Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson
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Capehart began: Hearings, p. 107. “Mr. Chairman”: McFarland, Hearings, p. 101. “Let us”: Johnson, Hearings, p. 108.
“Had he not”; “it may be: Johnson, Olds, Hearings, p. 110. “When you accepted”: Johnson, Hearings, p. 111. Brandishing it: Johnson’s demeanor at the hearings is described by Busby and Van Scoyoc. Sherrill (Accidental President, p. 159) speaks of the “cold sarcasm” with which Johnson questioned Olds, and of his “mocking” Olds. “It was my”: Hearings, p. 111. “Did you ever”: Capehart, Hearings, p. 110. Olds’ exchange with McFarland: Hearings, pp. 111–22. “I am telling”: Olds, Hearings, p. 114. “Wirtz picked up”: Yarborough, quoted in Steinberg, Sam Johnson’s Boy, p. 295.
“Is it correct”; “‘yes’ or ‘no’”: Johnson, Hearings, p. 120. “No, sir”: Olds, Hearings, p. 120. His exchanges with Johnson, Cape-hart, and Reed are on pp. 120–25.
“The important thing”: Johnson, Hearings, p. 126. “Let me make”: Reed, Hearings, p. 126. “A full-fledged … Communist”: Reed, WP, Sept. 29.
“Rocked”: HP, Sept. 29. “Tic”: Busby interview. “He kept”: Van Scoyoc interview.
Stokes, Othman columns: WS, WDN, Sept. 28. Johnson felt: Busby, Jenkins interviews. Johnson began the afternoon session by saying, “During the lunch hour I was informed, and, I might say, somewhat entertained by today’s press reports on our hearings…. While we are waiting for some of the members, I would like to put in the record …” And he proceeded to read the two columns into the record verbatim. “So far”: Johnson, Hearings, p. 133. “Frequently”: Olds, Johnson, Hearings, pp. 134, 135. “I thought”: Hearings, p. 145.
“Make it clear”: Olds, Hearings, p. 136. “What date”: Johnson, Hearings, p. 136. Found: His letter—Olds to William Barlo, Sept. 18, 1939—was inserted in Hearings, p. 138, after the hearings were over.
“I gather you”; “I do not think”: Johnson, Olds, Hearings, p. 142. “You are aware”; “I did not know”: Johnson, Olds, Hearings, p. 143.
The impression; Johnson’s demeanor: Busby interview. “You do not”; “unless I can answer”: Johnson, Olds, Hearings, pp. 155, 156. Unleashed Capehart: Hearings, pp. 151–52.
“Olds’ FPC record”: “Reward for Service,” New Republic, Oct. 10.
“Do you really believe”: Hearings, p. 197. Johnson’s response: Hearings, p. 198. “Single-minded”: Reed, Hearings, p. 174.
“A full-fledged”: Reed, WP, Sept. 29. “SENATOR REED”; “SENATOR SAYS”: NYT, WP, Sept. 29.
“The money”: Gunther interview. “Despicable”: W P, Sept. 30. “I found”: Mellett, WS, Oct. 1. “And then”: Van Scoyoc interview. Johnson making calls: Busby, Jenkins interviews. Stopwatch: Pearson, WP, Oct. 4; Busby interview.
“Witnesses”: Joseph P. Harris, “The Senatorial Rejection of Leland Olds: A Case Study,” APSR, Sept. 1951, p. 681. “You have”: Alpern, Hearings, p. 213. “If we”; “Well, I”: Johnson, Alpern, Hearings, p. 214. “The courageous”: Alpern, Hearings, p. 215. Exchange over time: Hearings, p. 215.
“Human memory”: Proctor, Hearings, p. 219. “A man”: Houston, Hearings, p. 205. “Any”: Sanders, Hearings, p. 207. “Numerous”: Van Scoyoc to Caro, Dec. 7, 1992 (in author’s possession).
“The man”; “We never”: CCC-T, April 6, 1980. “Am sure”: Johnson to Nixon, Sept. 3. Nixon had, in fact, volunteered Head’s services to Johnson for the Olds fight, writing Johnson that “His head is really in the task assigned him. Here is hoping for success.” Both from “Appts—Olds, Leland,” Box 336, JSP.
“Is Mr. Bonner”; “a traitor”: Johnson, Bonner, Hearings, pp. 255, 259–60.
“All the more”: Head, Hearings, pp. 280–85.
Told callers: Busby interview. “Now, Mr. Bonner”: Johnson, Hearings, p. 257. “Dear Lyndon”: Bonner to Johnson, Oct. 31, Box 216, JSP. Reading the Photostat: Hearings, pp. 255–56. Bricker: Hearings, pp. 258, 285.
Headlines: H P, Philadelphia Inquirer, Chicago Tribune, Sept. 30.
“The rumor”: Hearings, p. 252.
“I think”: Hearings, p. 173. “Not be available”; “the material”: Olds to Johnson, Sept. 29, Box 74, FDRL. Cooper’s call: Olds’ Desk Diary, Sept. 29, Box 11, LOP, FDRL.
“I had asked”: “Conversation with Leland Olds” (verbatim typed transcript), Sept. 30, Box 336, JSP. “Very kind”: “Later Conversation with Leland Olds,” Sept. 30; Olds’ Desk Diary, Sept. 30, Box 73, LOP, FDRL.
“At the outset”; “Do you repudiate”: Hearings, pp. 291–94, 305–06, 313–20. “The committee has not”: Johnson, Hearings, p. 316.
“I am not asking”: Hearings, p. 313. “The question”: Hearings, p. 315.
“Mr. Olds himself”: Lincoln, “The Political Mill,” WS, Oct. 15. “Chameleon-minded”: DMN, Oct. 5. “He is”: McNaughton to Bermingham, Oct. 7, McNaughton Papers, HSTL.
“I am aware”: Truman to Ed Johnson, Oct. 3, in NYT, Oct. 5. “Beside the point”: Ed Johnson to Truman, Oct. 4, in NYT, Oct. 5. 7–0 vote: Lyndon Johnson to Ed Johnson, Oct. 4, Box 316, JSP; NYHT, NYT, Oct. 5. “President Truman’s”: NYT, Oct. 6.
Rebel yells: Danciger to Johnson, Oct. 5, Box 321, JSP. “What a subcommittee!”: “Washington Wire,” New Republic, Oct. 10. “Olds, shouts”: “The Enemies of Leland Olds,” New Republic, Oct. 17. “I know of”: Lerner, Childs, NYP, Oct. 6. “Vendetta”: The Nation, Oct. 15. “This is the reason”: Stone, Baltimore Sun, Oct. 7. “Hardly”: Joseph C. Harsch, “State of the Nation,” Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 12. Editorial: WP, Sept. 30.
“So hostile”: New Republic, Oct. 10. “Against Olds is”: New Republic, Oct. 17.
Fortune article: “Men of the Gold Coast,” Oct. 1949. “This may explain”: Mellett, WS, Oct. 4. The headline over his column was “Big Inch and Little Inch Pipelines, Senator Lyndon Johnson and Mr. Olds.”
“Because he”: Rowe interview. Similar feelings surfaced in his Oral History. “I told”: Corcoran, quoted in Joe B. Frantz, “Opening a Curtain: The Metamorphosis of Lyndon B. Johnson,” The Journal of Southern History, Feb. 1979, p. 17. “Shameful”: Cohen interview. “Disgusted”; “There were”: Rauh interview. “Really”: Rauh, quoted in Frantz, “Opening a Curtain,” The Journal of Southern History, Feb. 1979, p. 15. “I sort of”: Rowe interview.
“My, I wish”: Rowe OH.
“Enthusiastic”: “Clifford,” Olds’ “Miscellaneous Notes: Phone Conversations,” Box 73, LOP, FDRL. “The main”: Olds to Eleanor Roosevelt, Oct. 1, Box 75, LOP, FDRL. “I knew Mr. Olds”: Eleanor Roosevelt, “My Day,” NYP, Oct. 2. Other friends attempting: Box 73, LOP, FDRL; McCulloch interview. “Certain”: CR, 81/1, p. 14371. Voorhiis statement: Voorhiis to Douglas, Oct. 7, Box 74, LOP, FDRL. Too late: Campbell to Douglas, Oct. 7, Box 74, LOP, FDRL. “No place”: “Clifford,” undated, Box 73, LOP, FDRL. “Importance”: “Notes for Talk with Clifford,” undated, Box 73, LOP, FDRL.
Only twenty-nine: Newsweek, Oct. 17. Truman orders Boyle: WS, Oct. 6; NYT, Oct. 7. “Brazen”: WS, Oct. 7. “Deliberate”: WP, Oct. 8. “Deliberately”; to twenty-four: Newsweek, Time, Oct. 17.
“Most important”: FWS-T, Oct. 17.
12. The Debate
All dates are 1949 unless otherwise noted.
“Because of”: McCulloch interview. “In the afternoon”: Douglas, Fullness of Time, p. 464.
Speeches for Olds: CR, 81/1, pp. 14362–375.
Lyndon Johnson’s speech: CR, 81/1, pp. 14379–385.
“Did change”: McNaughton to Bermingham, Oct. 14, p. 2, McNaughton Papers, HSTL. He also reported that “several senators said they knew of ‘four or five’ votes changed…. Ed Johnson confirms this.” “It took”: Sherrill, Accidental President, p. 163. “Most”: Michael Gillette, “The Leland Olds Controversy,” unpublished paper cited in Miller, Lyndon, p. 145. “Stunned”: McNaughton to Bermingham, p. 4. “About”: WS, Oct. 14.
“It’s not”; “I’ve never”: FWS-T, Oct. 17. “Almost alone”: Rauh, quoted in Miller, p. 146. During: Gunther interview. “In the minds”: Mellett, WS, Oct. 18.
“The outstanding”: DT-H, Oct. 16. “A whopping”: DMN, Oct. 14. “PRINCIPLE”: HP, Oct. 15. Carpenter article: FWS-T, Oct. 17. “The junior”: DMN, Oct. 16.
“People all over”: Caro, Path, p. 767. Doubts had lingered: Among other interviews, those with Busby, Clark, Connally, Jenkins. “I hope”: Busby to Johnson, undated, but with Dec. 1949 letters, Box 863, JSP.
REA speech: HP, Oct. 20. At 8-F and hunting camp: Clark, Oltorf interviews. Busby careful: Johnson even got mail in 8-F (Busby to Rather, Lamar Hotel, c/o Suite 8-F, Dec. 19, Box 863, JSP). “Senator cannot”: Jenkins to Johnson, Nov. 9, Box 863, JSP. “Shinnery”: Glass to Busby, Nov. 4. Even the: Glass to Jenkins, Nov. 7—all Box 863, JSP.
“Even after”: Oltorf interview. “Listen, you”: Brown interview. “It is”: Woodward to Busby, undated but attached to Woodward to Busby, Oct. 31, Box 863, JSP. “One of”: Johnson to Douglas, Dec. 23, Box 3, LBJA.
Almost exhausted: Zara Olds Chapin interview.
“Of course”: Truman to Olds, Nov. 10. President’s Personal File, 5124, HSTL. “Would still”: NYT, WS, Oct. 20. And see NYT, Oct. 21. Boyle told: Blumenthal to Pearson, undated, Box F165 (3 of 3), Drew Pearson Papers. Water Policy Committee: WS, Jan. 4, 1950; NYT, Aug. 5, 1960. Interagency: NYT, Aug. 5, 1960.
On the advice: Radin, Van Scoyoc interviews. Kiley says the firm was “created for the purpose of giving him a modest living….”; Kiley, Leland Olds Manual, p. v. “Yes”: Author’s interview with Radin. “A poor man”: Davis interview.
“My mother”: Zara Olds Chapin interview. “Very upset”: Zara Chapin, Marsh, Marianne Olds interviews. “Never once”: Radin, Davis interviews. “Quite possibly”: Fortune, May 1952. “Olds was crushed”: Douglas, Fullness of Time, p. 464. “Killed”: Rauh, quoted in Joe B. Frantz, “Opening a Curtain: The Metamorphosis of Lyndon B. Johnson,” The Journal of Southern History, Feb. 1979.
“Lee”: Van Scoyoc, Zara Olds Chapin interviews. (Olds recounted this incident to Ms. Chapin.)
“A great”: Murray, CR, 86/2, p. 15010. “In a sense”: Kennedy, WP, Aug. 5, 1960.
13. “No Time for a Siesta”
All dates are 1950 unless otherwise noted.
“I’m young”: Johnson to Russell, Oct. 17, 1949, V., Intra-Office Communications, Personal Miscellaneous, Jan. 1950, RBRL.
Hunting trip: Connally, Oltorf interviews. “Dear Lyndon”: Russell to Johnson, Nov. 25, 1949, V., Personal Miscellaneous, Jan. 1950, RBRL.
Only once: “Contacts with President Truman,” Box 8, WHFN. Starting to brood: Busby, Corcoran, Rowe interviews.
Call to Rusk: Alsop with Platt, I’ve Seen the Best of It, p. 308. “He called me”: Busby interview.
“Usurped”: Phillips, Truman Presidency, p. 299.
Johnson’s letter: Johnson to Truman, June 28; Truman to Johnson, June 30, Box 471B, “Tender of Services—J,” Official File, HSTL. “I remember”: Busby interview. “Never quite”: Margaret Truman interview.
“Truman Committee”: McCullough, Truman, Chapter 7. “The most”: McCullough, p. 287.
Had McClellan: For Johnson’s concern about the Committee on Expenditures, see Report of Proceedings, Hearing Held Before Committee on Armed Services, Executive Session, July 17, Box 345, JSP, p. 8; and memo, “Congressional scrutiny of …,” undated, unsigned, Box 345, JSP. Had Symington: Busby interview. A summary of these arguments is in an article by Bascom Timmons on July 31, newspaper not identified. Truman took: Busby interview.
Tydings’ dilemma: Goldsmith, Colleagues, p. 20; Steinberg, Sam Johnson’s Boy, p. 305. Tried to keep: NYHT, July 18. Pursuant to: Report of Proceedings, pp. 9–15. “Millard”; “I believed”: Johnson to Tydings, July 19. Sought to reassure: “Memorandum to Senator Tydings,” July 25, “Preliminary Organizations: Preparedness Subcommittee,” Box 345, JSP.
Reassuring Truman: “Memorandum: Visit at White House,” Aug. 8; Library of Congress Legislative Reference Service, W. C. Gilbert to Johnson, Aug. 25, Box 8, WHFN; Steinberg, Sam Johnson’s Boy, pp. 306–07. “Talked it over … with Russell”: Steinberg, p. 304; Goldsmith, p. 20. “No other factors”: Symington interview. “No rancor”: Goldsmith, p. 20. Saying privately: Busby interview. Tydings’ announcement: NYHT, July 28.
“Today faces”: FWS-T, July 31. “With the outbreak”: The Nation, Oct. 21.
Assembling staff: “Memorandum for the Record of the Preparedness Subcommittee—Staff Meeting with Senator Johnson,” Aug. 1, 2, 3, Box 346, JSP; interviews with staff members Anton, Busby, McGillicuddy, Siegel, and Tyler. Codifying regulation: Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, Section 202(f), Senate Resolutions 319 of the 78th Congress and 77 of the 79th Congress, cited in Smith to Thompson, Sept. 23, 1948, p. 2, Box 345, JSP. “Nearly all”; “highest-ranking”: Smith to Thompson, Sept. 23, 1948, pp. 4, 5.
Cook’s reluctance; he was told: Steinberg, Sam Johnson’s Boy, p. 307; Busby, Rowe interviews. Circumventing; “temporary”; violated: “Minutes,” Aug. 23, “The Preparedness Subcommittee met …,” Box 346, JSP; “Executive Session, Transcripts,” The U.S. Senate Report of Proceedings: Hearing Held Before the Committee on Rules and Administration, Pursuant to Senate Resolution 17, Executive Session, Jan. 24, 1951, Ward & Paul, official reporters, pp. 18, 21, 22, 26–29; Ritchie, Tyler interviews; Cook to Johnson, Jan. 24, 1951, Box 116, LBJA SF; Committee on Rules & Administration, SEN 82A-E16, pages attached to printed transcript, Executive Session, Jan. 24, 1951, NA.
Hiring Siegel; Making it clear: Siegel OH, interview. Rent-free rooms: McGillicuddy, Tyler interviews.
Tyler’s hiring: Tyler interview. twenty-five: CR, 81/2, p. 8624; 82/1, p. 474.
First report: Investigation of the Preparedness Program, First Report of the Preparedness Subcommittee of the Committee on Armed Services, United States Senate Under the Authority of S. Res. 93 (81st Congress)—Interim Report On: Surplus Property, Rubber, letter of transmittal, Johnson to Tydings, Sept. 5. (Hereafter the subcommittee’s reports will be cited as Subcommittee Reports.) Simply a recycling: Busby, McGillicuddy, Tyler interviews; Donald Cook, “Work of the Preparedness Subcommittee,” The Federal Bar Journal, March 1951, p. 232. After boasting about the speed with which the subcommittee had gotten under way, Cook wrote: “I must qualify this statement to a degree. In fact the Subcommittee’s work began before it was created. Senator Lyndon Johnson had for some time been blowing the bellows hard under our synthetic rubber and surplus disposal programs. Hence, the Subcommittee, when it brought the hammer down, found the iron already hot.”
“A number”; Symington told Johnson: Investigation … First Report, p. 3; Busby, McGillicuddy interviews. Johnson wrote Hise: Johnson to Hise, July 29, Investigation … First Report, p. 27. Symington had informed: Symington to Hise, July 28; Symington to Johnson, Aug. 3; Hise to Johnson, Aug. 17; Investigation … First Report, pp. 29, 30; “Surplus Property Generally,” handwritten Johnson memo, undated, “Preliminary Organization,” Box 345, JSP; Donald Cook, “Investigations in Operation: Senate Preparedness Subcommittee,” University of Chicago Law Review, Spring 1951. Body of opinion: “Akron Rubber Plant,” Box 350, JSP; Howard to Johnson, Investigation … First Report, pp. 114–15. “Truman appears: SLP-D, Oct. 8; NYT, Sept. 7; Symington interview. “Because of this”: Investigation … First Report, p. 4.
Drafting the report: Busby interview. Newspaper reaction: NYHT, NYT, Sept. 7; WS, Sept. 8, 10; WP, Sept. 17. “A model”: Krock, NYT, Sept. 19.
As a Schenley: NYHT, Nov. 22. “Lagging seriously”: NYT, Dec. 31. Actually larger: NYT, Dec. 31.
“Government agencies”; “paper preparedness”; “Compulsory”; “‘Pearl Harbor’”: Newspaper clippings, Boxes 354, 2012, 2013, JSP. $6.89: NYT, Nov. 10. Busby’s determination: Busby interview. “A joking”: Reedy OH I, p. 2. “Inevitable”: WP, June 12, 1951. “It’s all right”: Alexander, “Some Hot Reading,” LAT, June 17.
Drawing up agenda; Truman’s reaction: “Subjects to be Covered at Meeting on Friday, Aug. 4,” attached to Johnson to Secretary of
Defense Louis Johnson, Aug. 2; Truman to Louis Johnson, Aug. 4, which includes: “I am returning the letter from Lyndon Johnson, together with the subjects he desires to cover. Apparently he has never read about the conduct of the war in the 1860s.” President’s Secretary’s Files—General File, PSF Box 124, HSTL. Masterstroke: “General Survey of the Truman Committee (Requested by Senator Johnson Aug 2) … (The following are direct quotes from the Final Report of the Truman Committee), Box 116, LBJA SF, “Statement of Senator Lyndon B. Johnson, Statement of Policies and Procedures of Subcommittee” (with Johnson’s markings in margins). This statement is dated July 31, but it is based on the Aug. 2 “General Survey” and Busby says it was drafted in response to Truman’s displeasure; Official File 419, OF Box 1239, HSTL. Johnson sent him: “Dear Matt, I want you to see a copy of a statement…. Some paragraphs in which you might be especially interested are marked…. I hope, whenever you can, you will have the President look this over, too …,” Johnson to Matt Connelly, Aug. 3; “I … have passed it on to the President,” Matt Connelly to Johnson, Aug. 7, Official File 419, OF Box 1239, HSTL. In furtherance of this strategy, Johnson also sent Truman a list of “Excerpts from Truman Committee Reports,” with the covering note: “Reverting again to the President’s own experiences serving in a similar capacity, we have attempted on the subcommittee to follow the President’s example in vigorously criticizing those situations where it appeared that criticisms would forward the national defense. As a matter of interest, we are attaching some precedents in that respect, set for this subcommittee by the Truman Committee” (Box 124, General File, HSTL). Phrases that echoed: McCullough, pp. 255–91. “Approved them”; “MEMORANDUM: Visit at White House”: Aug. 8, unsigned, Box 116, LBJA SF.
“A NEW”: Albright, “Gallery Glimpses,” WP, Aug. 6. In talking to Albright, Johnson noted another similarity to the original Truman Committee. After talking to him, Albright wrote that the Johnson Subcommittee “will get down to ‘cases’ and try to correct them. The old Truman Committee used the ‘case system,’ scouting out bottlenecks in the preparedness effort and trying to break them.” “Like father”: WS, Sept. 19.