Listening In (19 page)

SMATHERS:
¹⁸
Right.

JFK:
“While we have many other matters before us here, we want you to know that we are always glad to hear from you concerning any matters that are disturbing you.”

SMATHERS:
Fine, now that’s very good. [laughter] I think that’s good, it’s cute.

JFK:
Is that all right?

SMATHERS:
I think that’s fine. And would you have him, yeah, let me have a copy, so …

JFK:
All right, I’ll put on the letter, I’ll put “copy to Senator Smathers.”

SMATHERS:
Yeah, that’d be very helpful.

JFK:
OK.

SMATHERS:
I think that’s fine.

JFK:
OK. Thank you.

SMATHERS:
… Mr. President, proud of you, [you go and get] … [laughter] I got that word, that’s good, that’ll, just enough, nice, that Samoan Islands. [laughter] But that, just what this damned fool needs to be told, see. He can’t show that letter …

JFK:
No.

SMATHERS:
… and that’ll stop that.

JFK:
He can’t show this one. OK. We’ll get another one then. OK.

SMATHERS:
All right. Say, I got, I talked, generally without, you know, about this fellow …

JFK:
Yeah.

SMATHERS:
Negotiating, Southern himself, Southern himself, that, that his crowd and he will do anything. They’ll take down their pants and let ’em do anything.

JFK:
Yeah.

SMATHERS:
But they want to try and get a settlement then and …

JFK:
Who’s Southern?

SMATHERS:
Huh?

JFK:
Who’s … Well, you explained to them what I think their problem is?

SMATHERS:
Yes.

JFK:
And they’re conscious of it, are they?

SMATHERS:
Yes, sir.

JFK:
I see.

SMATHERS:
Yes, sir, and they, they really, they all agree that this fellow shouldn’t be there. I said, “Why in the hell did you get him there …”

JFK:
Yeah.

SMATHERS:
… for Christ’s sake.

JFK:
Yeah.

SMATHERS:
Well, he said, he was the man, I don’t know, a couple of big railroad presidents wanted him.

JFK:
Yeah.

SMATHERS:
But there’s, there’s some real bright fellows and the one I talked to is bright?

JFK:
I’d let him work in the offices preparing the material, but I’d let some real charming fellow …

SMATHERS:
That’s right.

JFK:
… be their front man.

SMATHERS:
Dan Loomis
¹⁹
ought to do it, see. He’s a …

JFK:
Well, I don’t think, you know, they’re not playing for marbles now ’cause we’re in it.

SMATHERS:
That’s right.

JFK:
So I don’t think they ought to worry about whether Wolfe’s feelings are hurt. If he’s not the right fellow to accomplish what we want, then …

SMATHERS:
That’s right.

JFK:
… they ought to get the guy with more charm than anybody else. I mean, let Wolfe mastermind it, but let this guy put it …

SMATHERS:
You’re right.

JFK:
… in a much more gracious, graceful way. That’s my judgment to them.

SMATHERS:
Well, I’m not, I’m just making it my own judgment.

JFK:
Yeah.

SMATHERS:
… and at least leaving you out, if it’s all right.

JFK:
But I’d put it pretty strong.

SMATHERS:
Well, I am.

JFK:
OK.

SMATHERS:
All right, sir.

JFK:
Right.

SMATHERS:
That
Star
editorial doesn’t bother you, does it?

JFK:
Which one?

SMATHERS:
Last night.

JFK:
I didn’t read it, fortunately.

SMATHERS:
Well, it’s …

JFK:
What was it on? You?

SMATHERS:
No, it was on you. [laughter] You know, you know, I … If it was on me, I would scream early. [laughter] As I said yesterday, oh, Christ, Drew Pearson
²⁰
is getting ready to write a mean one on me again about some colored property my father owned.

JFK:
Oh, well, we don’t even think about that crap. We got so many that I don’t read all those.

SMATHERS:
I know it. I think you’re doing fine. I say you’re strong. God damn, you’re gonna carry Florida.

JFK:
OK, OK, see you later.

SMATHERS:
OK.

JFK:
OK.

SMATHERS:
Bye-bye.

CALL TO LOU HARRIS, AUGUST 23, 1963

JFK was a voracious consumer of political information, whether it came from newspapers, friends, or professional pollsters. In the latter category, Lou Harris was a favorite, dispensing quick and sometimes hard information, with efficiency and topicality. Born in 1921, Harris was four years younger than Kennedy, and in his own way was bucking the political establishment, bringing up-to-the-minute information from the American people to the salons and solons of Washington. In 1960, JFK hired him to conduct polls for his campaign, and Harris continued to advise him during his presidency. In 1962, Harris devised the system of computer analysis of key precincts that would allow news organizations to project winners of elections.

JFK:
Hello.

HARRIS:
Mr. President.

JFK:
Lou, how are you?

HARRIS:
Just fine, sir. We’re going to the field with a study here, and I just wondered on a number of things, what you might want in. We’re going to test a lot of these pairings, like Goldwater and Rockefeller, and Romney, and I thought maybe Nixon, what do you think about that?

JFK:
Um.

HARRIS:
See where he sits.

JFK:
Of course, he’ll run the strongest, won’t he?

HARRIS:
I think he might. I also think he’d probably be a pretty good opponent.

JFK:
Yeah.

HARRIS:
But then, what about [unclear], what do you think about him?

JFK:
Yeah, he doesn’t have the strength, but, I mean, put him in. You’ve kept Romney at those same figures, didn’t you? I thought that you were going to change them.

HARRIS:
No, sir, to be perfectly frank about it, the
Newsweek
fellows got hold of them, and there’s nothing I could do about them. I don’t think he came out that strong.

JFK:
No, as a matter of fact, it was submerged by the Eisenhower story.

HARRIS:
Yeah. Which I think was all right, don’t you?

JFK:
Yeah. It doesn’t make any difference.

HARRIS:
It’s a good way to show where their real strengths lie.

JFK:
Of course, Eisenhower’s strength is rather special, Nixon would be a better test.

HARRIS:
Nixon would, yes. If there’s any Republican …

JFK:
That’s right, he’s not a party figure, because of that military background.

HARRIS:
Now we are going to get a full read on the whites, on this whole Negro thing, that’s something people want very strongly and I think especially …

JFK:
I have the impression this thing’s cooled off a bit, but I may be wrong.

HARRIS:
Well, I think we will find that out. We’re also going to do a before and after on this March on Washington thing. A lot of people say … But unless something will take place, I’m not sure it will have that much effect one way or the other.

JFK:
Yeah, yeah.

HARRIS:
Then on the other issues, I want to get a read to see how much good the test ban has done here.

JFK:
Yeah, I’d be interested in that.

HARRIS:
And whether they’ve fallen at all for this idea that all of a sudden we’re great pals with Russia. [unclear] We’ll have something, it will break at the time of the railroad strike. See if there’s much credit on that. There’s some indication there is credit from the last one on that.

JFK:
Yeah, yeah.

HARRIS:
And then the whole area of foreign aid. See how much that has done.

JFK:
And the tax cut? Say, that tax cut vote was pretty bad before. What was your question, Lou?

HARRIS:
We’ve got three on tax cut, actually. You know, I’m coming [out?] with something on that, Mr. President, which I think will put it in perspective. The fact is, if you ask people if they’re in favor of a tax cut, and you’ll get about two to one in favor of a tax cut. But then you ask them, do you think that if we don’t have a tax cut, or if we have a tax cut, do you think that will help the economy of the country, and there you get about two and a half to one.

JFK:
Yeah.

HARRIS:
And [then you ask], would you rather delay the tax cut until the budget is solid, and then you get about a fifty-fifty split.

JFK:
Yeah, that’s right. I understand that.

HARRIS:
So the answer is, I think, is, that as long as the tax cut is justified … concern it will help the economy … I think it will go … some of the people [skip] trying to defend the idea that—of it will. It’s never been called that way …

JFK:
Yeah.

HARRIS:
I think you’ve been absolutely right in the way you’ve pushed it, the last couple months. That beginning, when [unclear] got up and tried to convince people that spending is a sound idea … was just murder on it.

JFK:
Well, I thought I’d make a television speech before it came up for a vote.

HARRIS:
Well, I think that’s good. Do you think it will go through?

JFK:
Well, I think so but I’m afraid the Republicans will try to put a limitation on it. God, they are obstructionist! I haven’t really talked much about it, but I …

HARRIS:
The other thing is, if you think it would be helpful to have a whole series on Congress, because I think people are really getting sort of fed up with Congress.

JFK:
Yeah.

HARRIS:
I don’t see why you should be the one to take the rap on it.

JFK:
Why don’t you …

HARRIS:
I have this feeling, Mr. President, that people are more and more aware on the issues, and know the congressmen less, than the other way around. In Washington, you get the feeling that it’s only the congressmen that count, and the issues don’t matter. I think if we can point that out, it would be very helpful.

JFK:
I think if you could ask if they approve or disapprove of Congress, a lot of these things …

HARRIS:
That’s right, I could ask a whole series on that.

JFK:
When will you be finished?

HARRIS:
We’ll have this back out, probably at the end of next …