his experience in government and the Johnson presidency.


By Salon Staff

MORE FROM Salon Staff


Related Topics ------------------------------------------