after 40 minutes of rumor, jawness offense doesn't know what's happening, kenny o'donnell, who was very close to kennedy, a friend as well as an aide, walks in and lady bird wrote in her diary, "seeing the stricken face of kenny o'donnell who loved him, we knew." a moment later another kennedy aide comes in up to lyndon johnson and said, "mr. president." and it's the first time he's been called that. >> rose: so johnson reacts how? >> he is transformed, you know. when he was roaming around the senate floor and he was a figure, you know, of-- during the three years where he didn't have power it's like someone-- the lack of power almost made him ill. he lost this great amount of weight. he had this hangdog look like this. his suits were too big on him. his steps were shorter. as he is standing there, lady bird said it was like his face turned into a bronze image. people who knew johnson knew that this was what he was like in emergencies. and by the time the secret service agents come in to tell him to get to the plane, he is in charge. >> rose: and he basically said later that, "i felt li

day, valenti called and said anything that the vice president asks for, i mean -- i'm sorry, kenny o'donnell called and said, anything the vice president asks for from the pentagon, you got to clear it here. anything. you know, a plane ride, an extra aides or what have you. i thought, well, you know when johnson becomes president, having been subjected to that. it will be another world. it was a very short time before valenti called with the same instruction. you lived in those vice presidential years. >> yes, but i had left to help organize the peace corps, i was close to shriver. whose deputy i became -- senator mondale, what's your thought? >> those of us supporting humphrey thought exactly that. the convention was one night, the big night was his birthday. and if the convention had decided to go for -- lyndon, it would have been a birthday party. we, by the time the convention got started, we didn't have any opponents any more. some of it for tragic reasons, but we -- we should have been the clear putative nominee so we could have made a more successful convention. >> the people with the

one day when lanny called and anything that the vice president asked for, i mean, i'm sorry, kenny o'donnell called and said anything the vice president asks for from the pentagon, you got to clear it here. anything, you know. a plane ride, an extra aides or what have you. i thought well, you know, when johnson becomes president, haven't been subjected to that and it will be another world. it wasn't long before he called with the same instruction. you lived in those presidential years. >> yes, but i had left to organize the peace corps. i was close to shriver, whose deputy i became, and i didn't have that much exposure to lbj during that period of time. i would get it reflected from schreiber sometimes. >> let me add to this while we're on the humphrey thing. i was at a the 1968 convention. it's always been my sense that johnson really wanted the convention to draft him. and had they had done that, that he would have come back and run for president. senator mondale, what's your thought? >> well, those of us supporting humphrey thought exactly that. the convention was one night, the big night