Ben Barnes on Charlie Rose

Ben Barnes

Video Synopsis:

Ben Barnes on PBS’s Beta Charlie Rose: “A discussion with former lieutenant governor of Texas Ben Barnes about his long political career and his memoir ‘Barn Burning, Barn Building’.”

About Ben Barnes:

Ben Barnes, the former Lieutenant Governor of Texas, has had a successful career in politics since he was elected as the State Representative for four counties in West-Central Texas.

When he was a student at the University of Texas in Austin, Ben Barnes worked for the Texas Health Department. Mr. Barnes found accounting errors that showed the State Health Commissioner was involved in corruption. Ben Barnes successfully survived this political struggle, and the resulting experienced inspired him to pursue public office.

Ben Barnes eventually returned to his hometown of De Leon and ran for State Representative. Mr. Winning the election at the age of 20, Ben Barnes became Texas’s youngest state representative in history. By 1963, Ben Barnes became Chairman of the powerful Rules Committee, and two years later, Ben Barnes was elected to become Texas’s youngest House Speaker. He was only twenty-five years old.

While in the Texas House, Ben Barnes cultivated a close relationship with then Senator (and later President) Lyndon Johnson and Governor John Connally. He served on President Lyndon Johnson’s Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, and was also the the U.S. Representative to NATO and the US United Nations Representative in Geneva, Switzerland.

Ben Barnes was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1969, and serving until 1973. He was slated as becoming a major figure in Texas and national politics until his reputation was tarnished by a misleading and erroneous smear campaign engineered by Richard Nixon, who was trying to bring down influential Democrats. Ben Barnes eventually left public service to dedicate his time to private business and social causes.

Ben Barnes’s business ventures included Entrecorp, a business consulting and lobbying firm, and he also did consulting work for SBC, Dallas Bank and Trust, American Airlines, Grumman Systems Support Corporation, among others.

Ben Barnes is very active in Texas philanthropy. Ben Barnes is financial and personal supporter of the Long Horn Foundation, the Boys’ and Girls’ Club of the Capital Area, People’s Community Clinic, and the LBJ Library and School of Public Affairs. There is even a scholarship at the University of Texas named after Ben Barnes for students wishing to pursue public service. Ben

Ben Barnes has received the University of Texas Distinguished Alumnus Award, Ellis Island Congressional Medal of Honor, and two honorary law degrees from McMurray University and Texas Tech for his active work in Texas politics and social service.

Currently, Ben Barnes continues to offer consulting services through Entrecorp. Ben Barnes also wrote the book Barn Burning Barn Building: Tales of a Political Life from LBJ to George W. Bush and Beyond, where he talked about his long and colorful life in Texas and national politics. In these memoris, Ben Barnes describes how the Democratic Party lost power in Texas and White House, and what they must do to regain power. Many of the valuable lessons that Ben Barnes talked about were eventually adopted by the resurgent Democratic Party in the late 2000s.

Additional Resources About Ben Barnes of Austin, TX:

Profile Information about Ben Barnes of Austin, TX; the one time Lieutenant Governor, is available online at the Texas State Library.

Ben Barnes of Austin, TX is a contributing Board Member of The Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation in Austin, Texas.

A biographical profile about Ben Barnes of Austin, TX is available online at Elite Bios.