“Lyndon Johnson was always to maintain that his wife’s radio interests were totally divorced from politics,” biographer Robert Caro wrote, “and that he, the politician in the family, had absolutely nothing to do either with acquiring KTBC’s license or, once it was licensed, with its operations.”

Lady Bird, not Lyndon, owned it. Lady Bird, not Lyndon, managed the parent company, LBJ Holdings, which grew from a five-figure operation to a $150 million success story thanks to a federally protected monopoly and immense advertising demand from politically exposed companies.