[applause] president lyndon johnson: and i thank you. i thank you from the bottom of my heart for placing at my side the man that last night you so wisely selected to be the next vice president of the united states. [applause] president lyndon johnson: i know i speak for each of you and all of you when i say he proved himself tonight in that great acceptance speech. [applause] president lyndon johnson: and i speak for both of us when i tell you that from monday on he is going to be available for such speeches in all 50 states. [applause] president lyndon johnson: we will try to lead you as we were led by that great champion of freedom, the man from independence, harry s. truman. [applause] president lyndon johnson: but the gladness of this high occasion cannot mask the sorrow which shares our hearts. so let us here tonight, each of us, all of us, rededicate ourselves to keeping burning the golden torch of promise which john fitzgerald kennedy set aflame. [applause] president lyndon johnson: and let none of us stop to rest until we have w

lyndon johnson: it was hardship. we grew and fought because we weren't afraid of frontiers, but we always looked towards those far away horizons. and we have not come this long distance in history because we ak or a either a we frightened or a fearful or a timid people. when america loses its commitment to freedom, that is the day that america will begin to die. and the safeties that i have seen and the states that i have visited today have told me that this will never be. ♪ narrator: four days later, the president congratulated two americans who is were living examples of this philosophy, men who are not afraid of frontiers and who in pursuit of their every day occupation looked toward far away horizons on a daily basis. colonel robert l. stevens and lieutenant colonel walter f. daniel claimed new world speed and altitude records for the united states air force. any demonstrator questioning america's resolve in the war might receive a surprising answer from a group of sioux city junior high school students. pullin

lyndon johnson: i don't know. interpretationr they might make that would lead them to believe that uncle sam, whoever would be president, is going to pull out, it will be easier for them to make an insight deal with another president then it will be for the president, they will make a serious misjudgment. mr. howard. >> are you going to run again? lyndon johnson: i will get to -- i will cross that bridge when i have told you many times. >> why do you think there is so much confusion and frustration and difference of opinion in this country about the war in vietnam? lyndon johnson: there has always been confusion and frustration and difference of opinion when there is a war going on. i think it was during the revolutionary war and only a third of the people thought that was a wise move. and a third of them opposed it and a third were on the sidelines. i think that is true when all the new england secedes. in 1812 they stopped over in baltimore, and they do not quite make it because andrew jackson and the results of

lyndon johnson: you and i have many things in common, mr. prime minister. one of course is politics and election results. including the very difficult problem that goes with an enlarged majority. another is economics, including that most fascinating and most unfortunately named subject, the balance of payments. the third interest, mr. prime minister, is our mutual fascination with transportation. today, i'm thinking in particular of ships and airplane strikes. narrator: the airplanes were still on the ground and had been since july 7. in a final effort to provide a setting whereby the bargainers could effect an agreement, the president called both sides to the white house. he expressed admiration for their efforts but pointed out that there were other people whose eagerness for a settlement rises in proportion to the number of days the strike continues. these people ranged from the wives of workers to even presidents. at 9:52 that night, in a nationwide broadcast from the white house, the president introduced william j. kurtin, chief negotiator for the airl

in fact, lyndon johnson. robert mcnamara, his own kids were against the war, and he had anti-war protesters stay at his house. families were broken over it. much like the civil war, i guess. >> the other thing that people should understand that made this real in the way it hadn't in wars fought earlier was television. television was bringing it into people's living room every night. will you talk about the effect of that? >> well, it was wide open because nobody had really done any kind of -- television wasn't restricted. it was all brand new. and so, you know, nobody in the administration or nobody else had any control over it. the journalists were going out there and getting whatever they found. and we don't have that now. it's much more controlled in the battlefield. so we were seeing things in the living room you wouldn't see now. actual battle scenes and people being wounded and that kind of thing. it had a profound effect on the country. it was another reason why people came out against the war, i start

thank you. >> lyndon johnson -- the most famous moment between lyndon johnson -- lyndon johnson and wallace came in the midst of the selma crisis in which president johnson brought him to washington, or actually, governor wallace volunteered to meet with him where he got people treatment from lyndon johnson. he was pretty intimidated by the whole process, but he was not alone in that respect. lyndon johnson intimidated everyone. that was, of course, in the early 1960's. the last hurrah for the kind of racial campaign came in 1970 against albert brewer, who had been one of his proteges. he replaced his wife as governor. in the wake of that campaign, it was a pretty all out use of the race issue, attacks that brewer was a candidate of blacks. in the aftermath of that, politically, he said to many of his aides that this was the last campaign he would be able to run like this. the public mood of voters was changing and black voters were fully enfranchised at that moment. when he emotionally chain, that, i think, really comes later on. >> as we discussed with dan carter a little earlier, george

lyndon baines johnson... richard milhous nixon.... do solemnly swear... that i will faithfully execute the office... of president of the united states. american experience presents the definitive collection of presidential biographies. tonight, an actor who loved to play the hero, a president who wanted to rescue america... i am not frightened by what lies ahead, and i don't believe the american people are frightened by what lies ahead. the definitive collection of presidential biographies continues with "reagan." mr. gorbachev, tear down this wall! tonight on american experience.

called "faustian bargain by and it's the story of the dark side of lyndon johnson. lbj accomplished an enormous amount as a president but had a very dark side, and this story is told through the lens of a man completely unknown to history, neighborhood mack wallace who only enter investigated with lyndon johnson a couple of occasions bus his life story tells a great deal about the dark side of lbj and the deal me made with cronies in texas, to which mack wallace was very mitch involved in and aware of. the best way to describe this is he in 1951 walked into a small golf course owner in austin, texas and shot the man dead. he was arrested two hours later and he said to the arresting officers that the texas rangers, i work for lyndon, i have to get back to washington. within an hour, lyndon johnson's personal lawyer, john coker, was defending him, and he was exonerated. and then top security clearance working for dhbird, a weapons contractor in texas, and had top security clearance for the next 12 years, which the office of naval intelligence trade to rescind and coul

towering, lyndon johnson. i was fortunate enough to go from walter white and the complexity of that man to lyndon johnson, complex in different ways. and, but far greater a man than walter white ever was, because of his altruistic nature. it was a big bite. charlie: walter white and his intellect and the skills. bryan cranston: he did, and he had his ego. he was driven to succeed in that specific area of his life. made some poor choices as well, as we all do. i think if you get old enough in the game, you are going to make good and bad choices. i know warren buffett said to me when i asked him, so, is there a way you go about it? he goes, yeah. just make more good choices than bad ones. there you go. charlie: speaking of presidents, you had time with president obama? i saw a little piece -- not little, a big piece in the new york times. bryan cranston: it was a surprise to me that i got the call. charlie: what did they say, the president would like to see you? bryan cranston: it came from the writer of the new

he hated lyndon johnson with a passion. he had long regarded lyndon johnson as a crook, as sleazy. he believed the american public didn't understand what kind of man they had in the oval office. and so a good deal of that advertising was very personally directed at lyndon johnson. >> man: slowly, they begin to understand that something must be wrong... badly wrong... at the top. >> ♪ [ crowd yelling ] new america. ask not what you can give, but what you can take. >> mann: when it was shown to goldwater, he is reported to have said, "that's a racist film. we can't show that." officially, the goldwater people said they never used it, but the truth is, is that the spot was used across the country. republican supporters of goldwater would host these house parties and show the film. it just wasn't aired on television. but it still was out there accusing johnson of having undermined the nation's social fabric. >> ♪ >> ♪ >> man: young citizens for johnson have as guest of honor luci baines johnson, youngest daughter of the president, who is on a one-woman campaign tour for her fathe

towering lyndon johnson. i was fortunate enough to go from walter white and the complexity of that man to lyndon johnson, complex in different ways. and, but far greater a man then walter white ever was because of his altruistic nature. it was a big bite. charlie: he had the skills. bryan cranston: he did, and he had his ego. he was driven to succeed in that life.ic area of his made poor choices as well, as you all do. you get old enough in the game, you are going to make good and bad choices. i know warren buffett said to me when i asked him, so, is there a way you go about it? he said, just make more good choices than that one's. there you go. ,harlie: speaking of presidents you had time with president obama? there was a time in the new york times. bryan cranston: he was a surprise to me that i got the call. charlie: what did they say, the president would like to see you? bryan cranston: a came from the writer of the new york times, a .able for three, philip they, of course went to the office of the preside

lyndon johnson: i don't know. believe,they might uncle sam would hurt might be president is going to pull out, it will be easier for them to make an insight deal with another president then it will be for the president, they will make a serious misjudgment. mr. howard. >> are you going to run again? lyndon johnson: i will get to that bridge when i come to it, as i have said many times. >> why do you think there is so much confusion and frustration and difference of opinion in this country about the war in vietnam? lyndon johnson: there has always been confusion and frustration when there is a war going on. i think it was during the revolutionary war and only a third of the people thought that was a wise move. i think that is true when all the new england secedes. in 1812 they stopped over in baltimore, andrew jackson came in, they were having a party that night. the next morning they came over and told the president they want to congratulate him. he had been right all along, although they had come from boston and

towering lyndon johnson. i was fortunate enough to go from walter white and the complexity of that man to lyndon johnson, complex in different ways. and, but far greater a man than walter white ever was because of his altruistic nature. it was a big bite. charlie: but walter white had his intellect and he had his skills. bryan cranston: he did, and he had his ego. he was driven to succeed in that specific area of his life. made poor choices as well, as you all do. you get old enough in the game, you are going to make good and bad choices. i know warren buffett said to me when i asked him, so, is there a way you go about it? he said, just make more good choices than bad ones. there you go. charlie: speaking of presidents, you had time with president obama? there was a time in the new york times. bryan cranston: it was a surprise to me that i got the call. charlie: what did they say, the president would like to see you? bryan cranston: it came from the writer of the new york times, "a table for three," philip.

towering lyndon johnson. i was fortunate enough to go from walter white and the complexity of that man to lyndon johnson, complex in different ways. and, but far greater a man than walter white ever was because of his altruistic nature. it was a big bite. charlie: he had the skills. bryan cranston: he did, and he had his ego. he was driven to succeed in that specific area of his life. made poor choices as well, as you all do. you get old enough in the game, you are going to make good and bad choices. i know warren buffett said to me when i asked him, so, is there a way you go about it? he said, just make more good choices than bad ones. there you go. charlie: speaking of presidents, you had time with president obama? there was a time in the new york times. bryan cranston: he was a surprise to me that i got the call. charlie: what did they say, the president would like to see you? bryan cranston: a came from the writer of the new york times, a table for three, philip. they, of course went to the office of the

[applause] lyndon johnson: and i speak for both of us when i tell you that from monday on he is going to be available for such speeches in all 50 states. [applause] lyndon johnson: we will try to lead you as we were led by that great champion of freedom, the man from independence, harry s. truman. [applause] lyndon johnson: but the gladness of this high occasion cannot mask the sorrow which shares our hearts. so let us here tonight, each of us, all of us, rededicate ourselves to keeping burning the golden torch of promise which john fitzgerald kennedy set aflame. [applause] lyndon johnson: and let none of us stop to rest until we have written into the law of the land all the suggestions that made up the john fitzgerald kennedy program. and then let us continue to supplement that program with the kind of laws that he would have us write. [applause] [cheers] johnson: tonight, we offer ourselves -- on our record and by our platform -- as a party for all americans, an all-american party for all americans. this prosperous people, this land of reasonable men, has no place for petty partisan

within an hour lyndon johnson's personal lawyer john was defending him and exonerated and then got security clearance working for dh byrd which was a weapon's contractor in texas and had security clearance and they couldn't. and so there's a hidden story here behind the scene story of lbj through all great accomplishments had a dark story we'll. >> where did ms. melon get this information? >> the day after kennedy was assassinated, that next day life magazine was set to release an article investigating lbj's dealings in texas and bobby baker, aid in washington. that article never saw the light of day. indeed, the senate intelligence committee was doing an investigation of lbj that too was stopped immediately. lbj was one of the luckiest man alive because of jfk's assassination. le had nothing to do with it. but he did benefit from it by becoming president and avoiding investigations, and that's what the book had as well. >> what's the term mean? >> deal with the devil. the young man were dealing with the devil and making a bargain with the devil. they got something for it but they paid a st

it is bobby kennedy talking to lyndon johnson about the war. that if we move without any authority of the congress that the resentment would be pretty widespread and would involve a lot of people who would normally be with us if we ask for the authority. on the other hand, i would shudder to think that if we debated it for a long period of time and they are likely to do that. our choice is not good. >> it seems likely that they will start asking someone to spell out exactly what is going to happen. and theyp bombs in retaliate will we bomb hanoi -- all of that business. the answers to those questions are so difficult to give, particularly if you are giving it to a lot of people that are antagonistic. >> that is all true. we cannot go into the details. --you take the other route they may ask you by what executive order you declare war? thatu really do not need constitutionally. brian: what are you hearing? mr. tye: two people talking at cross purposes. bobby kennedy believed passionately when at a moment when much of america's still supported th

it was a landslide for lyndon johnson. why such a disparity and was barry goldwater misunderstood in the '64 campaign? >> well, a lot of reasons. first of all, people were terrified of the prospect of nuclear war, that he never really backed down from. lyndon johnson was dishonest on issues like vietnam. he said i'm not going to send american boys 7,000 miles away to do what asian boys should do. there was a bumper sticker that showed up the next year, if i voted for barry goldwater, there would be a war in vietnam. i did vote for barry goldwater and there was. by the same token, barry goldwater's ideas about the role of the federal government were not popular. when he said we should sell this -- the tva, that was seen as crazy. and, you know, his ideological time had not come. and also i mentioned the absolutely atrocious campaign he ran. i found a memo, they fired the research staff from the rnc and i found a form letter they sent out to political science professors in every state, said, dear professor, please send us an

lyndon johnson had to be dried, kicking and screaming coming to sending the bill. the bill said, any person, not just a citizen, by request to get out of the government and he records the government held as long as they weren't damaging to national security or law or toement investigation personal privacy, basically. lbj was reluctant because everyone of his federal agencies thought this was a nightmare. you think -- you mean people will be rummaging through our files? no, you can't do that. but bill moyers helped, the especially,itors marshall it. one of the things we found is that bill moyers had actually written a really nice statement for president johnson. moyers had this ringing language. , they must have access to the policies and rules. government officials should be able to pull curtains of secrecy. good government functions best in the full light of day. was great about that is we now own dailylbj's schedule that, on the telephone, johnson called moyers and said cut that out. come on. and moyers has to exclude this ringing declaration about freedom of inf

the one who he hated more than any of them was lyndon johnson. and from the moment that they met, when bobby was a young staffer with senator joe mccarthy, there was this antagonism there. it was difficult to understand at that early phase. what i think it was is that bobby represented to lyndon johnson all of the things that came from the eastern establishment, especially the kennedys who came with extraordinary resources and never had to really work a day. that was everything that lbj hated. on the other hand, bobby hated that lbj would lie blatantly like he did in that phone conversation. the extraordinary thing about their antagonism is that had they ever been allies, we would've gotten a strong civil rights bill even earlier and they did end up being collaborators on it. and they both desperately believed that we had to do something more aggressive to attack poverty. most importantly, rather than lbj reacting to bobby's antiwar sentiments by fighting even harder in vietnam, they might have come to some sort of resolution on vietnam. i think

and lyndon johnson -- i respect lyndon johnson because he was one smart cookie. but lyndon johnson was a major player. he was a very tough cookie. and he was able to silence his critics by doing it. so we're going to get your voice back. we are going to get it back. when it looked like i was going to win -- we still have these never trump, never trump, all these people, never trump. that's why i love mike. mike said, hey, he's doing a good job. he's such an amazing guy. we always got along. somehow, we always got along. and there are a few others, too. we have some pretty good relationships. is it, you know, we're going to do something. and when i got the nomination, and as we were getting a and is working on the life form, i said to my people, see if you can add in the johnson amendment. call it the johnson amendment. that we are going to get rid of the johnson amendment. [applause] now i wanted to come and explain it because a lot of people don't know in the kind of detail, in depth i have explained it to you today. i was at a couple of pastors a few weeks ago

it was the first time since taking the office of president that lyndon johnson spent the night on the open sea. his state room for the occasion was aboard the u.s.s. north hampton. the cruiser was a sea borne command post and had communication equipment ready to serve the chief executive in any national emergency. ♪ on sunday, 21 august, the president departed from north hampton to campobelio island for discussions with prime minister pearson from canada. ♪ the president supplied his own brand of effective personal diplomacy as they informally discussed the world problems that affected both their nations. later in the day, at the international park, the president and the prime minister joined forces in the planting of a document box in the corner of a new visitor's center. the f.d.r. home may have invoked nostalgic memories, for roosevelt left an endearing reminder more than anyone else for the limits, powers and obligations of the presidency. the obligations, he felt, both to his own people and to the world, were clearly evident six days later in idaho, the site of the atomic ene

kennedy was assassinated in lyndon johnson became president that next day "life" magazine was set to release an article investigating lbj's dealings in texas with the likes of billy so less than bobby baker in washington. that article never saw the light of day and indeed the senate intelligence committee was doing an investigation of lbj and that too was stopped immediately. you could say lbj was one of the luckiest and alive because jfk's assassination put them in the white house which is one of the reasons have argued everson said he was response up over jfk's death which he is not. he did in a fit from it by becoming president but also by aborting these investigations and that is what the book it's into as well. >> host: what is the term that didn't mean? >> guest: a deal with the devil appeared she argues the young man who like walesa came and lbj's orbit were in fact dealing with the devil and making a bargain with the devil. they got something for it that they. a steep price as well. >> host: a new book out on the american revolution. what are we going to learn? >> guest: paul

one person he did not let into the inner circle was vice president lyndon johnson. no love lost between the two, but that was quite a surprise after the day in dallas when lyndon johnson suddenly president of the united states and the director of central intelligence briefs him the next day and shows him the president's intelligence checklist giving no indication that this is a new product designed for him. lyndon johnson was not a stupid man, he figured out he was excluded and perhaps he never took to this document. this leaves to the birth of the document that we know today because it has continued more than 50 years. in december 1964, cia figuring out that this wasn't working for johnson, they retitled it, reformatted it and gave advisers something that lyndon johnson can call his own, the president's daily brief. at this time, and through most history the president's daily brief that is been all three of those things, the president, that is aimed directly at the president, it was aimed at the personality of john f kennedy when it was known as the president's int

it is bobby kennedy talking to lyndon johnson about the war. [begin video clip] >> i am fearful that if we move without any authority of the congress that the resentment would be pretty widespread and would involve a lot of people who would normally be with us if we ask for the authority. on the other hand, i would shudder to think that if we debated it for a long period of time and they are likely to do that. our choice is not good. >> it seems likely that they will start asking someone to spell out exactly what is going to happen. if we drop bombs in and they retaliate will we bomb hanoi -- all of that business. the answers to those questions are so difficult to give, particularly if you are giving it to a lot of people that are antagonistic. >> that is all true. we cannot go into the details. you just have to tell them that. if you take the other route -- they may ask you by what executive order you declare war? >> you really do not need that constitutionally. [end video clip] brian: what are you hearing? larry: two people talking at cross p

it was the first time since taking the office of president that lyndon johnson spent the night on the open sea. his state room for the occasion was aboard the u.s.s. north hampton. the cruiser was a sea borne command post and had communication equipment ready to serve the chief executive in any national emergency. ♪ on sunday, 21 august, the president departed from north hampton to campobelio island for discussions with prime minister pearson from canada. ♪ national anthem plays] ♪ the president supplied his own brand of effective personal diplomacy as they informally discussed the world problems that affected both their nations. later in the day, at the international park, the president and the prime minister joined forces in the planting of a document box in the corner of a new visitor's center. the f.d.r. home may have invoked nostalgic memories, for roosevelt left an endearing reminder more than anyone else for the limits, powers and obligations of the presidency. the obligations, he felt, both to his own people and to the world, were clearly evident six days later in idaho,

lyndon johnson knew how to run a campaign. lyndon johnson was a ruthless politician who was very, very effective. - how did your dad decide to run for president? - he was drafted. pure and simple. - it really was only a very impassioned speech by one of his friends in the senate that finally convinced him that he had to do this as his patriotic duty, that liberalism was destroying the country and he could not let it advance any further. - what happened was that young conservatives like myself got together and said, "we might be able to take over and make this republican party a conservative party." - young americans for freedom was founded and the idea was that a conservative youth group would be formed to influence the next generation of young people that were rising in the 1960s. so just as you had the well-known leftist groups on campus--students for a democratic society, young socialists, that kind of thing-- young americans for freedom was the counterpart on the right. - the pressure was on to find a candidate, and they p

it's rooted, joe, in lyndon johnson's upbringing. he was born poor and he saw poor mexicans in texas and poor blacks, specially when he was a youth director during then roosevelt administration and he traveled around texas trying to find jobs for blacks who were a living in these hardscrabble camps and she leapt with some of the black families and there was intimacy that he had with blacks and poor blacks. also, joe, a very important part of that question is this fact, america was becoming unglued. the country in 1964, 1965 was l losing its soul. these riots, discrimination, the rebellion on the streets were because society was not fair. public housing projects were growing. you had the criminal justice system, which was unfair. and so you had real historical moment for this country and we were seeing it on tv with the dogs facing the student marcherg and chasing the children in salma and so thurgood marshall comes to the floor because he had always been trying to tell the country that you're not living up to the principles of the co

hubert humphreys is really a good guy, and he's not going to put lyndon johnson in a position where lyndon johnson feels that he's undercut by his number two, the guy he empowered. at the same time, johnson is just totally dismissive of humphrey and especially humphrey's contribution or desire to be -- to make a contribution saying, you know what, this war is not the right war. >> let's get to another call. this is larry in sherman oaks, california. hi, larry. >> caller: hi. i'm a rather big fan of humphrey's, and for many years it it took a while for me to accept he wouldn't be, president, even after his passing. he put up my own humphrey's website since 2002. in 1998 i visited mhs along with with the humphrey institute when steve sandell was there. we looked in the catalog and didn't see any item surrounding the middle east war in june. i would have thought humphrey would have made some speeches or interviews or something. didn't see anything. that surprised me. >> was he involved in middle east policy, and did he speak out on it? >> he was. they're talking about june of '68, i guess. i

man to lyndon johnson, complex in different ways. and but far greater a man that walter white ever was. because of his altruistic nature. but its with a big bite-- . >> rose: walter white had his intellect and his skills. >> he did. and he had his ego. and he was driven to succeed in that specific area of his life. made some poor choices as well, as we all do. i think you know, if you get old enough, and you've been in the game, you are going to make good and bad choices. i think warren buffett said to me when i asked him, so, is there a way you go about it. he goes yeah. he goes just make more good choices than bad ones. there you go. >> rose: peak speaking of presidents you spent a little time with president obama. >> i have. >> rose: i sawed little piece, not a leg pete, big piece in the new york times. >> it was. it was a surprise to me that i got the call. >> rose: what did they say, the president would like to see you? >> it came initially from the writer at the "new york times," table for three, philip. and they of course went

you were lyndon johnson. the transformation was, i thought, absolutely complete and it wasn't just the physical transformation, but it was mannerisms, it was the accent, it was everything. i'm stunned at how well you were able to pull that off. - well, i love to act, is one thing. and so i have an insatiable curiosity toward the characters that i play. and that's the most fun to have is the research part of it where you're gathering. you're like a dry sponge and any information that comes to you, whether you get it at the johnson library or at the ranch or reading the plethora of biographies about the man, looking at source material, audiotapes, videotapes, things like that. and you just start to absorb it. and every time i start a character, there's always that wonder if that character will eventually seep inside 'cause that's what has to happen before you're completely comfortable to play a character and so there's that trust factor. okay, i'll keep working, keep working, keep reading, keep reading. - 'til

lyndon johnson: dallas isn't safe. housewives came out of their houses to spit on me during the '60 campaign. kenneth o'donnell: november. say ah, a week before thanksgiving. john f kennedy: all right, let's book it. lee harvey oswald: marina, marina, god damn it, where are my guns? marina: where are you going? lee harvey oswald: nixon's in town. i want to have a look. marina: why need the gun for a look? lee harvey oswald: give me my guns. marina: what for? huh? you promised. promise me you'll never shoot no more people. lee harvey oswald: ok, i promise. marina: promise me you get job. lee harvey oswald: every time i get a job, the damn fbi tells 'em i'm a communist. marina: no, it's not good here. it, why, why you bring us here? dallas, no good. lee harvey oswald: well maybe i, i'll go to new orleans. maybe they won't follow me there, i'll, i'll get a job down there. marina: da, ok, is better. alik, you've got to promise. lee harvey oswald: i promise, i promise, mama. marina: [inaudible]. lee harvey oswald: thank you

lyndon johnson realized he was no longer in charge of the war. the war was in charge of him. >> what did you lose? >> i had 36 when we started. we got 21 killed. >> what were you thinking about? >> i was thinking of my wife and my baby that i haven't seen, i guess. i got a baby coming in june. that was on my mind. i just knew we were going to get overrun. >> if you look at the history of vietnam, it was a tragic comedy of errors from beginning to end. and the tragedy of johnson is that he achieved remarkable things, particularly in terms of civil rights, but will be remembered for vietnam. >> it's the full shakespearean wheel of fortune, the man who has nothing who rises to everything and then loses it all. >> in a moment of tragedy and trauma, the duties of this office fell upon me with america's sons in the field far away, with america's future under challenge right here at home, i have concluded that i should not permit the presidency to become involved in the partisan divisions that are developing in this political year. accordingly, i shall

so that was the lyndon johnson style. you know he would find a weak spot, he would find a sentimental spot, just like he did with associate justice tom clark, you know. he wanted tom clark to step aside so he would have an opening for thurgood marshall. >> host: by the way did he appoint ramsey clark as his attorney general? >> guest: yes, yes, yes. >> host: marilyn in washington, you've been very patient. you're on booktv with wil haygood. >> caller: good morning. i wanted to thank again c-span. i was not aware of mr. haygood until i started watching c-span a couple years ago and i find mr. haygood an enjoyable interview every time i hear him. and the reason why i'm calling is because he also wrote a book about sammy davis, jr., who is one of my favorite entertainers. years ago i read the autobiography which sammy davis wrote about himself which was rather long as i recall, i was a teenager, when i read it. at any rate when i look at sammy davis, i particularly like listening to his recordings from the '50s and '60s, tha

lyndon johnson and some of his colleagues in the senate knew that. in those days, there was no , nothingial pension for former president of any kind. truman had sold a book to make a little bit of money. given the draconian task out at the time, he lost much of that in taxes. people would send him the book design and not give him a return envelope. he spent about $35,000 by his own estimation in postage alone. for formere president approved by lyndon johnson and some of his colleagues allowed for a modest presidential pension, about the same amount a ceo would get at the time, allowing him to send things out in mail, and some things like office space. it saved harry truman from financial management and benefited lyndon johnson, too. funny thing. [laughter] >> join me in thanking my colleagues. [applause] >> again, i want to say what a privilege it has been for us to sponsor this conference, and how much we appreciate you being here. we have more wonderful things happening this afternoon. thank you again. appreciate it. [applause] [captions copyright

lyndon johnson was dishonest on issues like vietnam. he said i'm not going to send american boys 7,000 miles away to do what asian boys should do. there was a bumper sticker that showed up the next year, if i voted for barry goldwater, there would be a war in vietnam. i did vote for barry goldwater and there was. by the same token, barry goldwater's ideas about the role of the federal government were not popular. when he said we should sell this -- the tva, that was seen as crazy. and, you know, his ideological time had not come. and also i mentioned the absolutely atrocious campaign he ran. i found a memo, they fired the research staff from the rnc and i found a form letter they sent out to political science professors in every state, said, dear professor, please send us any books or pamphlets about the political situation in and it said, insert state here. so this was not a very professional operation. >> in addition to your calls, we're welcoming questions from the audience here at the goldwater institute. we'll get one up front. >>

i am waiting robert to come up with a book on lyndon johnson so yes. when that comes out we all get it. i remember when the manchesters went to finish his biography of churchill the same thing we waited for that to come out to read that the data is kind of fun to have a group of goods for that book that we're all anticipating i think it is a little adult version of the harry potter series. >> did you read that? >> everyone of them with my daughter. i love them for gore thought they were great i was so excited as a lover of reading that my daughter and all of her friends did not think reading was a chore but something they could not wait to get their hands on. and eventually as she got older when the next 1k mount they would be at the bookstore at midnight to purchase the book and sit all night reading it i thought any offer that has that ability to excite to get kids reading as not a burden but as a joy and a treasure she has a lot working for her. >> host: were you get your books? bookstores or sent to you? library? >> all of the above. i collect book

this lyndon johnson and the 1970's. , i respectjohnson lyndon johnson because he was one smart cookie. but lyndon johnson was a major player. he was a very tough cookie. and he was able to silence his critics by doing it. so, we are going to get your voice back. we are going to get it back. it looked like i was going to win. we still have had all of these "never trump" people. and that is why i love mike. because mike said, "hey, he is doing a good job." he is such an amazing guy. we always got along. somehow, we always got along. and there are a few others, too. we have some pretty good relationships. but i said, "you know, we are going to do something." when i got the nomination, and as the were getting it, we were working on the platform. i said to my people, "the if you can add in the johnson amendment, policy johnson amendment." they're going to get rid of the "johnson amendment." [applause] now, i wanted to come and explain it because a lot of people don't know any kind of detail and depth i have explained to you today. i was with a couple of pastors a couple of weeks ago, and t

eugene mccarthy and lyndon johnson. nixon got more votes. people weren't looking at it -- than all the others put together. because of a little project we had, he got four times as many write-in votes on the democratic ballot as bobby kennedy. if people didn't notice, they should have looked closely at that because what it said was the country is turning toward , this party and somewhat toward this man who is supposed to be the greatest loser of all time. the big news though was eugene mccarthy, who got 20% of the vote against lyndon johnson, and states.t of united and johnson -- i don't know what people are thinking of -- johnson's name wasn't even on the ballot. the president of the united states was running as a write-in candidate in new hampshire. and so i was astonished that he did this, and half the mccarthy votes were from hawks, people who wanted johnson to be tougher on vietnam. so johnson's people handled it horribly. three or four days later, robert kennedy jumped into the race. against johnson, and began to savage him. he said jo

>> that was a dirty trick by lyndon johnson. in order to have a debate, you had to suspend a rule of the federal communications commission so that every candidate, i.e. all 30 candidates including the bee keepers party wouldn't have to be on the stage and lyndon johnson kind of wired that in congress so that was impossible. he didn't want to face barry goldwater. that says something about maybe he thought barry goldwater would have been a worthy adversary. >> a question from somebody here. >> this question is for darcey. do you see the tea party movement as a resurgence of the goldwater movement? >> i definitely think that there are a lot -- the tea party, i guess -- the best way to answer it is to say it's not monolithic. all kind of people constitute the tea party and different ideas in the tea party. but i think if you look at the tea party as a group of people who have fought these gigantic bailouts in washington, they fought the raising of the debt ceiling, they fought the federal takeover of health care, all of those thing

thank you. >> lyndon johnson -- the most famous moment between lyndon johnson -- lyndon johnson and wallace came in the midst of the selma crisis in which president johnson brought him to washington, or actually, governor wallace volunteered to meet with him where he got people treatment from lyndon johnson. he was pretty intimidated by the whole process, but he was not alone in that respect. lyndon johnson intimidated everyone. that was, of course, in the early 1960's. the last hurrah for the kind of racial campaign came in 1970 against albert brewer, who had been one of his proteges. he replaced his wife as governor. in the wake of that campaign, it was a pretty all out use of the race issue, attacks that brewer was a candidate of blacks. in the aftermath of that, politically, he said to many of his aides that this was the last campaign he would be able to run like this. the public mood of voters was changing and black voters were fully enfranchised at that moment. when he emotionally chain, that, i think, really comes later on. >> as we discussed with dan carter a little earlier, george

and lyndon johnson had said himself, he said there are three pillars of segregation that i'm going to knock down. he not done the first at the 1964 civil rights act and knocks down the second which was voting with the 1965 voting rights act and he said my final move will be to get a confident, gifted african-american onto the united states supreme court. those thurgood marshall who graduated number one harvard university law school. marshall was the right man in the right moment at the right time and this country's history. >> was the final blow? how many voted for and against republicans? >> the final vote was 69 june 9th 11. if the southerners had to stop the white house at 60 votes or less, they could have filibustered the nomination and marshall or the white house could not have withstood a filibuster. so in reality, the white house got his nomination through with only nine votes to spare. on the second at the hearing, president johnson was so nervous because he thought it would be over like all the previous hearings had been. president johnson was so nervous he summoned william c