Abstract
The year 1965 would prove to be pivotal for Johnson, particularly in terms of his perception of the press and their role within his administration. With his election campaign out of the way and his term in office for the next four years assured, the president was now able to move ahead with his own policies. The year 1965 was to be the time of the Great Society, and Johnson’s main goal this term was to push through the legislation that he had promised since coming into office—Medicare and Medicaid, the anti-poverty bill and others were all to be passed this year, and Johnson’s domestic legacy would hinge on how well the Great Society worked. The shadow of Vietnam hung over the administration, however, and the Pleiku attacks of February that led to escalation would prove to be the beginning of one of the most divisive conflicts in the history of America. Johnson would announce the escalation of the conflict in April, and the first military drafts took place in the following months. Anti-war tension escalated throughout 1965 and culminated in the self-immolation of two men in November. Overall, 1965 would be a tip** point for Johnson and a year in which he could not allow the escalating events to move ahead of his ability to deal with them.
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Notes
- 1.
Memorandum from Stewart Udall to Bill Moyers, 2 January 1965, “Annual Message to Congress on the State of the Union,” Statements of Lyndon B Johnson, box no. 136, Lyndon Baines Johnson Library [LBJ Library], Austin, Texas.
- 2.
An undated draft of the speech sent from Richard Goodwin to the president at the LBJ ranch indicates this—Goodwin left the speech at a high word count so that others could add and remove facts as they pleased. Located in memorandum from Richard Goodwin to President Johnson, undated, “Annual Message to Congress on the State of the Union,” Statements of Lyndon B Johnson, box no. 136, LBJ Library.
- 3.
Memorandum from Horace Busby to Richard Goodwin, undated, Statements of Lyndon B Johnson, “Annual Message to Congress on the State of the Union,” box no. 136, LBJ Library, p. 1.
- 4.
Memorandum from Willie Day to Johnson, 4 January 1965, “Annual Message to Congress on the State of the Union,” Statements of Lyndon B Johnson, box no. 136, LBJ Library—this memorandum was sent alongside a copy of the text of the address showing each area of stoppage and the length of applause.
- 5.
Lyndon B Johnson: “Annual Message to the Congress on the State of the Union,” 4 January, 1965. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=26907.
- 6.
Memorandum from Busby to Goodwin, op cit, p. 3.
- 7.
Memorandum from McGeorge Bundy to Bill Moyers, 4 January 1965, “Annual Message to Congress on the State of the Union,” box no. 136, LBJ Library.
- 8.
Memorandum from McGeorge Bundy to President Johnson, Statements of Lyndon B Johnson, “Annual Message to Congress on the State of the Union,” box no. 136, LBJ Library.
- 9.
Undated 50-page document, “State of the Union Suggestions,” in Statements of Lyndon B Johnson, “Annual Message to Congress on the State of the Union,” box no. 136, LBJ Library.
- 10.
The president said, “I propose that we increase the beauty of America and end the poisoning of our rivers and the air that we breathe.” From Annual Message to the Congress on the State of the Union, op cit.
- 11.
A memorandum from HEW sent to Bill Moyers on 2 January with several recommendations has simply been marked “No” on this point. See Memorandum from Secretary of Department of Health, Education and Welfare to Honorable Bill D Moyers, 2 January 1965, “Annual Message to Congress on the State of the Union,” Statements of Lyndon B Johnson, box no. 135, LBJ Library.
- 12.
Dispatch #291: “Editorial Support for President Johnson’s State of the Union Address is Widespread,” with “Annual Message to Congress on the State of the Union,” Statements of Lyndon B Johnson, box 135, LBJ Library.
- 13.
Memorandum from Dorothy Territo to President Johnson, 9 January 1965, “Annual Message to Congress on the State of the Union,” 4 January 1965, box no. 136, LBJ Library.
- 14.
J Gould, “TV: Johnson Talk at Night Welcomed,” New York Times , 5 January 1965, p. 67.
- 15.
Associated Press, “Telegrams Pour In,” Fresno Bee (Fresno, CA), 5 January 1965, p. 4B.
- 16.
Post-Dispatch Wire Services, “State of Union Speech’s Goals Widely Praised by Lawmakers,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, MO), 5 January 1965, p. 2A.
- 17.
Gallup, The Gallup Poll , p. 1925.
- 18.
L Harris, “President Gaining in Public Approval,” Los Angeles Times , 18 January 1965, p. 20.
- 19.
See memorandum from Bill Moyers thanking Bowles for this: Memorandum from Bill D Moyers to Chester Bowles, 18 January 1965, “The President’s Inaugural Address,” Statements of Lyndon B Johnson, box 137, LBJ Library.
- 20.
Memorandum and draft speech text from Chester Bowles to Bill Moyers, 24 December 1964, “The President’s Inaugural Address,” Statements of Lyndon B Johnson, box 137, LBJ Library.
- 21.
Lyndon B Johnson, “The President’s Inaugural Address,” 20 January 1965. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=26985.
- 22.
Memorandum from Jack Valenti to the President, 28 December 1964, “The President’s Inaugural Address,” Statements of Lyndon B Johnson, box 137, LBJ Library.
- 23.
Memorandum from McGeorge Bundy to the President, 19 January 1965, “The President’s Inaugural Address,” Statements of Lyndon B Johnson, box 137, LBJ Library.
- 24.
The President’s Inaugural Address, 20 January 1965.
- 25.
J Reston, “Paradox and Reason: President Blends Religion and Politics in a Strong Appeal for Faith and Unity,” New York Times , 21 January 1965, p. 17.
- 26.
T Wicker, “LBJ Vows Conquest of Misery, Begins Full Term as 36th US President,” Arizona Daily Star, 21 January 1965, p. 1.
- 27.
Telegram from Ralph Yarborough to President Johnson, 20 January 1965, “The President’s Inaugural Address,” Statements of Lyndon B Johnson Collection, box 137, LBJ Library.
- 28.
L Harris, “Harris Survey: Most Back Johnson on Viet Reprisals,” Los Angeles Times , 22 February 1965, p. 5
- 29.
Gallup, The Gallup Poll , p. 1925.
- 30.
On the Pleiku attacks and subsequent National Security Council meeting, see K J Turner, Lyndon Johnson ’s Dual War (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985), pp. 111–13.
- 31.
For a partial transcript of this meeting, see Summary Notes of the 545th Meeting of the National Security council, Foreign Relations of the United States [ FRUS], 1964–1968, vol. II, Vietnam, January–June 1965, doc. 76, 6 February 1965, p. 156.
- 32.
For partial transcripts of the president’s multiple conversations with Vance in the early morning of 7 February, see M R Beschloss, Reaching for Glory: Lyndon Johnson ’s Secret White House Tapes 1964–1965 (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2001) pp. 172–74.
- 33.
G Ball, The Past Has Another Pattern (New York: W. W. Norton, 1982) p. 429.
- 34.
As described in Summary notes of the 546th Meeting of the National Security Council, transcribed by Bromley Smith, FRUS, 1964–1968, vol. II, Vietnam, January–June 1965 doc. 80, 7 February 1965, p. 167.
- 35.
T Wicker, “Capital is Tense – But President Asserts Nation Still Opposes Widening of War,” New York Times , 8 February 1965, p. 1.
- 36.
“It Was Time to Strike Back,” Tallahassee Democrat (Tallahassee, FL), 8 February 1965, p. 4.
- 37.
Telephone call, Robert McNamara to President Johnson, 26 February 1965, in M R Beschloss, Reaching for Glory, pp. 193–95.
- 38.
T Wicker, “The Bully Pulpit,” New York Times , 7 February 1965, p. 104.
- 39.
Public Papers of the Presidents, quoted in Turner, Lyndon Johnson ’s Dual War, p. 117.
- 40.
Memorandum from the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy) to President Johnson, FRUS, 1964–1968, vol. II, Vietnam, January–June 1965 doc. 84, 7 February 1965, p. 175.
- 41.
Memorandum from the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy) to President Johnson, FRUS, 1964–1968, vol. II, Vietnam, January–June 1965 doc. 124, 16 February 1965, p. 283.
- 42.
Ibid.
- 43.
Memorandum from McGeorge Bundy to President Johnson, 5 April 1965, “Address at Johns Hopkins University,” Statements of Lyndon B Johnson, box 143, LBJ Library.
- 44.
For more information, see telephone call from Nicholas Katzenbach to President Johnson, 29 March 1965, at 18:24, and telephone call from McGeorge Bundy to President Johnson, 30 March, at 09:12, in M R Beschloss, Reaching for Glory, pp. 251–60.
- 45.
See LBJ’s conversation with Nicholas Katzenbach, cited above, which turned into a three-way phone call with Bill Moyers, who provided details of his discussion with Reston.
- 46.
For Lippmann’s words, along with an account of the White House’s attempt to court his good favour, see Turner’s chapter on the evolution of the Johns Hopkins address, in Lyndon Johnson ’s Dual War, pp. 111–33.
- 47.
Telephone conversation # 7051, sound recording, LBJ and BILL MOYERS, 3/10/1965, 9:40AM, Recordings and Transcripts of Telephone Conversations and Meetings, LBJ Presidential Library, accessed January 21, 2021, https://www.discoverlbj.org/item/tel-07051.
- 48.
Telephone conversation # 7018, sound recording, LBJ and JAMES “JIMMY” WECHSLER, 3/4/1965, 11:16AM, Recordings and Transcripts of Telephone Conversations and Meetings, LBJ Presidential Library, accessed February 04, 2021, https://www.discoverlbj.org/item/tel-07018.
- 49.
Valenti ’s notes on the Johns Hopkins Speech, “Address at Johns Hopkins University,” Statements of Lyndon B Johnson, box 143, LBJ Library.
- 50.
Memorandum from Rufus Youngblood, 7 April 1965, “Address at Johns Hopkins University,” Statements of Lyndon B Johnson, box 143, LBJ Library.
- 51.
F Burke et al., How Presidents Test Reality: Decisions on Vietnam in 1954 and 1965 (London: Russell Sage Foundation, 1989), p. 187.
- 52.
Valenti ’s Notes on the Johns Hopkins Speech.
- 53.
Ibid.
- 54.
Ibid.
- 55.
P Brace and B Hinckley, Follow the Leader: Opinion Polls and the Modern Presidents (New York: Basic Books, 1992), p. 137.
- 56.
L B Johnson, “Address at Johns Hopkins University: “Peace Without Conquest,”” 7 April 1965. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=26877.
- 57.
Valenti ’s Notes on the Johns Hopkins Speech.
- 58.
United Press International, “Democrats Hail Johnson’s Talk, G.O.P Sees Move to Buy Peace,” New York Times , 8 April 1965, p. 17.
- 59.
M Frankel, “Johnson’s Speech Viewed as Bid to World Opinion,” New York Times , 8 April 1965, p. 1.
- 60.
Ibid., p. 17.
- 61.
Valenti ’s Notes on the Johns Hopkins Speech.
- 62.
Telephone call from Arthur “Tex” Goldschmidt to President Johnson, 8 April 1965, 10:27, cited in Beschloss, Reaching for Glory, pp. 271–72.
- 63.
Telephone call from Dwight D Eisenhower to President Johnson, 8 April 1965, 17:58, cited in Beschloss, Reaching for Glory, pp. 273–74.
- 64.
Memorandum from McGeorge Bundy to President Johnson, 10 April 1965, “Address at Johns Hopkins University,” Statements of Lyndon B Johnson, box 143, LBJ Library.
- 65.
D Yuravlivker, “Peace Without Conquest; Lyndon Johnson’s Speech of April 7 1965,” Presidential Studies Quarterly, vol. 36, no. 3, (September 2006) p. 466.
- 66.
Gallup, The Gallup Poll , p. 1936.
- 67.
Ibid., p. 1940.
- 68.
McGeorge Bundy and Central Intelligence Agency Director John McCone took separate notes of a meeting on 1 April which approved this; see Memorandum from Director of Central Intelligence McCone to the Deputy Director of Central Intelligence (Carter), FRUS, 1964–1968, vol. II, Vietnam, January–June 1965 doc. 230, 1 April 1965, p. 513.
- 69.
Memorandum For The Record, FRUS, 1964–1968, vol. II, Vietnam, January–June 1965, doc. 206, 17 March 1965, p. 459.
- 70.
Bundy quoted in S Karnow, Vietnam : A History, (London: Century, 1983), p. 414.
- 71.
Lady Bird Johnson’s Tape Recorded Diary, 7 March 1965, quoted in Beschloss, Reaching For Glory, p. 216.
- 72.
B Rottinghaus, “Following the Mail Hawks: Alternative Measures of Public Opinion on Vietnam in the Johnson White House,” Public Opinion Quarterly, vol. 71, no. 3 (Autumn 2007), pp. 367–91.
- 73.
Karnow , Vietnam : A History, p. 403.
- 74.
Telephone call between President Johnson and Martin Luther King, 15 January 1965, 12:06, in Beschloss, Reaching For Glory, pp. 161–63.
- 75.
Telephone call from Nick Katzenbach to President Johnson, 5 February 1965, 15:00, in Beschloss, Reaching for Glory, pp. 171–72.
- 76.
Lyndon B. Johnson, “Special Message to the Congress: The American Promise,” 15 March 1965. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=26805.
- 77.
Telephone call from Richard J Daley to President Johnson, 16 March 1965, 10:03, in Beschloss, Reaching for Glory, p. 228.
- 78.
T Wicker, “Nation Hears Him: President, in TV Talk, Pledges, “We Shall Overcome,”” New York Times , 16 March 1965, p. 1.
- 79.
Gallup, The Gallup Poll , p. 1931.
- 80.
Ibid., p. 1939.
- 81.
Telephone call between President Johnson and Clinton Anderson, 24 September 1964, 20:50, in Beschloss, Reaching for Glory, pp. 41–42.
- 82.
Telephone call between President Johnson and Hubert Humphrey, 1 October 1964, 21:46, in Beschloss, Reaching for Glory, pp. 43–46.
- 83.
J D Morris, “President Signs Medicare Bill,” New York Times , 31 July 1965, p. 1.
- 84.
“Nation: The Legislative Scorecard,” Time , 6 August 1965, p. 18.
- 85.
Lyndon B Johnson, “Remarks on the Signing of the Voting Rights Act, 6 August 1965,” full transcript and video file available from the Miller Center at the University of Virginia and online at http://millercenter.org/president/lbjohnson/speeches/speech-4034.
- 86.
Gallup, The Gallup Poll , p. 1955.
- 87.
J Alsop, “Home Front Ever Present in Johnson Viet Policy,” Salt Lake Tribune, 31 July 1965, p. 34.
- 88.
Memorandum for the Record, FRUS 1964–1968, vol. III, Vietnam, June–December 1965, doc. 105, 3 August 1965, p. 296.
- 89.
Greenfield returned to the press when his stint at the White House ended in 1966, and in 1971 was one of the New York Times editors responsible for releasing the Pentagon Papers—a top secret study conducted by Secretary of Defense McNamara on Vietnam.
- 90.
Memorandum for the Record, FRUS 1964–1968, vol. III, Vietnam, June–December 1965 doc. 105, 3 August 1965, p. 297.
- 91.
Memorandum of Conversation, FRUS, 1964–1968, vol. III, Vietnam, June–December 1965, doc. 117, p. 322.
- 92.
Ibid., p. 323.
- 93.
B Zorthian, quoted by D Martin in “Barry Zorthian, U.S. Diplomat in Vietnam, Dies at 90,” New York Times , 5 January 2011, accessed online on 15 May 2017 at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/06/world/asia/06zorthian.html?_r=0.
- 94.
Lady Bird Johnson, quoted in Beschloss, Reaching For Glory, p. 418.
- 95.
“The Administration: L.B.J.’s Young Man In Charge of Everything,” Time , 29 October 1965, p. 16.
- 96.
For full details of the announcement, see the transcript of the announcement made to the public; L B. Johnson, “Statement by the President Announcing That He Would Undergo Surgery,” 5 October 1965. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=27295.
- 97.
Time , 22 October 1965, p. 21.
- 98.
Gallup, The Gallup Polls, pp. 1968–69.
- 99.
Ibid., p. 1977.
- 100.
Ibid., p. 1971.
- 101.
Califano , quoted in Beschloss, Reaching For Glory, p. 420.
- 102.
Lady Bird Johnson’s Tape Recorded Diary, 15 August 1965, quoted in Beschloss, Reaching For Glory, p. 421.
- 103.
“War Critic Burns Himself to Death Outside Pentagon,” New York Times , 3 November 1965, p. 1.
- 104.
T Buckley, “Man, 22, Immolates Himself in Antiwar Protest at U.N.,” New York Times , 10 November 1965, p. 1.
- 105.
Associated Press, “Indiana Woman, Worried About War, Found with Clothing Afire,” Rushville Republican (Rushville, IN), p. 2. Mrs. Jankowski’s husband reported in the article that his wife was, “deeply concerned about the Viet Nam situation,” and had suggested they both self-immolate.
- 106.
Associated Press, “Pacifist Fights for Life After Protest,” Burlington Free Press (Burlington, VT), 10 November 1965, p. 1.
- 107.
“Protests – And Now the Vietnik,” Time , 22 October 1965, p. 25A.
- 108.
Memorandum from the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy) to President Johnson, FRUS, 1964–1968, vol. III, Vietnam, June–December 1965, doc. 208, p. 583.
- 109.
J Alsop, “Spending Ceiling May Cause Crisis,” Salina Journal (Salina, KS), 25 November 1965, p. 5.
- 110.
Memorandum from Secretary of Defense McNamara to President Johnson, FRUS, 1964–1968, vol. III, Vietnam, June–December 1965, document 212, 30 November 1965, p. 592.
- 111.
See Chap. 2 for full details of the context of this statement.
- 112.
Memorandum from the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy) to President Johnson, FRUS, 1964–1968, vol. III, Vietnam, June–December 1965, doc. 215, 4 December 1965, p. 600.
- 113.
McGeorge Bundy, Personal Notes of Meeting with President Johnson, LBJ Ranch, Texas, FRUS, 1964–1968, vol. III, Vietnam, June–December 1965, document 223, 7 December 1965, pp. 619–20.
- 114.
Memorandum from the President’s Special Assistant (Califano ) to President Johnson, FRUS, 1964–1968, vol. III, Vietnam, June–December 1965, doc. 228, 13 December 1965, p. 638.
- 115.
Telephone call between President Johnson and General Maxwell Taylor, 17 December 1965 at 20:56, LBJ Library published telephone recordings, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYXediz8gek (It is not clear where Taylor got this information.).
- 116.
A copy of this poll can be found in Gallup, The Gallup Poll , p. 1976.
- 117.
Gallup Poll taking ending on 16 December had Johnson at an overall job rating of 62%, with 22% disapproving. Found in Gallup, The Gallup Poll , p. 1977.
- 118.
W C Spragens, “The Myth of the Johnson ‘Credibility Gap,’” Presidential Studies Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 4 (Fall 1980), p. 629.
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Quail, B.W. (2021). 1965: Guns vs. Butter—Escalation in Vietnam and the March of the Great Society. In: Media Management in the Age of Lyndon B. Johnson. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84946-7_4
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