Hello?[note 1] The Presidential Recordings Program revised the following section of text in 2021 for inclusion in The LBJ Telephone Tapes, a project produced by the Miller Center in partnership with the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library to commemorate the library's 50th anniversary.

Yes, Mr. President.

Mr. Speaker, glad to hear you.

[Unclear.]

Thank you.

[Unclear.]

Yes, sir. He told me he was the man. He said he was going to do it Tuesday.

[Unclear], yeah. Yeah, he told me that he [unclear]. [Unclear.] Today I tried to get them to vote, but he told me he was talking till ten o’clock last night.

I told him you were bragging on him, the great chairman. And that now they’ve got it 8–0, he oughtn't to stop around there, and get ready for that 21 days, so we can pass that. And I had the Senate in this morning, and [Michael J. “Mike”] Mansfield [D–Montana] and [Everett M.] Dirksen [R–Illinois] both said that they’d check and try to get it reported on the calendar over there, waiting for you to come over.[note 2] Michael J. “Mike” Mansfield was a U.S. senator [D–Montana] from January 1953 to January 1977, and Senate Majority Leader from January 1961 to January 1977. Everett M. Dirksen was a U.S. senator [R–Illinois] from January 1951 until his death in September 1969, and Senate Minority Leader from January 1959 to September 1969.

[Unclear.]

I told him that in ʼ49. [Mansfield acknowledges.] It was on his national origin.

Yep. [Unclear.]

Well, next thing you make—

Listen, [unclear]—

You call up that dairy out there, and get ahold of Howard [W. “Judge”] Smith while he’s milking that cow, and tell him that we have got a few hundred coming in here with some of Jack Valenti’s parents and his grandpas, out in here, and it’s not going to hurt him one damn bit, out of 200 million people, to let a few hundred come back and unite their families.[note 3] Howard W. “Judge” Smith was a U.S. representative [D–Virginia] from March 1931 to January 1967, and chair of the House Rules Committee from January 1955 to January 1967. Jack Valenti was a partner at Weekley and Valenti, a political and advertising consulting agency, from 1952 to 1963; special assistant to the president from 1963 to 1966; and president of the Motion Picture Association of America from 1966 to 2004. And that this is something we got to have a rule on, and tell that bunch of Democrats, those [unclear] Democrats, they’re supposed to get together if we want to move this thing, so that they won’t let it get mixed up—

Yeah, well, [unclear] got a problem [unclear].

Well, but they could give us a rule if they want to.

They can if they want to.

John [A.] Young [D–Texas] and that crowd, they can vote for a rule.[note 4] John A. Young was a U.S. representative [D–Texas] from 1957 to 1979.[note 5] End of 2021 revisions. And our Democrats—

[Unclear] my understanding is [unclear].

I called him this morning, and got his message. I called him at eight o’clock; he wasn’t at home. I finally located him at the airport, told him you told me what a good job he’s done, that I wanted him to know I was grateful, and I want to see him when he got back.

Fine.

So I got him at the airport while you were still asleep.

[Unclear]—

You hear what I said? I said, “I got him at the airport at eight o’clock while you were still asleep!”

I wasn’t sleeping. [President Johnson laughs heartily.] [Unclear.]

Well, I don’t either. I don’t either. I’m up.

I know, but I wasn’t the one in the country.

[Laughs.] Well, you’re going to come down there and see that country, though. You’re going to—I know you don’t like these airplanes, but I’m going to fly you and Mrs. [M. Harriet] McCormack down there and show you that God’s country, and you’ll see what you’ve been missing all these years.[note 6] M. Harriet McCormack was the wife of John W. McCormack since 1920. How’s old George [J.] Feldman?[note 7] George J. Feldman was chief counsel for the House Committee on Astronautics and Space Exploration; a director of Communications Satellite Corporation from 1962 to 1965; U.S. ambassador to Malta from 1965 to 1967; and U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg from 1967 to 1969. Did he ever—

I just had lunch with him!

Well, did he appreciate being an ambassador?

Oh, yeah. [Unclear.] He had a good time over there. [Unclear.]

Well, he did a hell of a good job over there, they told me.

Yes, he was [unclear].

[J. William] Bill Fulbright [D–Arkansas] says—[note 8] J. William “Bill” Fulbright was a U.S. senator [D–Arkansas] from January 1945 to December 1974, and chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from January 1959 to December 1974.

[Unclear.]

I’m going to let you and Harriet have the tea. George and I’ll have something else.

[Laughs.] [Unclear]—

Do you and [Samuel T. “Sam”] Rayburn still have that deal, you know, where he gives you his cigar, and you give him his other presents?[note 9] Samuel T. “Sam” Rayburn was a U.S. representative [D–Texas] from March 1913 until his death in November 1961; Speaker of the House from September 1940 to November 1961; and one of Lyndon Johnson’s political mentors.

Exactly.

All right, I’ll make a deal with you.

Oh, by the way, [unclear].

They tell me Jim slipped a lot.[note 10] “Jim” is unidentified.

That’s right.

Harriet told me, I think it was. [Unclear.]

By the way, [unclear]. [Unclear.]

[Unclear.]

[Unclear.] Now, here’s Frank Thompson [Jr.] [D–New Jersey] to say hello to you.[note 11] Frank Thompson Jr. was a U.S. representative [D–New Jersey] from January 1955 to December 1980, and chair of the House Subcommittee on Libraries and Memorials from 1969 to 1971.

All right.

[Unclear], Mr. President.

Frank, fine, just doing fine. When are we going to get our higher education in?

[Unclear.]

Well, I don’t know. It’s still in that Rules Committee, isn’t it?

[Unclear.]

Yeah, good. You all have been really doing a good job on that committee this year. Now, have you got your votes on your Taft-Hartley [bill]? [Lawrence F.] Larry [O’Brien Jr.] tells me you got 220.[note 12] Lawrence F. “Larry” O’Brien Jr. was special assistant to the president for congressional affairs from 1961 to 1965; U.S. postmaster general from November 1965 to April 1968; and chair of the Democratic National Committee from 1968 to 1969 and 1970 to 1972.

We have, Mr. President. [Unclear.]

I told the leadership this morning to get ready to take it up. I thought it ought to pass, that I signed up for it. And—

[Unclear] anticipate [unclear] five hours, two [unclear].

Wonder how much time did the rule allow? One hour?

One hour on each side.

Yeah. And what are you going to do, about two hours on each side?

[Unclear.]

That won’t make it go over an extra day, will it?

[Unclear.]

Yeah.

[Unclear.]

OK, well, I’m sure glad to hear you, Frank.

Oh, thank you, Mr. President.

You’ve done a good job, and I sure appreciate it.

Well, it’s a labor of love and [unclear].

I called him, got him at the airport this morning. You tell the Speaker how he’s way behind me, and he—

[Laughs.] I’ll do that!

—tell him I’m seven hours ahead of him. I got him at eight o’clock.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Right, bye.

Here’s the Speaker.

[William R. “Bob”] Bill Anderson [D–Tennessee] is on the phone.[note 13] William R. “Bob” Anderson was commander of the USS Nautilus from 1957 to 1959; an independent gubernatorial candidate in Tennessee in 1962; and a U.S. representative [D–Tennessee] from January 1965 to January 1973. [Unclear.]

Yeah.

[Unclear.]

Yes, sir.

[Unclear] he had a great war record.

I know it, he’s an admiral.

Yes, [unclear].

Mr. President, how are you, sir?

Good to hear you. Is everything all right in Tennessee?

It’s all pretty good, sir.

[E.] Buford Ellington’s doing a good job.[note 14] E. Buford Ellington was the Democratic governor of Tennessee from January 1959 to January 1963 and January 1967 to January 1971, and became director of the Office of Emergency Planning in 1965.

Well, I’m glad to hear it. Glad to hear it, sir. [Unclear.]

[Unclear] I’m hearing good reports about you, and you keep up the good work, because Tennessee is one of our better states.

Well, that’s [unclear]. [Unclear.]

Trying to keep your Navy from sinking.

Well, I’m [unclear].

Thank you, Bill. OK.

Thank you.

Bye.