“For the sake of political future”: Daniels, p. 28. Tells McIntyre: Johnson to McIntyre, Apr. 7, 1942, PPF 6149, Roosevelt Papers. Meeting with Roosevelt: Apr. 26, 1942, memo, PPF 6149, Roosevelt Papers. Nudge from Forrestal: Johnson, quoted in Kintner to Fehr, Oct. 17, 1966, p. 2, “Public Activities-Biographic Information-Naval Career,” Box 1A, LBJA SF. Roosevelt assigns him: “Chief of Bureau of Navigation, Navy Department, to Lt. Cmdr. Lyndon B. Johnson,” Apr. 30, 1942, LBJ-Navy Unofficial Personnel File, LBJL.
Signs two petitions: Connally interview. Seals photographs in envelope: The envelope and the photographs of Alice Glass are in Box 10, PPCF, at the Lyndon B. Johnson Library in Austin. One of these photographs is reproduced in Caro, Path to Power, in the photo section following p. 582, Plate 2, bottom right.
Flight across Pacific: Newlon, pp. 87–88.
“MUCH TALK DRAFTING YOU”: Telegram, McIntyre to Johnson, May 19, 1942, OF-300-Democratic National Committee, 1933–45, Roosevelt Papers. A further indication of the importance the White House attached to keeping Johnson out of the race is the fact that four days later, McIntyre had the telegram traced to make sure Johnson had received it. McCrea to McIntyre, May 23, 1942, OF-300-Democratic National Committee, 1933–45, Roosevelt Papers. Telegram from Alice: “Public Activities-Biographic Information-Naval Career,” Box 74, LBJA SF. Telephone call to Connally: Connally interview.
3. In the Pacific
SOURCES
Books, articles, brochures and documents:
The Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774–1971; Burns, Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom; Caidin and Hymoff, The Mission; Daniels, White House Witness; Dugger, The Politician; Manchester, American Caesar; Miller, Lyndon; Mooney, The Lyndon Johnson Story; Newlon, L.B.J.: The Man from Johnson City; Steinberg, Sam Johnson’s Boy; White, Queens Die Proudly.
Harry G. Baren, “My Combat Mission with Lyndon Johnson,” Saga, July, 1964; Robert Buckhorn, “S. Pacific Tale: How Johnson Got His Silver Star,” DT-H, Mar. 16, 1964; Caidin and Hymoff, “How Lyndon Johnson Won the Silver Star,” Saga, Apr., 1964; Hal Drake, “Saburo Sakai—He Almost Changed History,” Veterans of Foreign Wars Magazine, Oct., 1966.
Lyndon B. Johnson, “Diary” (81 pages of handwritten notes in small notebook written during his time in Pacific).
Oral Histories:
Marshall McNeil.
Interviews:
George R. Brown, Horace Busby, Edward A. Clark, Benjamin V. Cohen, Thomas G. Corcoran, Stella Gliddon, Walter Jenkins, Joe M. Kilgore, James H. Rowe, Jr., E. Babe Smith, Harold Young.
NOTES
Meeting with MacArthur: NYT, May 29, 1942; Anderson, quoted in Newlon, p. 89. See also Steinberg, p. 191. Tour: Newlon, pp. 90–91; Caidin and Hymoff, pp. 60–65. Flying north on airliner: Johnson, “Diary,” p. 9.
Description of Garbutt Field: Caidin and Hymoff, pp. 66–80. Johnson’s physical timidity as a youth: Caro, Path to Power, for example, p. 174. “If you hit me”: Caro, p. 156.
Lae was a tough mission: Caidin and Hymoff, pp. 75–76, 82–87, 95–97, 143. Their book, published in 1964, is the best available source for Johnson’s adventures in the Pacific. Except where otherwise indicated, the following quotations from men on the mission, and much of the information about it, come from that book. Also, Baren, quoted in Dugger, p. 245; Sakai interview with Saito, and Sakai with Caidin and Saito, Samurai!, quoted in Caidin and Hymoff, p. 83.
Johnson’s decision to go: Caidin and Hymoff, pp. 78–80; Baren, quoted in Dugger, pp. 244–45; Anderson, quoted in Newlon, p. 92.
Stevens taking Johnson’s seat: Marquat to Whom It May Concern, June 17, 1942. The General wrote this letter to support Johnson’s claim for $130 reimbursement from the Navy for his motion-picture camera and rolls of film that were left on the Wabash Cannonball. “Claim for Reimbursement for Personal Property Lost in a Marine or Aircraft Disaster,” “Public Activities-Biographic Information-Naval Career (1 of 2),” Box 7, LBJA SF; Dugger, p. 244.
Raid on Lae: Johnson, “Diary,” pp. 9, 10; UP dispatch from “Somewhere in Australia,” in AA-S, June 12, 1942; AP dispatch from “An Allied Operational Base in the Southwest Pacific,” in HP, June 12, 1942; Drake, “Saburo Sakai”; Baren, quoted in Dugger, pp. 246–47; Caidin and Hymoff, pp. 111–83; Newlon, pp. 93–95? 97. All quotations are from Caidin and Hymoff. “It was the kind”: McCredie, quoted in Caidin and Hymoff, pp. 165–66. “It was rough”; “very interesting”: Walker and McCredie, quoted in Caidin and Hymoff, pp. 166–68.
Wabash Cannonball:DT-H, July 23, 1942. Stevens’ death: Drake, “Saburo Sakai.”
Adventure on flight back to Melbourne: Johnson, “Diary,” pp. 10–11; WP, June 14, 1942; Washington Times-Herald, June 15, 1942; White, pp. 263–67; Newlon, pp. 97–100. “Right away”: “Red” Varner, quoted in White, pp. 266–67.
“Many of the airmen knew”: Anderson, quoted in Dugger, p. 248. “We don’t have”: Newlon, pp. 101–102; See also Anderson interview and “reference notes,” quoted in Caidin and Hymoff, pp. 190–91. Johnson, in his “Diary” (p. 12), described the incident: “Saw MacArthur at 11:45 a.m. Very sad. Head down. Low voice, ‘Glad to see you two fellows here where three were last. It was a mistake of the head to go on combat mission but it did justice to your heart.’ It was just what I would have done. I’m giving you the Silver Star. Gave Stevens DSC because he was your leader and gave his life—such is war.” The citation that Johnson later received states that “in order to obtain personal knowledge of the combat conditions, [he] volunteered as an observer on a hazardous aerial combat mission over hostile positions in New Guinea. As our planes neared the target area, they were intercepted by eight hostile fighters. When, at this time, the plane in which Lt. Cmdr. Johnson was an observer developed mechanical trouble and was forced to turn back alone, presenting a favorable target to the enemy fighters, he evidenced marked coolness in spite of the hazards involved. His gallant action enabled him to obtain and return with valuable information.”
Flight home: Johnson, “Diary,” pp. 13–14; Newlon, p. 103; Steinberg, p. 194. “Terrible”; “got insulted”: Johnson, “Diary,” p. 13. “Lyndon Johnson [was] back”: Daniels, pp. 33–34.
Roosevelt’s directive; congressmen’s reaction: Steinberg, p. 195; Dugger, p. 445; Biographical Directory. “I had been ordered”: AA, Nov. 6, 1942.
“Distinguished himself”: Winchell, AA-S, July 30, 1942. “Home from the wars”: AA-S, July 27, 1942. “Fresh from the battlefields”: Brenham Banner-Press, July 28, 1942. “Suicide mission”: Text of Johnson talk to newspapermen, Oct., 1966, quoted on p. 3, Kintner to Fehr, Oct. 17, 1966, “Public Activities-Biographic Information-Naval Career (1 of 2),” Box 74, LBJA SN. “Harrowing flight”: Washington Evening Star, WP, July 27, 1942; AA-S, July 26, 1942. “Incompetents”; “tail of a box kite”: For example, Marble Falls Messenger, July 23, 1942; HP, Oct. 24, 1942. Pictures: Washington Times Herald, WP, July 2, 1942.
“A changed Lyndon Johnson”: Unidentified clipping, Aug. 7, 1942, Scrapbook, 1, Book 7, JHP. Weakness during speeches: For example, Burnet Bulletin, Aug. 13, 1942; Taylor Daily Press, Aug. 6, 1942; unidentified clippings, JHP; Gliddon, Smith interviews. Barely make himself heard: Taylor Daily Press, Aug. 6, 1942. Georgetown speech: Williamson County Sun, Aug. 7, 1942. “Impressed and inspired”: Spectator, Aug. 28, 1942. “I have just returned”: Johnson, quoted in Elgin Courier, Aug. 20, 1942. “No non-believers at 12,000 feet”: Johnson, quoted in Taylor Daily Press, Aug. 6, 1942.
Pneumonia becoming dengue fever: HC, July 18, 1942. Johnson’s Certificate of Discharge from the hospital (June 26, 1942) gives “pneumonia” as his illness and Time, July 27, 1942, describes his illness as pneumonia, but by 1943 he is saying he had dengue fever (Philadelphia Inquirer, Apr. 4, 1943). Dugger (p. 445) says, “He told me it was some kind of fever.” 25 pounds becomes 40: AA-S, July 26, 1942; Caidin and Hymoff, p. 194; Marble Falls Messenger, July 23, 1942; Corcoran, Young interviews. Mission becomes missions: AA-S, quoted in Dugger, p. 251. 25,0
00 miles becomes 60,000: For example, Oregon Journal, Dec. 8, 1942. Time he had spent: By July, he was telling the HC (July 18) he had spent “nearly three months” in the Pacific.
“Yes I was”: Johnson, quoted in Portland Oregonian, Dec. 8, 1942. “Months of exciting active duty”: Johnson, quoted in Dec. 8, 1942 unidentified article by Louise Aaron, Scrapbook, JHP. “I lived with the men”: A Report to You from Lyndon B. Johnson, 1944, p. 4. Parachute: Johnson, quoted in AA-S, June 12, 1942; Hays County Herald, Aug. 7, 1942. Engine was “knocked out”; several of crew wounded: Waco article, quoted in Steinberg, p. 192. “I saw fourteen of ’em”: Johnson speech, Nov., 1959, quoted in Dugger, p. 252. Gave himself a nickname: DT-H, June 12, 1942; “Public Activities-Biographic Information-Naval Career (1 of 2),” Box 74, LBJA SF.
The “home movies”: The scene during the showings at the Johnson home was described to the author by Cohen, Corcoran, Rowe and Young, “Lyndon, now why?”: Cohen, quoted in Dugger, p. 253.
Showing the movies in the White House: The quotes are in Kintner to Fehr, Oct. 17, 1966, p. 3, “Public Activities-Biographic Information-Naval Career (1 of 2),” Box 74, LBJA SF. Dugger interview: Described in Dugger, pp. 252–53.
“Bull” Johnson; To his face; “The biggest liar on campus”; Some psychological element impelled him; “A man who just could not tell the truth”: Caro, Path to Power, pp. 154–56, 160, 197, 198.
Making clear to the same men: Who include Cohen, Corcoran and Young.
Told McNeil: McNeil OH I. “I believed”: Johnson, quoted in Taylor Daily Press, Aug. 6, 1942. Drafted letter of refusal; filed it away: Several drafts, including one with Johnson’s handwritten corrections, and a final, formally typed, but unsigned version are in “Public Activities-Biographic Information-Navy, Australia Material” and “Public Activities … Award of Silver Star,” Boxes 73, 74, LBJA SF. No other member of crew received a medal: Dugger, p. 248. Accepted it in public: Marble Falls Messenger, Feb. 17, 1944. Waving lapel: Busby and Smith interviews.
Johnson’s conversations with Kilgore: Kilgore interview; overheard and confirmed by Jenkins. “Convince himself of anything”: Kilgore interview; also Brown and Clark interviews.
4. Lady Bird
SOURCES
The primary source of information for this chapter is the author’s ten interviews with Mrs. Johnson. All the quotations from Mrs. Johnson in this chapter are from those interviews unless otherwise indicated.
A number of people saw a great deal of Mrs. Johnson during the period covered in this chapter, and the author’s interviews with them were also helpful. They are Edward A. Clark, Ida Nell Connally, John B. Connally, Willard Deason, Alice Hopkins, Welly K. Hopkins, Walter Jenkins, Sam Houston Johnson, Luther E. Jones, Edward Joseph, Gene Latimer, Wingate Lucas, Dale Miller, Mary Rather, James H. Rowe, Jr., Harold Young, Mary Louise Glass Young.
Particularly helpful were the author’s interviews with Mrs. Connally. Not only was she closer than anyone else to Mrs. Johnson for quite a long period of years (while their husbands were away together during World War II, the two women shared a small apartment), but once she overcame her hesitancy to talk about the relationship between Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson, she contributed thoughtful insights about that relationship.
Books and articles:
Lady Bird Johnson, A White House Diary. Two biographies—Montgomery, Mrs. L.B.J., and Smith, The President’s Lady, present an idealized picture of her life, at variance with that given by other sources. Gould, Lady Bird Johnson and the Environment. Crawford and Keever, John B. Connally: Portrait in Power.
Helpful is the script of “A National Tribute to Lady Bird Johnson, on the Occasion of Her Sixty-fifth Birthday,” presented at the LBJ Library, Dec. 11, 1977.
Among scores of magazine articles on Lady Bird Johnson, the most revealing are Blake Clark, “Lyndon Johnson’s Lady Bird,” Reader’s Digest, Nov., 1963; Elizabeth Janeway, “The First Lady: A Professional at Getting Things Done,” Ladies’ Home Journal, Apr., 1964; Barbara Klaw, “Lady Bird Remembers,” American Heritage, 1980; Flora Rheta Schreiber, “Lady Bird Johnson’s First Years of Marriage,” Woman’s Day, Dec, 1967; “The New First Lady,” Time, Nov. 29, 1963; “The First Lady Bird,” Time, Aug. 28, 1964.
Oral Histories:
Sherman Birdwell, Russell Brown, Ellen Taylor Cooper, Virginia Durr, Daniel J. Quill.
Other interviews:
David Benjamin, Mary Elliott Botsford, Ashton Gonella, D. B. Hardeman, Rebekah Johnson, Ann Durrum Robinson, Emmett Shelton, O. J. Weber.
NOTES
Girlhood and early married life of Lady Bird Johnson: Caro, Path to Power, pp. 294–305. Nellie Connally at the University: Crawford and Keever, p. 25. “That’s a pretty dress, Nellie”: Mrs. Connally interview. “I don’t know how she stands it”: A number of Texans who had been in Washington at the time made this remark, but asked not to be quoted by name. Virginia Durr said, “I don’t know how she lived through it” (Durr OH I).
An obstacle to Alice’s happiness: Mary Louise Glass Young, Harold Young, Hopkins interviews. “My eyes”: Mrs. Johnson interview.
“I thought I was the leader”; “one of the most determined”: Solomon and Benefield, quoted in Schreiber, “Lady Bird’s First Years of Marriage.”
Despite his avowals: Caro, Path to Power, p. 303. Visiting Mount Vernon; “I early learned”: Mrs. Johnson interview. Hints at Longlea: Caro, pp. 489–92. Mein Kampf: Mrs. Johnson interview. “I still remember his chapter on propaganda, which is worth rereading,” she said.
No connection with politics: Caro, Path to Power, pp. 489–90. “I went around”; “this little speech”; “didn’t want to be a party”: Mrs. Johnson interview.
Desire for a home: Mrs. Johnson interview. Operation: Mrs. Johnson interview. “A sadness”; “If I had a son”: Schreiber, “Lady Bird’s First Years of Marriage.” “Like a sightseeing bus”: Mrs. Connally interview. “Dull, drab”: Mrs. Johnson interview. “The women liked her”: Mrs. Connally interview.
Trip to West Coast: Mrs. Johnson interview. Decision to have her take over office: Mrs. Johnson, Connally, Deason, Rather, Jenkins interviews.
No vote of confidence: Rather interview. And see Weber to Johnson, and Johnson to Weber, Box 35, LBJA SN. Her first days in office: Mrs. Johnson, Rather interviews. “Lady Bird is very industrious”: Weber to Johnson, Feb. 6, 1942, Box 35, LBJA SN.
That changed: Mrs. Johnson, Rather interviews. “Some people were already hollering”: Weber to Johnson, Mar. 25, 1942, Box 35, LBJA SN. “Looking as if”: Rather interview. Ickes revoking the order: Mrs. Johnson interview. And see Weber to Johnson, Mar. 25, 1942, Box 35, LBJA SN.
“Since she doesn’t get pay”: Johnson note on Weber to Johnson, Feb. 26, 1942, Box 35, LBJA SN. And Connally wrote Weber: “The only gripe he [Johnson] has had in several days is about Mrs. Johnson not writing for 3 or 4 days at a time. You might mention it to her.…” (Connally to Weber, Feb. 28, 1942, Box 35, LBJA SN).
“Splendid”: Johnson to Mrs. Johnson, Feb. 17, 1942, quoted in “A National Tribute to Lady Bird Johnson,” p. 14. “Invincible”: Johnson to Mrs. Johnson, undated, quoted in Ibid., p. 15.
Letter of “instruction”: Weber to Johnson, Mar. 2, 1952, Box 35, LBJA SN. On Mar. 6, Weber wrote Johnson that “there seems to be a better esprit de corps in the office.”
Telephone calls: Mrs. Montgomery, quoted in Schreiber, “Lady Bird’s First Years of Marriage.”
“She was wonderful”: Clark interview.
“I was more prepared”: Montgomery, p. 30.
“I think she changed”: Mrs. Connally interview.
“We’ll see you later, Bird”: Corcoran interview.
“Kidding, you know”: Clark interview. “I’d call”: Goldthwaite Eagle, undated, but with clippings from March, 1942, Scrapbook 7, Series 1, JHP. Mayor Tom Miller said, “I personally feel that the Tenth District is fortunate in having two such valuable servants as Congressman and Mrs. Johnson,” a remark which also irritated the
Congressman (AA-S, Apr. 18, 1942). He may also have heard that, as Alvin Wirtz wrote to Lady Bird, “Dr. Ross [a prominent Austin physician] says he thinks you would make a better congressman than Lyndon” (Wirtz to Mrs. Johnson, Mar. 10, 1942, Box 37, LBJA SN).
“Talk my problems over”: Joseph, Jenkins interviews. In later years, Johnson would express a far higher opinion of his wife’s political judgment. But for many of those years—until, in fact, he was President—he also expressed the opinion of her judgment that he had expressed in that remark. Shortly after he became President, for example, he gave an interview to reporter Bela Kornitzer of the Dallas Herald. Kornitzer wrote: “I asked him if, like other husbands, he ever discussed his problems with his wife. ‘Certainly,’ he replied. ‘I talk everything over with her. She is a most astute person, very wise, an excellent politician.’ … Then Lyndon Johnson added: ‘Of course, I talk my problems over with anyone I think will give me an intelligent ear—including my chauffeur’ ” (Dallas Herald Magazine, Jan. 5, 1964). In earlier years, he would often use the phrase: “nigger chauffeur,” as in “I talk my problems over with my nigger chauffeur, too.” “Birthday party”: Alice Marsh to Johnson, Aug. 19, 1942, “Marsh, Charles E.,” Box 26, LBJA SN. Weekends started again: Mary Louise Glass Young, Harold Young, Hopkins interviews.
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