The Passage of Power (139 page)

Now Johnson asked:
In his biography,
Senator Mansfield,
Don Oberdorfer cites a telephone call Johnson made to Mansfield when Mansfield, despite Johnson’s request, was still leaning against taking the job. In that conversation, Johnson assures Mansfield that he would “do anything for you at any time … and I will be there every week and I will do everything you want me to do.” Oberdorfer cites this as
evidence that Johnson “made it plain that he intended to continue to mastermind Senate activity” (“Re: Conversation between Senator Johnson from Austin, Texas and Senator Mansfield in Washington, D.C.,” Nov. 11, 1960, Series 22, Box 103, Folder 1, MSS 065, Mike Mansfield Collection, University of Montana Library, cited in Oberdorfer, pp. 154, 155). But in Mansfield’s interview with Oberdorfer, quoted in Oberdorfer,
Senator Mansfield,
p.
157, Mansfield said that Johnson “had come to me … and asked if I would propose that he be permitted to attend future caucuses … and also to preside. In my view this would only constitute an honorary position,
and I had no objection.” And Mansfield’s statement in the caucus that “the proposal was in no way intended to suggest that he was sharing either the responsibility or the authority under
the proposal but rather recognition” makes it plain that the November 11th call is no more than Johnson’s habitual way of saying whatever he thought would persuade someone to do what he wanted (United States Senate,
Minutes of the U.S. Senate Democratic Conference 1903–1964,
p. 578).

“Owed his prominence”
:
Evans and Novak,
Lyndon B. Johnson,
p. 306.
“No work to do”
:
Oberdorfer interview with Mansfield, Oct. 8, 1998, Box 2, Folder 3, Oberdorfer Collection, MSS 590, University of Montana Library.
“In my view”
:
Oberdorfer,
Senator Mansfield,
p. 157; Steinberg,
Sam Johnson’s Boy,
p. 547.

“What no other Senate”; he also persuaded
:
Evans and Novak,
LBJ,
p. 306.
Keeping
“Taj Mahal”
:
Humphrey,
The Education of a Public Man,
p. 243; Evans and Novak,
LBJ,
p. 306.
Bobby Baker would:
“Re: Conversation
between Bobby Baker in Miami, Fla. and Senator Mansfield, Wash. D.C.,” Nov. 14, 1960, Series 22, Box 103, Folder 1, MSS 065, Mike Mansfield Collection, University of Montana Library.
“I think that”
:
O’Brien OH. In fact, when Baker broached the subject of resigning, Mansfield replies, “I like things the way they are” (“Re: Conversation between
Bobby Baker in Miami, Fla. and Senator Mansfield, Washington, D.C., Nov. 14, 1960,” Mansfield Collection).

“Probably hoping”
;
“He had often”
;
“had the illusion:”
Humphrey,
Education,
p. 243; Humphrey OH.
“Johnson
was not”
:
Humphrey OH I.
“A buoyancy”
:
Baker,
Wheeling,
p. 133.
Planned to
“sit in”
:
“Conversation between Johnson and Mansfield, Nov. 11, 1960.”
“He was going to be”
:
O’Donnell OH I. O’Brien says (OH VI), “He felt that he would maintain basically the same leadership position with the Senate that he had had as Majority Leader.” Humphrey says (OH I) that Johnson “had the illusions that he could be, in a sense, as Vice President, the Majority Leader, and that he could at least be head of the caucus.”
“I was both”
;
“I saw a disaster”
:
Baker,
Wheeling,
p. 134.

“Like a father”
:
Steele to Williamson, Nov. 12, 1958, SP.
“He thought he
was
”
:
MacNeil interview.

“He didn’t rant and rave”
:
Smathers, quoted in Caro,
Master of the Senate,
p. 562. And see pp. 562–72.
“During his early”
:
Reedy,
The U.S. Senate,
p. 178.
“Brooding”
:
Evans and Novak,
LBJ,
p. 306.

January 3 caucus:
Minutes of the U.S. Senate Democratic Conference, 1903–1964,
pp. 577–81. The careful words of the
Minutes
state only “that the suggestion raised questions as to the principle of separation of powers” (p. 578). Baker,
Wheeling,
pp. 135–36; Evans and Novak,
LBJ,
pp. 306–8; Valeo,
Mike Mansfield,
pp. 11–15.
“Can you imagine”
:
Byrd,
The Senate, 1789–1989
, Vol. I, p. 624.
“Despite”
:
Shesol,
Mutual Contempt,
p. 63.
“I don’t know”
:
Steinberg,
Sam Johnson’s Boy,
p. 547.
Ashen:
Baker,
Wheeling,
p. 135.
“There was”
:
Baker,
Wheeling,
p. 135.
Mansfield insisted:
Oberdorfer,
Senator Mansfield,
p. 157; Drew Pearson, “The Washington Merry-Go-Round,”
WP,
Jan. 18, 1961.
“With each repetition”
:
Valeo,
Mike Mansfield,
p. 13. Pearson says that Mansfield “assured the meeting that Johnson had not been consulted on the proposition beforehand. This evoked only skeptical Senate laughter” (Pearson,
WP,
Jan. 18, 1961).
“But … everyone”
:
Baker,
Wheeling,
p. 135.
Hardly:
NYT,
March 19, 1961.
“It was too much”
:
Humphrey OH I.
After Russell spoke:
Humphrey,
Education,
p. 243. “It was a shock and great disappointment that he could not be Vice President and de facto Majority Leader,” Humphrey wrote.
The next day’s:
Minutes of the U.S. Senate Democratic Conference, 1903–1964,
pp. 581–83; Pearson, WP, Jan. 18, 1961.
“I now know”
:
Miller,
Lyndon,
p. 276.
“Those bastards”
:
Baker,
Wheeling,
p. 135.

Johnson asked Kennedy for an office:
Lincoln,
Kennedy and Johnson,
p.153.
“To appoint a staff within”
:
“TITLE 3—THE PRESIDENT, Executive Order Number ___,” “Kennedy, John F.—National Security Council,” Box 4, WHFN.
“He told me”
:
BeLieu interview.

Several persons:
Evans and Novak,
LBJ,
p. 308–9; Steinberg,
Sam Johnson’s Boy,
p. 551.
After discussing:
Goodwin,
Lyndon Johnson,
p. 165. After discussing the matter with Neustadt, Doris Goodwin wrote that “shortly after the inauguration, he [Johnson] sent an unusual Executive Order to the Oval Office for President Kennedy’s signature. Outlining a wide range of issues over which the
new Vice President would have ‘general supervision,’ it put all the departments and agencies on notice that Lyndon Johnson was to receive all reports, information, and policy plans that were generally sent to the President himself.”
Would be revised:
Revised draft: “TITLE 3—THE PRESIDENT, Executive Order Number ____,” Moyers to Johnson, Jan. 26, 1961, with another version of the Order attached; “Kennedy, John
F.—National Security Council,” Box 4, WHFN. (Reedy wrote that “He actually proposed that President Kennedy sign
a letter which would virtually turn over the national defense, establishment and exploration of outer space to his vice president” (Reedy,
Lyndon B. Johnson,
p. 133). So confident was Johnson that Kennedy would sign the order that he had a press release prepared to be released when Kennedy had done so:
“President Kennedy announced today that he has designated Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson ’to exercise continuing surveillance …,” undated, “Memos—1961 [1 of 4],” Box 6, Presidential Aides’ Files of George Reedy, LBJL. See also Mark O. Hatfield, with the Senate Historical Office,
Vice Presidents of the United States, 1789–1993,
p. 21.

Suggestions incorporated:
“Dear Mr. Vice President: Recognizing the need,” undated; “Title 3—The President,” undated; Moyers to Johnson, Jan. 26, 1961, Box 4, WHFN.
All reports:
Neustadt, quoted in Goodwin,
Lyndon Johnson,
p. 165.
Revised drafts; Busby’s comments:
“Title—THE PRESIDENT, Executive Order Number ____,” undated, “Kennedy, John
F.—National Security Council,” Box 4, WHFN.

“Did not like”
:
Reedy,
LBJ,
p. 133.
BeLieu showed:
BeLieu interview.
“A blunder”
;
“Before I”
:
Reedy,
LBJ,
p. 133.
“Flabbergasted”
;
“frankly”
:
Evans and Novak,
LBJ,
pp. 308, 309.

A new draft was handed to him:
Kennedy to Johnson, Jan. 28, 1961, “Kennedy, John F.—1961,” Box 6, WHFN. Johnson apparently pleaded for more staff, and Kennedy agreed that sixteen persons could be placed in the Department of Defense “to assist you carrying out the responsibilities outlined in the accompanying letter,” but, according to BeLieu, Johnson, realizing that they would be reporting also to McNamara,
didn’t take advantage of this offer. Kennedy to Johnson, Jan. 28, 1961, “Kennedy, John F.—1961,” Box 6, WHFN. “He couldn’t hire anyone for the little Joint Chiefs of Staff,” BeLieu says. “He didn’t have the space (personnel lines) for them” (BeLieu interview). See also Moyers to O’Donnell, Feb. 16, 1961, Box 4, WHFN.
That had disappeared:
Reedy wrote that “I do not believe Lyndon
Johnson ever received a verbal acknowledgment” of his proposed order—“let alone anything in writing” (Reedy,
LBJ,
p. 132).

“He understood”
:
Reedy to Johnson, Feb. 9, 1961, “Reedy Memos to LBJ—1961” [1 of 2], Box 6, Presidential Aides’ Files of George Reedy.

“A prime minister”
:
Goodwin,
Team of Rivals,
p. 342.
“There were predictions”
:
Marquis Childs, “Johnson’s Role,”
WP,
Feb. 17, 1961.
“Had Mr.
Lincoln”
:
Nicolay, quoted in Goodwin,
Team of Rivals,
p. 342.
“The whole thing”
:
Reedy,
LBJ,
p.132. Steinberg quotes Kennedy aides as saying, “Lyndon wants to pull a William Seward” (Steinberg,
Sam Johnson’s Boy,
p. 551). O’Donnell says, “He still was going to be majority leader and vice
president” (O’Donnell OH I).

“Flabbergasted”
:
Lincoln,
Kennedy and Johnson,
p. 153.
Sixteen posts:
Kennedy to Johnson, Jan. 28, 1961, “Kennedy, John F.—1961,” Box 4, WHFN.

“Not one that”
:
Caro,
Master,
pp. 1022–1030.
Kennedy asked; Wiesner:
Divine, ed.,
The Johnson Years,
Vol. II, p. 229.
“Wanted to control”
; Kennedy
“was
not about to”
:
Webb OH.
“Mr. Johnson’s hand”
:
Tom Wicker, “L.B.J. in Search of His New Frontier,”
NYT,
March 19, 1961.

“You will become the target”
:
“Reedy to Johnson, July 18, 1961,” Box 6, Presidential Aides’ Files of George Reedy, LBJL.
Richard Russell … had been:
Caro,
Master,
pp. 201–2, 221, 797–98.
“I don’t
have any budget”
:
Dallek,
Flawed Giant,
pp. 25, 26.
Committee’s powers:
“Reedy to Johnson, July 18, 1961”; Wicker, “L.B.J. in Search”; Kheel, Reedy interviews.
“General supervision”
:
Kheel, “Report on Government Programs against Discrimination,” Aug. 30, 1962, p. 10; Kheel
interview.
“Under the way”
:
“Reedy to Johnson, Aug. 7, 1961,” “Memos—1961 [3 of 4],” Box 6, Presidential Aides’ Files of George Reedy.
“Administration is in”
:
“Reedy to Johnson, April 10, 1961,” “Memos—1961
[1 of 4],” Box 5, Presidential Aides’ Files of George Reedy.
“Jerry Holleman is”
:
“Reedy to Johnson, May 2, 1961,” “Reedy Memos to LBJ—1961 [2 of 2],” Box 6, Presidential Aides’ Files of George Reedy.
“It is going to be
somewhat”
:
“Reedy to Johnson, Feb. 8, 1961,” “Memos—1961 [1 of 4],” Box 6.

“There was a tribute”
:
Russell Baker, “Feud,”
The New York Review of Books,
Oct. 23, 1997.
“Oh, Jack”
:
Schlesinger,
A Thousand Days,
p. 5.

“Liked Johnson personally”
:
Schlesinger,
A Thousand Days,
p. 704.
“Always had”
;
“He saw”
:
Schlesinger,
Robert Kennedy and His Times,
p. 621.
“The President and Vice President”
;
“Their initial”
:
Sorensen,
Kennedy,
pp. 265–66. As late as 1974, Schlesinger stated flatly: “Kennedy liked Johnson … and treated him with great personal consideration” (
The Cycles of American History,
p. 349).

“I can’t”
:
O’Donnell OH I, LBJL.
“In charge”
:
O’Donnell OH.
Permission:
O’Donnell, Powers, and McCarthy,
“Johnny,
We Hardly Knew Ye,”
p. 8.
“I want you”
:
Duke, quoted in Miller,
Lyndon,
p. 278.
Instructed Lee White:
Shesol,
Mutual Contempt,
p. 78.
“Don’t”
:
O’Brien OH, quoted in Shesol,
Mutual Contempt,
p. 78.
“President Kennedy was”
:
Reedy, quoted in Schlesinger,
Robert Kennedy,
p. 621.
“The President made”
:
White,
The Making of the President, 1964,
p. 42.
“Had genuine regard”
:
Dallek,
Flawed Giant,
p. 10.