[dropcap]P[/dropcap]resident Franklin Delano Roosevelt mixed policking with pleasure on a reelection campaign swing through Texas on June 11-12, 1936.

The first stop on FDR’s Lone Star itinerary was Houston, where the mayor proclaimed a holiday in eager anticipation of the unprecedented visit. All public buildings and many private businesses were closed, as the vast majority of the 350,000 inhabitants squeezed into the center of Texas’ biggest city to see the popular New Deal architec...