Juanita Roberts and Zephyr Wright on 18 March 1964


Transcript

Edited by David Shreve and Robert David Johnson, with Ashley Havard High and Patricia Dunn

See the daily introduction for 1964-03-18  [from the Norton edition]

Wright, who had begun working for the Johnsons in 1942 to help pay her way through college, stayed in the family’s employ even after her graduation, a reflection in large measure of the scarce employment opportunities afforded female college-educated African Americans throughout this period. Wright remained the family cook until President Johnson’s departure from the White House in 1969 and, only a few months after this call, occupied a prominent spot among those who gathered to witness President Johnson’s signing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Turning to his longtime employee at the signing ceremony, the President gave Zephyr Wright the pen that he used to sign the historic legislation. “You deserve this,” he noted on the occasion, “more than anyone else.”[note 1] Leonard H. Marks interview, Bar Report, June/July 2000.

Juanita Roberts

We have [correspondents/correspondence] asking us if the President [Lyndon B. Johnson] and the [Johnson] family . . . likes beans.[note 2] 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. Well, I know enough to say yes. [Chuckles.]

Zephyr Wright

Uh-huh.

Roberts

But I wanted to check with you.

Wright

Mm-hmm.

Roberts

What would you say if you were asked that question by a responsible person?

Wright

Oh, I would say, yes!

Roberts

And . . .

Wright

They didn’t ask what kind, did they?

Roberts

No, but I know that he particularly likes pork and beans.

Wright

He like[s] pork and beans; he like[s] pinto beans; he like[s] lima beans . . . green beans.

Roberts

That’s green limas or dried?

Wright

Mm-hmm . . . green limas.

Roberts

Green?

Wright

Mm-hmm.

Roberts

Mm-hmm. And the green . . . fresh green beans?

Wright

Mm-hmm.

Roberts

Uh-huh.

Wright

And he like[s] the Blue Lake canned green beans, you know, marinated, and use it as a salad.[note 3] Blue Lake beans are the dark green stringless beans grown originally in the Blue Lake district near Ukiah, California.

Roberts

Uh-huh.

Wright

Marinated in French dressing.

Roberts

Uh-huh, yeah.

Wright

So, he like[s]—well, that’s not a bean, though, that’s a pea. I started to say green peas. But he just like[s] beans.

Roberts

Now, the green limas, you don’t—

Wright

Baby limas.

Roberts

Green baby limas . . .

Wright

Mm-hmm.

Roberts

How do you prepare those for him?

Wright

Just in salted water. And cook them and add a little oleomargarine and pepper.[note 4] On a fat-restricted diet ever since his 1955 heart attack, Johnson urged Wright to experiment with supposedly healthier alternatives to butter or bacon fat, such as oleomargarine. After the heart attack, Wright had even developed the habit of delivering a card with each meal—referred to by the President as his “love letters”—that listed the amount of carbohydrates, protein, and fat in each plate of food.

Roberts

Uh-huh . . . uh-huh.

Wright

And cook them for a good long while until the juice is kind of thick.

Roberts

Yes. Uh-huh.

Wright

Mm-hmm.

Roberts

You used to use the Velveeta, but you don’t do that anymore?

Wright

Well, I do that—

Roberts

For parties?

Wright

—for parties. Uh-huh. [Roberts acknowledges.] We use the Velveeta . . . also mushrooms. You know, you call it Lima Beans with Cheese and Mushroom Sauce.

Roberts

Uh-huh. And the pintos, I guess you cook like I do with salt pork?

Wright

Uh-huh. That’s right.

Roberts

Or ham bones?

Wright

That’s right.

Roberts

And pork and beans . . . do you doctor them up?

Wright

Not for him. He like[s] them just plain. He doctors them himself with some kind of pepper sauce or something like that.

Roberts

Uh-huh, all right. Zephyr, do you know where any of the chili cards are? Chili recipe cards?[note 5] Copies of this recipe card can be found in various files at the Lyndon B. Johnson Library, the most accessible of which is “Lady Bird’s Pedernales River Chili” Recipes (Articles; Cookbooks), Reference File, Lyndon B. Johnson Library.

Wright

Uh-uh. I sure don’t. I may have one or two here.

Roberts

Well, somebody’s got some, and I’ll find them, because I need that one also.

Wright

OK.

Roberts

Nice talking to you.

Wright

Okeydoke.

Roberts

Thank you a lot.

Wright

You’re welcome.

Roberts

Bye.

Wright

Bye.[note 6] End of 2021 revisions.

The Quadriad adjourned at 6:10 and the President greeted Averell Harriman for a brief photo session and a discussion of Harriman’s forthcoming trip to Ghana, Nigeria, and the Congo. Harriman was set to embark the following morning. Amid rumors that Harriman’s status in the administration had been downgraded, President Johnson declared that the recent coup in Zanzibar made necessary a vastly improved American fact-finding effort throughout Africa and that the circumstances were so critical that a high-ranking political officer ought to be placed in charge of the initiative.[note 7] Carroll Kilpatrick, “Harriman Being Sent on African Missions,” Washington Post, 17 March 1964.

Upon Harriman’s departure, the President devoted his next half hour to political affairs, welcoming three Democratic Senate freshmen for a photo and strategy session. Gale McGee of Wyoming and Frank Moss of Utah had both upset Republican incumbents in 1958, and Moss had prevailed largely because an independent had divided the Republican vote. Meanwhile, Quentin Burdick had become the first Democrat in two generations to represent North Dakota in the U.S. Senate. All three were to face strong challengers in 1964, with Burdick up against millionaire Thomas Kleppe, McGee opposed by the Wyoming Republican Party chair, and Moss slated to run against the president of Brigham Young University. All had been staunch supporters of Kennedy and Johnson and were eager to stand behind President Johnson in the impending civil rights debate.

After the freshmen senators departed, the President called Larry O’Brien. Making preparations for his departure to Democratic National Committee Chairman John Bailey’s suite at the Sheraton Park Hotel and seeking a brief update on the administration’s farm bill, the President invited O’Brien to the Oval Office for a drink.

Cite as

“Juanita Roberts and Zephyr Wright on 18 March 1964,” Tape WH6403.11, Citation #2550, Presidential Recordings Digital Edition [Toward the Great Society, vol. 5, ed. David Shreve and Robert David Johnson] (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2014–). URL: http://prde.upress.virginia.edu/conversations/9050099

Originally published in

Lyndon B. Johnson: Toward the Great Society, March 9, 1964–April 13, 1964, ed. David Shreve and Robert David Johnson, vol. 5 of The Presidential Recordings (New York and London: W. W. Norton and Company, 2007).