Harry J. Middleton
Harry Joseph Middleton Jr. (October 24, 1921 – January 20, 2017) was an American journalist, author, and library director who served as Lyndon B. Johnson's Presidential speech writer and staff assistant from 1967 to 1969. Middleton was also director of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum from 1971 until 2002, and led the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation from 1993 until 2004. Early life and education Harry Middleton was born in Centerville, Iowa, on October 24, 1921. Following two years of study at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas from 1941 to 1943, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving in World War II and later as an officer in the Korean war. He completed his education at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, earning a BA in Journalism. In his career as a professional writer, Middleton worked as a reporter for the Associated Press and a news editor for Architectural Forum and published articles and stories in Reader's Digest, Sports Illustrated, Collier's, Cosmopolitan, and Life. Working with LBJ It was in 1966, while Middleton was working on a report for the National Advisory Commission on Selective Service, that President Lyndon B. Johnson met Middleton and hired him as a speechwriter.