Transcript
Edited by Guian A. McKee, with Ashley Havard High and Patricia Dunn
See the daily introduction for 1964-06-20 [from the Norton edition]
Johnson’s third and final recorded call of the day went to the Kennedy family retreat in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, to share his sympathy regarding Senator Edward Kennedy’s injuries in the plane crash the previous evening. He spoke to both Robert Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy, the widow of the assassinated President.
Bobby? I’m sorry I—[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.
I just wanted to tell you that, you know, that Birch [E.] Bayh [Jr.] and his wife [Marvella Bayh] are fine and that [Edward M.] Teddy [Kennedy] [unclear] coming along well.[note 2] Indiana Senator Birch Bayh and his wife Marvella had been slightly injured in the plane crash.
How’s Teddy, Bob?
[Clears throat.] Well, he’s got a lot of . . . broken bones, and his back is in bad shape, but he’s not paralyzed. And it’s going to take, they suppose, anywhere from six months to a year, but he’s going to be fine at the end of it.
Oh, well, thank God, he’s safe.
Well, I do thank you for calling.
Looks like you just have more than you can bear, but you’re a mighty brave fellow, and you have my sympathy and all your family, and . . .
Thank you, Mr. President.
Any way in the world I can help, I’m just as close as the phone.
Well, I think [unclear].
Well, I appreciate it so much. It’s so distressing, and I know you’re carrying a heavy load. And I wished I could do something to help you. Give your mother [Rose Kennedy] my love.
[Jacqueline B.] Jackie [Kennedy] just wants to say hello to you, too.
Thank you, Bobby.
Hold on.
Bye.
Hello? Mr. President?
My dear, it looks like you have more than we can bear, don’t you?
Yeah, boy, that [unclear]. [President Johnson acknowledges.] But you’re so nice to call.
Well, I’m thinking of you, and I wished I could do something.
Well, everyone here is very touched that you were. They thank you so much.
I talked to Mr. [Thomas F.] Corriden last night about three or four o'clock [a.m.], and he thought that it was going to take time, but everything’s all right—is that it?[note 3] Thomas Corriden was the senior surgeon attending Ted Kennedy and the other victims of the plane crash. See Johnson to Thomas Corriden, 11:55 p.m., 19 June 1964, in this volume.
Yes, that’s it. I think [he'll] pretty much be in bed and everything, but at least, you know, everything will be all right.
Give Joan [Kennedy] a hug for me.[note 4] Joan Bennett Kennedy was Ted’s wife.
I will.
Thank you, Jackie.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Bye.[note 5] End of 2021 revisions.
- 7:15 p.m.: The President left the Hilton with Lynda Bird Johnson and Jack Valenti.
- 7:37 p.m.: Arrived at the Hollywood Palladium for a fund-raising dinner hosted by the California Democratic State Central Committee.
- 9:30 p.m.-9:45 p.m.: Spoke to the dinner guests before leaving the event.
- 9:50 p.m.: Left the Palladium and proceeded to the Ambassador Hotel for the President’s Club Supper Dance.
- 10:01 p.m.: Arrived at the Ambassador Hotel and proceeded to the Royal Suite for the dance.
- 10:28 p.m.: Went to the Embassy Room of the hotel for the dinner portion of the event. Lynda Bird Johnson returned to the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
- 12:30 a.m. (June 21): Stopped after leaving the President’s Club event to greet thirteen-year-old Lyle Peskin and his father Leon. Lyle’s Bar Mitzvah had originally been scheduled for the Embassy Room that evening, but had been moved to a nearby room to accommodate the President’s Club dance. As compensation, the hotel had offered the other room for free, along with a private audience with the President.
- 12:40 a.m.: Left the Ambassador Hotel accompanied by Governor and Mrs. Brown and Valenti and returned to the Hilton.
- 1:00 a.m.: Arrived at the Hilton Hotel and returned to his suite. He received a rubdown from Chief Mills and went to bed at 1:20 a.m.
Cite as
“Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy, and Jacqueline Kennedy on 20 June 1964,” Tape WH6406.12, Citation #3800, Presidential Recordings Digital Edition [Mississippi Burning and the Passage of the Civil Rights Act, vol. 7, ed. Guian A. McKee] (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2014–). URL: http://prde.upress.virginia.edu/conversations/9070149
Originally published in
Lyndon B. Johnson: Mississippi Burning and the Passage of the Civil Rights Act, June 1, 1964–June 22, 1964, ed. Guian A. McKee, vol. 7 of The Presidential Recordings (New York and London: W. W. Norton and Company, 2011).