Presidential Recordings Program

After a press office mix-up that resulted in a number of reporters turning up at the LBJ Ranch, George Reedy offers his resignation.

The operator connects the call.

President Johnson: Hello?

George Reedy: Mr. President.

President Johnson: Yeah?

President Johnson: Hello?

Albert Jackson: Hello? Hi, Mr. President.

President Johnson: Albert, how are you my friend?

Jackson: Oh, just wonderful.

President Johnson: I just want--

Deputy Secretary of Defense Cyrus Vance gave President Johnson an update on the civil unrest in Washington DC in the wake of Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination.

Ramsey Clark^∇: -- [unclear] Governor [Samuel H. Shapiro] called at 6:40 [P.M.]. I've just--

President Johnson: 5:40 [P.M.]?

President Johnson followed up on Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's request for federal troops to help control the riots in Chicago in the wake of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination.

Operator: Hello?

President Johnson: Yes?

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley called President Johnson to ask for federal troops to help control the rioting in Chicago in the wake of the assassination of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King.

Operator: There you are.

President Johnson: Hello?

Richard Daley: Mr. President?

The conversation has already begun when the recording starts.

President Johnson: [Unclear] I apologized. I--Emerson wires us from Japan. Have you seen his cable?

Robert McNamara^∇: No, I haven't.

Protectionist legislation had originated in the Senate and been substituted into an old House bill on the importation of wildlife. The proposed legislation would restrict by about one third imports of beef, veal, mutton, and lamb so as to protect American producers.

President Johnson: Yes, Mayor.

Richard Daley: Hello, Mr. President?

President Johnson: How are you?

Daley: From the Daley home to the President and Mrs. Johnson and your family, a merry merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year.

President Johnson: Thank you, Mayor.

President Johnson spoke with Attorney General Ramsey Clark^∇ about the nomination of Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court, which he was due to announce later in the day. The conversation has already begun when the recording starts.

President Johnson: [Unclear.]

Editorial Note: The State Department Office of the Historian transcribed this conversation and published the transcript in: FRUS, 1964-1968: 7: Document 207.

Editorial Note: The State Department Office of the Historian transcribed this conversation and published an excerpt of the transcript in: FRUS, 1964-68, 7: Document 42.

Following up on their phone conversation earlier in the afternoon in which President Johnson offered Thurgood Marshall the position of Solicitor General (see Conversation WH6507-01-8307), Marshall called back to reschedule his visit to the White House.

The previous day, August 30, Thurgood Marshall was confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 69 to 11 as the 96th Justice of the United States. In the process, he became the first African American member of the Court.

President Johnson: Yes?

White House Operator: The Solicitor General, 9-0.

President Johnson: Hello?

Thurgood Marshall: Good morning, sir. Happy New Year.

President Johnson: Fine, Judge. Glad to hear you.