Historical Name: Lyndon B. Johnson
Common Name: Winged Elm
Latin Name: Ulmus alata
The old President Lyndon B. Johnson Winged Elm tree stands in Johnson City, Texas, marking the birthplace of the nation’s 36th president. One of Johnson’s greatest pleasures while he was president in the 1960s was to take visitors on tours of the Texas hill country where he was born and began his political career. He was a teacher, senator, vice president and president. Johnson once said of his presidency, “I don’t want to be remembered as a president who built empires and sought grandeur. I want to be the president who educated young children, who helped feed the hungry, who helped the poor to find their own way.” He sought to build The Great Society by enacting Medicare and expanding Social Security benefits. The Johnson administration was also renowned for the many beautification projects of the president’s wife, Lady Bird Johnson. This tree was grown from a seed taken from the President Lyndon B. Johnson Winged Elm, and was planted into UCNJ’s Historic Tree Grove in 1997.
(text adapted from American Forests)