Samuel Ealy Johnson, Jr. - Business Career

Business Career

Samuel Johnson had made gains in the cotton futures market in 1902, 1903, and 1904, however in 1905 he lost all of the money he had invested. His son, Lyndon B. Johnson later noted "My daddy went busted waiting for cotton to go up to twenty-one cents a pound, and the market fell apart when it hit twenty". In 1906, he took out a loan and bought futures contracts on margin, but lost money again. When he arrived in the Texas State Capitol after his election in 1906 he was "several thousand dollars in debt".

After retiring from the legislature in 1908, he began to buy and sell real estate in addition to farming. He did well in selling real estate, so well that he could hire a local teenager as a Chauffeur and pay for a staff of cleaning ladies for his wife. He re-invested the profits from real estate into buying local businesses. He bought several ranches, a small movie theater, as well as the only hotel in Johnson City. In 1916, he even bought the local newspaper, the Johnson City Record, an "eight page weekly" from its owner. However, he was forced to sell the paper to Reverdy Giddon four months later due to an inability of his subscribers to pay in cash. His financial success enabled him to run for a third term in 1917.