Means of Ascent

by Robert A. Caro

  Buying the house: Mrs. Johnson interview; Schreiber, “Lady Bird’s First Years of Marriage.”

  5. Marking Time

  SOURCES

  Books:

  Burns, Soldier of Fortune; Crawford and Keever, John B. Connally: Portrait in Power; Daniels, White House Witness; Donovan, Conflict and Crisis, Vol. I; Henderson, Maury Maverick; Ickes, Secret Diary, Vol. III; Mann, La Guardia Comes to Power; Schlesinger, The Politics of Upheaval; Steinberg, Sam Rayburn.

  Oral Histories:

  Helen Gahagan Douglas, Warren Magnuson, W. Robert Poage.

  Interviews:

  Alan Barth, Richard Bolling, Emanuel Celler, W. Sterling Cole, Thomas G. Corcoran, Helen Gahagan Douglas, Lewis T. Easley, O. C. Fisher, D. B. Hardeman, Charles Herring, Welly K. Hopkins, Edouard V. M. Izac, Eugene J. Keogh, Wingate Lucas, George H. Mahon, W. D. McFarlane, James H. Rowe, Jr., O. J. Weber, Harold Young, James Van Zandt.

  NOTES

  Lobbying to become Secretary of the Navy: Washington Daily News, Oct. 14, 1942; AA, Oct. 16, 21, 1942; Pearson in Abilene Reporter-News, Nov. 3, 1942; Stimpson in Abilene Reporter-News, Oct. 22, and Nov. 3, 1942. “Secret government mission”: HP, Oct. 24, 1942. For other leaks designed to inflate his importance in the war, see, for example, “The Mirrors of Austin” in AA, Nov. 23, 1942.

  “He regarded”; “carrot juice”: Weber interview. “Well, I just can’t spare”: Johnson quoted by Weber. Connally’s war service: Crawford and Keever, pp. 46–47. “Hell, I’ll cancel”: Herring interview.

  Johnson’s fund-raising in 1940; taste of national power: Caro, Path to Power, pp. 606–64. Pauley’s rise: Ickes, p. 392, 524–25; Donovan, pp. 178–83. Among many articles, especially valuable are George Creel, “Big Tooth and Nail Man,” Collier’s, July 20, 1946; Raymond Moley, “Perspective: Dark Democratic December,” and “Pauley and Peanuts,” Newsweek, Dec. 22, 1947; Time, May 7, 1945; Current Biography, 1945. “The great hot spell”: Creel, “Big Tooth and Nail Man.” Flynn’s antagonism to Johnson: Caro, Path to Power, pp. 610, 620–21, 625–26. Johnson noted to Thomas R. Amlie, Director of the Washington Bureau of the Union for Democratic Action: “There is much truth in what you have to say concerning the lack of work being done to re-elect Democratic members of the House,” but added, “There is little likelihood of my having any connection with either the Democratic Committee or the Congressional Committee” (Johnson to Amlie, Aug. 27, 1942, “Political Correspondence-1942,” Box 37, JHP). Flynn’s 1940 failure to circumvent Johnson: Caro, Path to Power, p. 636; Corcoran, Young interviews. And see Roeser to FDR, Oct. 28, OF-300-Texas, 1938–45, Roosevelt Papers, and Roeser to Johnson, Oct. 29, “General-Unarranged,” Box 7, JHP. Flynn’s 1942 success in circumventing Johnson: For example, oilman G. L. Rowsey of Taylor, Texas, at first replied to a Flynn plea for funds by saying he wanted to make his contribution through Johnson, but on October 27, he said that he would nonetheless make it directly to the Democratic National Committee instead (Rowsey to Flynn, Oct. 23, 27, Flynn to Rowsey, Oct. 26, 1942, “Political Correspondence-1942,” Box 37, JHP). And see Philadelphia Inquirer, Sept. 22, 1943, for Johnson’s attempt to regain his DCCC role.

  “Haven’t waked up”: Burns, p. 273. October 14 incident: Daniels, pp. 54–55. Another appointment: Rowe interview; and see Daniels, p. 77. “These $200 droplets”: Johnson to Rayburn, Oct. 10, 1942, Box 52, LBJA CF. Dallas Democratic dinner: Wichita Falls Record-News, Feb. 24, 1944; DT-H, Dallas News, Feb. 27, 1944.

  Vinson as chairman: Caro, Path to Power, pp. 537–39. “Is the gentleman”: Caro, p. 554.

  Johnson’s legislative record: CR, 1937–48; AA, AA-S, 1937–48. “Lyndon B. Johnson’s Congressional Activities” (compilation by OH staff), WHCF, LBJL; “Complete House Voting Record of Congressman Lyndon Johnson, By Subject, From May 13, 1937 to December 31, 1948,” Box 75, LBJA SF; Douglas OH; Douglas, Izac, McFarlane, Fisher, Cole, Lucas interviews; Caro, Path to Power, pp. 546–51.

  Congressmen and national causes: See, for example, Schlesinger, pp. 142–46; Mann, Henderson, Steinberg, passim. “If we disagreed”: Cole interview. Interviews with other congressmen, including Bolling, Celler, Douglas, Fisher, Izac, Keogh, Lucas, Mahon, McFarlane, Van Zandt. Interviews with Barth, Easley, Hardeman, Hopkins, Rowe. And Douglas, Magnuson, Poage OHs.

  Fiasco over absenteeism bill: US 78th Cong., House Naval Affairs Committee, J 74 A 23, pp. 253–614; Norton, in CR, Mar. 15, 1943, p. 2, 139; NYT, Feb. 17, 1943; Washington Star, Mar. 17, 1943; Washington News, WP, Mar. 18, 1943; Washington Star, Apr. 8, 1943; Kellam to Johnson, Apr. 1, 1943, “Kellam (1 of 2),” Box 22, LBJA SN.

  6. Buying and Selling

  SOURCES

  Books, articles, and documents:

  Barnouw, The Golden Web: A History of Broadcasting in the United States; Daniels, White House Witness; Dugger, The Politician; Gould, Lady Bird Johnson and the Environment; Halberstam, The Powers That Be; Kohlmeier, The Regulators; Krasnow and Longley, The Politics of Broadcast Regulation; Miller, Lyndon; Montgomery, Mrs. L.B.J.; Pearson and Anderson, The Case Against Congress; Smith, The President’s Lady; Steinberg, Sam Rayburn’s Boy; Wilson, Congress: Corruption and Compromise.

  A number of contemporaneous newspaper and magazine articles provide details on the genesis and growth of the Johnson fortune, although their conclusions differ in many ways from mine.

  The most valuable of these are “The Man Who Is the President—How LBJ’s Family Amassed Its Fortune,” by Keith Wheeler and William Lambert, Life, August 21, 1964; John Barron, “Special Report—The Johnson Monday—Presidential Family Holdings Estimated at $9 Million,” Washington Evening Star, June 9, 1964; “The Story of the Johnson Family Fortune,” USN&WR, May 4, 1964; Louis Kohlmeier, “The Johnson Wealth,” WSJ, March 23, 24, August 11, November 23, 1964; Thomas Collins, “LBJ, KTBC—and the FCC,” Newsday, May 27–29, 1964; Alva Johnson, “The Saga of Tommy the Cork,’ ” Saturday Evening Post, Oct. 13, 20, 27, 1945.

  Federal Communications Commission, “Public Service Responsibility of Broadcast Licensees,” March 7, 1946, FCC; Louis L. Jaffe, “The Scandal in TV Licensing,” Harper’s magazine, September, 1957; Robert D. Leigh, “Politicians vs. Bureaucrats,” Harper’s magazine, January, 1945; Henry F. Pringle, “The Controversial Mr. Fly,” Saturday Evening Post, July 22, 1944; T.R.B., New Republic, May 31, 1943.

  Paul Bolton, “History of Radio Station KTBC.”

  Harfield Weedin, “Anybody Can Write a Book” (unpublished ms.)

  Papers of Thomas G. Corcoran (NA).

  Papers of Louis M. Kohlmeier.

  Papers of William Lambert.

  Oral Histories:

  Paul Bolton, George R. Brown, Willard Deason, Clifford Durr, Virginia Durr, Arthur Goldschmidt, Elizabeth Wickenden Goldschmidt, Welly K. Hopkins, W. Ervin (“Red”) James, Edward Joseph, J. J. (Jake) Pickle, Mary Rather, James H. Rowe, Jr., Harfield Weedin, Edwin L. Weisl, Jr., J. Jerry Voorhis.

  Interviews:

  James E. Barr, Robert T. Bartley, David Benjamin, Paul Bolton, Ernest Boyett, George R. Brown, Edward A. Clark, Thomas G. Corcoran, Jack Cow-den, Willard Deason, Jim Dodd, Albert A. Evangelista, Arthur Goldschmidt, Elizabeth Wickenden Goldschmidt, Harold Graves, Jr., Jack Gwyn, John Hicks, Regina Hicks, Welly K. Hopkins, W. Ervin (“Red”) James, Walter Jenkins, Edward Joseph, Edward F. Kenehan, John Kingsbery, Louis Kohlmeier, William Lambert, Eugene Latimer, William J. Lawson, Frank C. (Posh) Oltorf, Max Paglin, Ann Durrum Robinson, James H. Rowe, Jr., Emmett Shelton, Peter Shuebruk, E. Babe Smith, Arthur Stehling, George E. Sterling, Coke Stevenson, Jr., O. J. Weber, Harfield Weedin, Edwin L. Weisl, Jr., Tom Whitehead, Wilton Woods, Harold Young.

  NOTES

  Marsh’s real estate offer: Caro, Path to Power, pp. 487–88. Asking for the “finder’s fee”: Caro, pp. xv, xvi. Brown felt certain: Brown interview.

  Greenbrier scene: Caro, Path to Power, pp. xiii–xv; 787–88.

  “Waked up”: Johnson to Weber, Feb. 16, 1942. See also Weber to Johnson, undated, “O. J. Weber,” Box 35, LBJA S
N. Purchasing small oil leases: Brown, Jenkins interviews. Some of the leases are referred to in Weber to Johnson, Feb. 17, 18, 1942, and Weber to Jenkins, Feb. 19, 1942, “O. J. Weber,” Box 35, LBJA SN.

  Role of government over radio stations: Pringle, “The Controversial Mr. Fly”; Kohlmeier; Pearson and Anderson, pp. 161–82.

  History of KTBC: Steinberg, pp. 201–2; Bolton, “History”; Bolton OH, interview; Brown OH, interview; Benjamin, Joseph, Weedin, Hicks interviews; WSJ, Mar. 23, 1964; Washington Evening Star, June 9, 1964.

  In 1942, the FCC was informed that station executives “have on occasions been worried about whether such station would be on the air the next day. The staff has been in constant turmoil because of a definite lack of direction and real leadership” (Exhibit III-20 b, attached to “Consent to Transfer of Control of Corporation Holding Construction Permit or License,” Feb. 16, 1943, File No. B3-TC-316, FCC Records, Record Group 173, National Archives, Washington, D.C.). Permit application; original license: “In the matter of State Capital Broadcasting Association (R. B. Anderson, President), Austin, Texas, [SCBA] for Construction Permit, … Before the Federal Communications Commission, Washington, D.C.,” Docket 3846, July 6, 1937, FCC Records, RG 173, NA. Lack of evening hours an insuperable obstacle: Walker, quoted in WSJ, Mar. 23, 1964; Weedin interview. Too high on the dial: In his “History of Radio Station KTBC,” Paul Bolton wrote (p. 2): “Austin radio was dominated by KNOW at 1490 on the dial and nearby was the clear channel powerful WOAI at 1200.” Weedin wrote that KTSA of San Antonio could also “be heard clearly in Austin” (Weedin ms, p. 205). Arrangement with Austin School of Business: “Agreement made and entered into by and between C. R. Belman … and the State Capital Broadcasting Association, a co-partnership …,” Sept. 6, 1939, attached to “West Option” (see below), Dec. 14, 1939. So amateurishly produced: Bolton, “History”; Weedin OH.

  KTBC’s finances: “Profit and Loss Statement,” SCBA, July 24, 1939, to Dec. 6, 1939, attached to “West Option” (see below). Losses in 1942: WSJ, Mar. 23, 1964. $5,000 in loans: “State Capital Broadcasting Co.—All Other Liabilities,” attached to Exhibit I-14-C, “West Option” (see below). Last of his capital: Walker to Fly, April 10, 1942. 1942 revenue and expenses: “Income Statement, SCBA, Jan. 1, 1942-Dec. 31, 1942” (Exhibit I-12-B), attached to “Consent to Transfer”; Bolton, “History” and OH I.

  Delays for Walker, Stuart and Anderson: Haley, p. 62; Steinberg, p. 202; Joseph, Lawson, Jenkins interviews; Washington Evening Star, June 9, 1964.

  Option to West: “Application for Consent to Transfer of Control of Corporation Holding Radio Broadcast Station Construction Permit or License,” File Number B3-TC-207, “Call Letters KTBC,” Dec. 6, 1939 (with attached exhibits); “Resolution of the Board of Directors of the State Capital Broadcasting Association, Inc.,” Dec. 13, 1939; “Agreement made and entered into this 6th day of December, 1939, by and between R. B. Anderson …, R. A. Stuart, … and A. W. Walker …, hereinafter called ‘Sellers,’ and J. M. West, J. Marion West, and P. M. Stevenson … hereinafter called ‘Buyers,’ ” FCC Records, RG 173, NA.

  Revocation of license: “In re: Revocation of License of SCBA, Austin, Tx., To Operate Broadcast Station KTBC,” File Number 39012, Feb. 8, 1940, “Before the Federal Communications Commission,” FCC Records, RG 173, NA.

  Hidden ownership: George Henry Payne, “Before the Federal Communications Commission, In re: Revocation of Licenses of … State Capital Broadcasting Association, Inc.,” Docket No. 5835, April 10, 1940. “Eliminate any profit”; agreement to sell for $20,000: Affidavit (“The following facts obtain …”) signed by Stuart, Walker, Anderson, J. M. West, J. Marion West, and Stevenson, April 15, 1940, p. 6. According to J. Evetts Haley, A Texan Looks at Lyndon (p. 65), “When the revocation order came and his associates thought the Commission was after him, he had, in March, 1940, given a quit-claim deed to them in hopes that this adverse action of the Commission might not affect the West [option].” Plus $12,000 to cover debts: KTBC’s debts at the time were $12,000, but they were mounting, and would be $19,336 by 1942. Ask FCC to permit change; Fifteen months of delays: Walker to Fly, April 10, 1942. Temporary licenses were issued April 2, 1941. Regular license: FCC Report No. B-102, Docket No. 5835—Public Notice, June 28, 1941; Haley, p. 63. But the FCC still did not pass on the application to allow the sale of the station to the Wests (Application File No. B3-TC-207), and a month later further consideration of that application was deferred “pending determination of the matters to be considered under the Commission’s Order No. 79” (Walker to Fly, April 10, 1942). No approval because of ‘Order 79”: Slowie to State Capital Broadcasting Assn., Inc., July 17, 1941. Petition by West’s sons and Kingsbery: Stevenson to Slowie, Aug. 11, 1941. Incorrect form: Slowie to Stevenson, Aug. 20, 1941. All from FCC Records, RG 173, NA.

  $4,000 loan: Stevenson to Wroe, Jan. 14, 1943, attached to Exhibit I-14-C (see below).

  Frantic to sell: Walker to Fly, April 10, 1942. FCC’s “refusal”: Fly to Walker, April 23, 1942; File Number B3-TC-207, FCC Records, RG 173, NA.

  Ulmer frantic: Haley, pp. 62, 65. Haley’s book is an anti-Johnson polemic which could not be confirmed on many points, but unlike the rest of the book his description of the negotiations between Ulmer and West at this time is firsthand, since he was J. M. West’s general range manager, and represented West in many business affairs—including West’s attempt to purchase KTBC. Beginning in August, 1939, he dealt with Ulmer on West’s behalf. Ulmer retaining Wirtz: Haley, pp. 60–65. Tommy Corcoran recalls Wirtz suddenly arriving in Washington in this month “in a big hurry” to arrange the transfer of KTBC’s license to Mrs. Johnson. Bolton, Boyett, Joseph and Lawson either were told by Ulmer that he thought he had retained Wirtz, or were told about the episode by others. Jenkins said, “I heard about it” when he later became active in KTBC’s affairs. Also, see Dugger, p. 267.

  Kingsbery visit: Dugger, pp. 268–69; Steinberg, 202–3; Washington Star, June 9, 1964. “He knew”; “I understood”; felt an “obligation”: Kingsbery, quoted in Dugger, pp. 268, 270. “I’ll recommend”: Kingsbery, quoted by son, John Kingsbery.

  “I told him”: Brown interview. “I didn’t like”: West, quoted in Dugger, p. 269.

  Details of Mrs. Johnson’s purchase: Her note to Wirtz reads: “Dear Senator Wirtz: I am enclosing a check payable to your order for $17,500 to cover my deposit under the contract with the owners of the radio station KTBC, and authorize you to execute contract in my name and make the deposit in my behalf.” Mrs. Johnson to Wirtz, Jan. 2, 1943, attached to Exhibit I-14-C. “Application for Consent to Transfer of Control …,” January 23, 1943, File No. B3-TC-316, FCC Records, RG 173, NA. Exhibit III-18b states that “transferee … has deposited the sum of $7,500 to her account.” $938: On the basis of a financial statement Mrs. Johnson filed with the FCC showing her assets as of December 31, 1942, she listed her total net worth as $89,412. Since $36,200 of that amount is shown as the value of real estate—apparently the property Marsh had sold them, and their equity in the Johnsons’ new home in Washington—and $21,090 is a “secured note,” her available liquid assets would be $32,000. She puts her “cash” at $25,044, which is approximately the amount she paid for KTBC or deposited to be applied against the station’s debts. According to her statement, “other current assets” are $938 and “securities” total $6,000. (“Balance Sheet, As of Dec. 31, 1942, executed by or on behalf of Claudia T. Johnson,” Exhibit III-142a, attached to “Application for Consent to Transfer of Control.”) Consent granted: “Consent to Transfer of Control of Corporation,” File No. B3-TC-316, License No. 1007, Feb. 16, 1943, FCC Records, RG 173, NA.

  “I don’t have any interest”: Johnson press conference, April 16, 1964. At this press conference, the President gave this explanation of the beginning and growth of the Johnson broadcasting business: “Mrs. Johnson inherited some property, invested that property in the profession of her choice, and worked at it with pleasure and satisfaction until I forced her to l
eave it when I assumed the presidency.…” “I am unfamiliar”: In a press conference on April 11, 1964, Johnson said: “I have no interest in any television anyplace.… I am unfamiliar with it [the operation of the company], I am not keeping up with it, and I am not concerned about it.…” Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson, 1963–1964, Book I, pp. 471, 458. “All that is owned by Mrs. Johnson”; “I have never”: Johnson, quoted in Dugger, p. 273. “It was her station”: Marks, quoted in Miller, p. 108. “As you know”: Reedy, “Text of Interview,” Washington Star, June 10, 1964. “I remember”: Goldschmidt interview. “This is a success”: USN&WR, May 4, 1964.

  “The FCC leans”: Wheeler and Lambert, “The Man Who.” “FCC public records”: Kohlmeier, WSJ, March 23, 1964.

  “Very close-knit”; “great intertwining”: Virginia Durr OH.

  Corcoran and the FCC: Pringle, “The Controversial Mr. Fly”; Johnson, “The Saga,” Oct. 13, 20, 27, 1945; Daniels, p. 168. “Greatest wirepuller”: Johnson, “The Saga,” Oct. 27, 1945.

  “Antennae”: Pearson and Anderson, p. 162; “Different”: Evangelista interview. “What you were afraid of”: Barr interview.

  Cox affair: Wilson, pp. 48–68; Leigh, “Politicians vs. Bureaucrats”; WP, Washington Star, NYT, HT, Jan. 7-Oct. 1, 1943; T.R.B., New Republic, May 31, 1943. “Nastiest nest”; “Guilty”; “Gestapo”: Cox, quoted in Leigh, “Politicians vs. Bureaucrats,” and in Wilson, pp. 50, 53. “Judicial wig”; “indecent”: T.R.B., New Republic, May 31, 1943. “Perverted and distorted”: WP, quoted in Wilson, p. 64. “All around Washington”: Leigh (who was director of the FCC’s Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service), “Politicians vs. Bureaucrats.” “In effect abolishing it”: Voorhis. “I wrote the law”: Rayburn, quoted in Caro, Path to Power, p. 328. In return Roosevelt had allowed Rayburn to name one of the FCC’s commissioners. Selective Service Act: Caro, pp. 595–96.