The Pen is Mightier

As Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev prepared to put pen to paper in a worldwide

television event to sign the document that would officially end the USSR and issue

in a new era in global history – his Russian-made pen didn’t work. That’s when a former Austinite, Tom Johnson, pulled his personal pen from his

pocket and said “Here, Mr. Gorbachev, use mine.” Tom’s Montblanc pen dissolved a global power and instantly became a historical artifact.

Mikhail Gorbachev and Tom Johnson's Mont Blanc Photo: REUTERS / Alamy Stock Photo

So how did this footnote to history come to pass? I detailed how this incident

occurred on pages 181 and 182 of my recent memoir, With the Bark Off. It is

timely to recall now because Gorbachev died August 30, 2022, at age 91.

Following service as a White House aide to President Lyndon Johnson, Tom came

to Austin in 1971 and became Executive VP of KTBC-TV, Channel 7. From there,

he had a meteoric rise to the top ranks of journalism with publishing stints at the

Dallas Times Herald and the Los Angeles Times Mirror.

Tom Johnson, Former LBJ White House aide, former publisher of Los Angeles Times, former CEO, CNN

He caught the eye of Ted Turner who had started a 24-hour cable TV venture called CNN. Tom took over as CNN CEO the day before Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990. CNN’s stellar coverage of the Gulf War, under Tom’s leadership, won virtually every award in TV News.

Gorbachev was well aware of CNN’s worldwide influence and its splendid coverage of the Gulf War. This enabled Tom to meet with Gorbachev in Moscow and to out-negotiate ABC’s Ted Koppel for exclusive rights to cover the dissolution of the Soviet Union live.

Fast forward to signing day in Moscow. All the pomp and circumstance of this

rare event was unfolding as CNN cameras carried it worldwide. Tom was standing

just off to Gorbachev’s side when, damn!, his pen didn’t work. When Tom

handed his pen to Gorbachev, the once-powerful world leader glanced at it,

looked at Tom and with a wry smile asked “American?”

That was it. He scribbled his signature. And quick-thinking Tom took back his pen

– the pen that after almost 75 years signified the end of the Union of Soviet

Socialist Republics.

“How important was that one little pen in Gorbachev’s hand? It dissolved a global

power that had dominated a scattering of small Eastern European nations since

World War II, promulgating an ideology that had fueled a dangerous Cold War

that had divided the world for decades,” I wrote in With the Bark Off. Now for the rest of the story, as broadcaster Paul Harvey used to say.

Tom donated the pen to a museum. Then, many years after Tom had departed CNN,

Tom invited Gorbachev to speak in Austin at the LBJ Library. At the end of the

program, I watched as Tom said “Mr. Gorbachev, you may remember that I took

my pen back on that historic day in Moscow. So I want you to have a new pen

exactly like that one.”

He presented Gorbachev with a new black Montblanc fountain pen.

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A Fun Twist on the Owners of Austin's Most Famous Home

The historic Pease Mansion, or Woodlawn, was the subject of a lengthy front-page story in the Austin American-Statesman with the headline “Who Bought Historic Pease Mansion? One Year After Property Changed Hands, New Owner Still Hasn’t Revealed Identity.”

Pease Mansion (photo: wikipedia)

What makes this home so important? Well, first and foremost, it was the home of two Texas governors. And therein lies this fun story told to me by one of the governors, Allan Shivers.

The 8,000 square foot mansion, on almost 4 acres at 1606 Niles Road in West Austin, was designed by Abner Cook, the architect of the Governor’s Mansion near the State Capitol. It was completed in 1853 and has been classified as a historic landmark. In 1857, it was acquired by Governor Elisha Pease.

The American-Statesman’s crack reporter Ryan Autullo delved deeply in a well-researched piece on the history of the mansion, ending up with today’s still-unanswered question – who now owns this bit of Austin real estate? But how the home became the property of Governor Allan Shivers in 1957 was not mentioned. It was probably not mentioned because this little story was told to me by Governor Shivers and later recounted every time I asked the governor in private meetings to tell this story again and again. Let me fill in the gap.

Woodlawn Mansion (Photo: Library of Congress)

Woodlawn had remained in the Pease family for about a century when Allan and Marialice Shivers bought it. It was a historic moment. A Pease descendent, well-known in West Austin real estate circles, understood the significance and got Governor Shivers to agree to sign the closing documents on Woodlawn’s front porch in the last hours before Shivers presided over the inauguration of his successor. When Shivers showed up, dressed in his inaugural finery, he found the Pease descendent sitting at a card table with two folding chairs on Woodlawn’s porch. On the card table alongside the documents was a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. Caught up in the emotion of the historic moment, the descendent was teary-eyed and, well, snockered. Yep, he was drunk. And he kept pouring whiskey into the two glasses and urging the governor to share a toast to the occasion. Again. And again.

By this time, the Pease descendent was practically blubbering and babbling. The governor told me he also was beginning to feel the effects a bit as well. Hey, this was just before noon and Shivers’ term as governor was ending at noon when his successor took the oath of office blocks away on the steps of the State Capitol. The governor kept politely urging him to move along and sign the papers. At the last minute, the papers were signed and the outgoing Texas governor showed up for the ceremony a bit tipsy.

Inauguration of Governor Allan Shivers (Photo: Portal to Texas History)

But at least, Governor Shivers had a new home in Austin. They lived there for about twenty years. Whoever the new occupants of the Pease Mansion will be, they will have a lot to do to live up to the stories played out over the 170-year history of The Pease Mansion, Woodlawn.

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The Inspiration for a Book Title from Long Ago

It was 51 years ago, actually May 22, 1971, when the title of my current memoir, “With The Bark Off,” was first uttered publicly, and on national television at that. It happened at an event unlike any other at the time, or since then, in Austin’s history. And the occasion has been rarely duplicated anywhere else in the US for that matter during the ensuing half century.

Let me explain. The occasion was the official opening and dedication ceremony of the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and Museum on the campus of the University of Texas. President Johnson and UT System Chair of the Board of Regents Frank Erwin had retained me six months prior to chair and manage the mammoth undertaking. (The university built the facility on UT land before turning it over to the National Archives to operate.)

These were the words uttered by LBJ describing what was included in the Library and Museum:

“It’s all here: the story of our time – with the bark off….I do not know how this period will be regarded in years to come. But that is not the point. This library will show the facts – not just the joy and triumphs, but the sorrow and failures, too.”

So, decades later, as I wrote my memoir (that included fun and interesting facts about that event) it only seemed fitting to name the book, With The Bark Off, A Journalist’s Memories of LBJ and a Life in the News Media. Because I share true tidbits, including some embarrassing moments:

--like when LBJ chewed my butt out

--like when Chairman Erwin broke a state law by surprisingly serving mid-day alcoholic drinks to the guests (that he may have paid for personally or hid somewhere in the UT budget)

--like when I lied to President Nixon

--like when a miscalculation led to the VIP guests getting sprayed with a mist of water when we turned on the towering fountain.

You get the picture. Speaking of pictures, let me share a picture of historical significance.

The ceremony took place on an open platform outside during a time of Vietnam War protests. Four out of the top five officials in line to become president in case something happened to the president were side-by-side on the platform. Talk about security concerns! Look closely at this photo.

The Dedication of the LBJ Library May 22, 1971

With demonstrations being held nearby, in addition to President Nixon, “P”, four of the five presidential successors stood in the open on the platform. “1” first in line is Vice President Spiro Agnew (partially obscured by LBJ), “2” is Speaker of the House Carl Albert, “4” is Secretary of State William Rogers, and “5” is Treasury Secretary former Texas governor John Connally. The President Pro Tem of the Senate, #3 in succession, (not pictured) because he stayed in Washington.

Luckily protests were peaceful and safely away from the stage. But we had national guard troops hidden beneath the stadium, and a cadre of Secret Service and ATF agents were out of sight in the nearby law school building, just in case.

Oh yeah, one final example of how we really do share these memories "with the bark off" in our memoir: I recount how LBJ asked me to follow along as he read his dedication remarks to me. He led me into the men’s room, reading aloud, holding his speech in one hand and guiding his stream with the other.

This Super-8 home movie of the dedication was filmed by HR Haldeman and Dwight Chapin via Jeff Kreines YouTube

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