JFK CHOOSES A RUNNING MATE
Los Angeles, (JFK50) On July 14, 1960, Lyndon Baines Johnson of Texas, majority leader in the United States Senate, was nominated by the Democratic National Convention for the office of Vice-President of the United States.
Senator John F. Kennedy, who had been nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate the previous night, surprised many people, including members of his own staff, by offering a spot on the ticket to Senator Johnson.
Evelyn Lincoln, JFK's personal secretary, wrote that shortly after JFK had received the presidential nomination, the Senator gave her the following message to deliver to Senator Johnson...
"Dear Lyndon...I would like to talk to you in your room tomorrow morning at 10:00..."
Mrs. Lincoln adds, however, that there had "never (been) any talk in the office that Mr. Johnson was to be the running mate." In her view, JFK 's meeting with LBJ was not to offer him a place on the ticket, but "to gracefully shake Johnson's hand....and to discuss with him the southern leaders' meeting scheduled for later that day."
Mrs. Lincoln writes that JFK was forced to offer the Vice-Presidency to LBJ only after "news leaks" suggested that he would. She added that Mr. Kennedy did not expect Lyndon to accept the offer.
When JFK returned from the meeting, he told his secretary that LBJ had not rejected the offer, but had expressed an interest in it. By 4 p.m., JFK made the announcement that LBJ would be his running mate.
In his book "Jack Kennedy, Elusive Hero," Chris Matthews relates that JFK's decision to offer a place on the ticket to LBJ "was a model of cold-blooded politics." A Massachusetts Democrat could not win the presidency without
the support of the "once reliable Democratic South." LBJ's presence on the ticket definitely gave JFK a better chance, albeit not a certain one, to carry Texas.
SOURCES
"Jack Kennedy, Elusive Hero," by Chris Matthews, Simon and Schuster, New York, 2011.
"Kennedy & Johnson," by Evelyn Lincoln, Holt, Rinehart & Winston, New York, 1968.
JFK and LBJ at the White House
August 31, 1961
Photo by Abbie Rowe, NPS
JFK Library Photo
