A Texan's Texan

It is hardly a secret that President Johnson likes Texans--and has imported a fair number of them to work in Washington. Yet the Texan that Lyndon probably likes best of them all is one he has left behind. He is A. W. (for Albert Wadel) Moursund, 45, who lives in a modest ranch house in the hills of central Texas, works out of a small brick building off Johnson City's courthouse square, has a passion for anonymity, and insists to inquiring newsmen that "I don't give interviews. I just practice law, that's about all."

Moursund practices more than a little law: he is recognized as a highly respected authority on the law of real property in a state where such expertise counts heavily. He is also the principal trustee of all the Johnsons' land, cattle, municipal bonds, radio and television holdings. Elected Blanco County judge, a largely administrative post, in the mid-'50s, he quit politics after five years, but still is known as "the Judge" around Johnson City.

Through Prickly Pear. Moursund is an all-round man in the best Texas tradition. He controls a local bank. He can survey land, brand cattle, ride a horse through prickly pear cactus, steer his Lincoln Continental through cedar brush in pursuit of game, drop a deer with unerring aim, then gut and skin the animal. To the Judge ranching is more of a pleasure than a source of income. Explains an associate: "He gets a real kick out of manipulating cattle from one pasture to another." He also enjoys food in quantity. When he speaks of a "couple of hamburgers" for lunch, it turns out to be thick chunks of roast round steak, rolls, iced tea, jalapenos, peas, fried potatoes, fruit cake, and cottage cheese salad.

Johnson's admiration of Moursund knows no bounds. Shortly after he became President, he boasted to newsmen that Moursund, who stands 6 ft. 3 in., and weighs 230 Ibs. with no fat, could "whup Sonny Listen tonight, right now." According to Lyndon, Moursund keeps a six-shooter in the glove compartment of his Lincoln and is fast on the draw. A few months after Jack Kennedy's death, Johnson declared: "If anybody tried to do anything to me, the Judge would get him before anybody." Moursund also keeps a .30-caliber rifle with a nickel-plated barrel clipped under the front seat of his car. Explains he: "When you have to shoot a rattlesnake, pistols aren't worth a damn."

The Judge is also at home on water. Once Lyndon developed a craving for a cruise up the narrow, treacherous Llano River on a winter night so pitch-dark that Moursund stepped right off the end of the pier into hip-deep water. Yet A. W. took the wheel of the cruiser, while Lyndon unconcernedly ate shrimp in the cabin below. Said Johnson: "He'll get us there. I wouldn't trust anybody else."

An Extra Million. Moursund's business acumen is held in awe, particularly by those who recall such feats as his 1958 sale of 631,000 acres on three ranches owned by the West-Pyle Cattle Co. for almost $3,000,000--a cool $1,000,000 more than the owners had expected. He did it by rounding up the biggest cattle buyers in the Southwest, carefully sorting the cattle by breed, size and quality, insisting on sealed bids for each pen.

Moursund comes naturally by such talents. His father, A. W. Moursund Jr., had developed ranch holdings in Blanco County, founded Johnson City State Bank (it survived the Depression but closed in the late '30s), and married Mary Frances Stribling. The Striblings, largely through Mary's mother, Lurania, who had a knack for acquiring land and stocking it profitably with cattle, sheep and goats, owned some 100,000 acres near the Pedernales River. Lurania was once asked how much land she thought was "enough." "Just what's mine," she said, "and that which joins mine."

The Judge worked as a boy on his grandmother's ranch, earned a law degree from the University of Texas and learned practical law from his uncle, Anton N. Moursund, who at 88 is still a respected circuit judge in San Antonio. After 42 months' duty as an Air Force staff sergeant in World War II, A. W. set up practice in Johnson City. He also gradually expanded his inherited lands into a millionaire's fortune of his own.

"More Little Places." It was a land deal that brought Johnson and Moursund, who had been neighbors and friends for years, closer together. In the early '50s Johnson sought the lawyer's help in putting the LBJ Ranch together from land held by Lyndon's grandfather, Samuel Ealy Johnson. Moursund handled the legal work efficiently, also proved a sharp adviser on new grasses, breeding and pasture planning. As Lyndon rose in Washington politics, he came to rely more and more on A.W. to tend to business matters at home.

Two ranches, now part of the Johnson trust, are jointly owned by Johnson and Moursund. Acquired in 1961 and 1962, they are the 2,186-acre Three Springs Ranch along the Pedernales in Blanco County and the 4,500-acre Haywood Ranch in the lake region of nearby Llano County. They consist chiefly of pastureland on which cattle, sheep and Angora goats thrive. Moursund explains his interest in such land acquisition with typical understatement. Says he: "The more little places you have, the better off you are."

Nowadays, when Lyndon is at the LBJ Ranch or even taking one of his patented auto tours of his property, Moursund can reach him by radiotelephone either from the Moursund office, his car, or from the Moursund house. And when Lyndon is in Washington, all Moursund has to do is pick up a white telephone on a counter in his kitchen. A small blue White House symbol on its face indicates that it is a special, direct line to the President.

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