It's pretty safe to argue that no other president had a deeper connection to his hideaway than LBJ, who was born, lived, died and was buried in the Hill Country of Central Texas. LBJ took up ranching as a freshman senator in 1951, buying land near his birthplace in Stonewall. By the time he was president, the ranch had grown to 2,700 acres, complete with 400 head of Hereford cattle. LBJ vacationed there often, hosting dignitaries from foreign leaders to cabinet members; he met there with his Joint Chiefs of Staff and ran part of the Vietnam war from the ranch. When he was back in Washington, Johnson reportedly drove his foremen crazy, calling every day to ask about the weather and the pastures.
Johnson died on the ranch in January 1973, and after a state funeral, he was buried in the family cemetery. Today, LBJ's birthplace, the "Texas White House" and his grave site are part of the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park. The National Park Service maintains more than 1,500 acres as a working ranch, including a herd of cattle descended from Johnson's original Hereford breed.