"STRONGEST TICKET THAT COULD HAVE BEEN SELECTED"

JFK CHOOSES LBJ AS RUNNING-MATE; PARTY LEADERS HAPPY, LIBERALS NOT SO MUCH

Los Angeles, California (JFK+50) On July 15, 1960 Senator John F. Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) and Senator Lyndon B. Johnson (D-Texas) formally accepted the Democratic Party's nominations for President and Vice-President of the United States here in Los Angeles.

According to The Evening Star, Democratic party leaders called KENNEDY-JOHNSON "the strongest ticket it could have selected."

J.A. O'Leary writes that Mr. Kennedy's choice of "the South's hero in this convention" will give the Democrats a great chance to carry Texas, Virginia and Tennessee in the November election.

Some northern and mid-western liberal Democrats are unhappy with the selection of Senator Johnson as the vice-presidential standard bearer.

JFK+50 NOTE

I've always said JFK could NOT have won the presidency without LBJ on the ticket thinking that his narrow victory in Texas in 1960 was attributable to LBJ.  This is the view of the majority of historians who argue that LBJ's selection was necessary to rally the Democratic base in the South.

Looking only at the electoral vote results, however, one could argue JFK would have won without LBJ on the ticket.

JFK defeated Nixon in the Electoral College 303-219.  If JFK had selected someone other than LBJ as his running mate & Texas had gone Republican, he still would have won 279-243.  269 electoral votes were required to win in 1960.

The South, unlike today, was a Democratic stronghold in 1960.  Nixon carried only 4 states in Dixie:  Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee & Virginia. 

SOURCE

"Democrats Hail Johnson As Strengthening Ticket," by J. A. O'Leary, The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., July 15, 1960, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/

 

 

Kennedy-Johnson Campaign Logo

www.4president.org/

"DON'T WORRY JACK, IN 2 WEEKS THEY'LL SAY IT'S THE SMARTEST THING YOU EVER DID."

LBJ GETS NOD FOR RUNNING-MATE

Los Angeles,  (JFK50) On the evening of 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 the VP nomination to Senator Johnson.

JFK's personal secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, would write 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."  It is her view that 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., Senator Kennedy made the announcement that Lyndon B. Johnson 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 would definitely give JFK a better chance to carry Texas.

According to Mr. Matthews, House Speaker Sam Rayburn passed along the word to the Kennedy people that if a spot on the ticket was offered, LBJ would not turn it down.  It wasn't really that simple. JFK later told Pierre Salinger...

 "I don't think anybody will ever really know how this all came about."

It has been well publicized that despite criticism in some quarters of LBJ's selection, JFK's father liked the idea.  Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. told his son...

"Don't worry, Jack, in 2 weeks they'll say it's the smartest thing you ever did."

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

              

DID LBJ HELP WIN THE SOUTH?

JFK+50:  Volume 5, No. 1702

JFK ASKED IF LBJ WOULD HELP WIN THE SOUTH 

San Francisco, California (JFK+50) On this day fifty-five years ago, September 3, 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy, Democratic candidate for POTUS, was asked at a news conference, held at the airport here in San Francisco, if Texas Senator Lyndon B. Johnson, his running-mate, would help win the South.

Senator Kennedy responded...

"I think we are going to have a hard fight.  I would say (it will be) hard in all parts of the United States.  I look with some hope...but I think that many of the Southern States are going to have a close contest."

JFK went on to say...

"The Vice President (Richard M. Nixon) has been down there, and has gotten a warm reception.  Senator (Barry) Goldwater has been campaigning effectively in several Southern States."

The Senator refused to speculate on whether or not he would carry "all the Southern states" adding "I have not been down South yet." 

So let's take a look at the results of the 1960 presidential election to see how the KENNEDY-JOHNSON (D) ticket came out.

Although it was close, JFK-LBJ took Texas (24) along with  Arkansas (8)*, Georgia (12), Louisiana (10), North Carolina (14),  and South Carolina (8). Alabama split her vote & the Democrats took (5) for a total of 81.

NIXON-LODGE (R) carried Florida (10), Kentucky (10), Tennessee (11), and Virginia (12) for a total of 43.

Independent candidate HARRY BYRD of Virginia split with K-J in Alabama (6) and carried Mississippi (8) for a total of 14.

If LBJ had not been on the 1960 Democratic ticket, one could argue that JFK would not have carried TEXAS.  If that would have been the only state affected, then KENNEDY would have still defeated Nixon 279-243.  JFK would have won the Presidency by a mere 10 electoral votes.

In 1964, LBJ won 90 electoral votes in the South although BARRY GOLDWATER (R) carried South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.  In 1968, HUBERT HUMPHREY (D) carried only Texas while GEORGE WALLACE (American Independent Party) won Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi while RICHARD NIXON (R) won the rest.

In 1972, NIXON (R) won all but 1 electoral vote in the South.  In 1976, JIMMY CARTER (D) won all Southern states except Virginia.  In 1980, RONALD REAGAN (R) won all Southern states except Georgia.

The term SOLID SOUTH applies to the years 1877-1964 when Southern states were dominated by white Democrats who shared common interests.  They solidly supported Democratic candidates.  The period began with the end of Reconstruction and ended with passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

*Arkansas was carried by the Democratic presidential candidate in every election from 1876 to 1964.

SOURCE

"Press Conference of Senator John F. Kennedy, San Francisco, CA Airport, September 3, 1960," The American Presidency Project, John Woolley and Gerhard Peters, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/

President Kennedy & Vice-President Johnson

The White House

August 31, 1961

Photo by Abbie Rowe

JFK Library Image