he loved lyndon johnson like his son. he would spend perhaps most sundays in washington at the johnson's home. he loved the two danzig girls. the two johnson girls. connolly says go in there and talk to bobby kennedy. i have got to sign sam rayburn. he is a very smart, brilliant little man. he is a little timid. he walked back out. he said bobby kennedy was glaring at me. i walked outside. i said i will deal with him. i will not stay in there. connolly comes back with sam rayburn. bobby kennedy says he wants lyndon johnson to withdraw from the ticket. raborn says to bobby kennedy " are you authorized to speak for your brother?" bobby kennedy's "saysno." -- kennedy says "no." he says "they come back when you are." he comes down a third time to do get johnson to withdraw and this time he meets with johnson along. >> what do you think out of all the research did jack kennedy sent his brother down to get him off the ticket or not? >> i do not know. i do not know. no one can really know. robert kennedy and world history says o

when lyndon and lady bird came to washington, lyndon's father had known sam rayburn, and mr. sam, as they called him, used to come and spend sundays, you know have sunday breakfast and then stay around the johnsons' little apartment, and he was very fond of both lyndon and lady bird. once, when johnson was still a young assistant, he got pneumonia, which of course was very serious back in those days. mrs. johnson was back in texas on a vacation, and rayburn sat next to johnson's bed all night in the hospital, in a straight backed wooden chair. he was so afraid, he was a chain smoker, he smoked all night, but he was so afraid of making a movement and disturbing lyndon, that he didn't brush, want to get up and brush the ashes away. so when lyndon johnson woke up in the morning, sam rayburn was sitting there with his lapels covered with this cigarette ash. as soon as he saw that lyndon johnson was awake, johnson recalled, rayburn leaned over him and said, "lyndon, don't worry about anything, if you need anything, call on me." and shortly johnson did call on rayburn. rayburn got

with regard to lyndon johnson. people. however, it was not necessary because it is just meaningless in his life than sex. about alice glass and helen, but alice glass i had to write at length about. i do not think the johnson people have ever really forgiven me. he always was driving down to virginia. he brought her. they toured england. she saw a mansion there. she liked it. virginia country. hostess in a liberal circle. when johnson comes toalice glass taught him to wear french cuffs so his wrists would not stick out. there are times where he takes her advice above all other advice. are only allowed one phone call. franklin roosevelt has said if you need any advice, you can call the white house, me. johnson has one call to make to decide whether to run for the and her advice. supporter, herman brown, a breaking feud which would have financed lyndon's rise. they had really clashed overshe was very beautiful. they say she was the most lyndon johnson without giving>> are you still going to vietnam? >> do you have a planned

he admires lyndon johnson.hey made sure that lyndon johnson did not even know about the bay of pigs. that whole weekend, he is sent by kennedy to introduce the german chancellor a round texas to the legislature. he takes into a country fair. he is not even in washington during the bay of pigs. whether he actually ever knew about it, probably he never knew there was a planned invasion. one thing after another is that the kennedy administration does comment. they do not tell them. when kennedy introduces the civil rights bill, for a while they will not bring into the picture at all. finally ted sorensen calls to get advice. johnson has to say "i do not know what is in the bill. i know what i read in the new york times." this is the greatest parliamentarians of america and the 20th-century. this is a man to get things through congress that no one else could get through congress and they have not even consulted him on the bill or told him what is in it. the cuban missile crisis is a more involved story. at the end

a study of lyndon johnson. this book "the passage of power" as lyndon johnson in dallas succeeds a dead president and holds the country together. thank you for joining us. see you next time.

i want you to answer my question about lyndon johnson. >> lyndon johnson, when he signed the first civil rights johnson was wonderful. he deserves the most total respect for the achievement of piloting it through. kennedy was scared and south boston's reaction to segregation was not quite as violent as birmingham but it was shocking and they liked lincoln about emancipation proclamation. i think it's not fair to the responsiveness of the kennedys. johnson was wonderful, but he coasted on the tragedy of kennedys with all of his skill, he deserves the most respectful achievement for piloting it through but it was all those events that happened before including the kennedy's commitment. >> roger if you would answer it and then i want kenneth to answer that. we are at the end, so i'll ask you to be brief and pithy. >> recap your question. >> is it fair and accurate, or accurate or both, that lyndon johnson pretty much gets the credit for being the civil rights president on legislation, or that was teed up by the kennedys, some would say? >> when lyndon johnson became president, it happened t

the presidency of lyndon johnson. sworn into office following the assassination of john f. kennedy, president johnson served for five years and signed 207 laws, including the civil rights act of 1964 and the voting rights act of 1965. this is about an hour and 15 minutes. >> good afternoon. i'm director of the john f. kennedy presidential library and museum, and on behalf of tom mcknight, executive director of the kennedy library foundation and all of my library and foundation colleagues i thank you all for coming and our c-span viewers tuning in. i also acknowledge the generous underwriters of the kennedy library forum, lead sponsor, banc of america, raytheon, boston capital, the boston foundation and our media partners "the boston globe" your let me state from the outset as clearly as i can that few individuals stood more to help john f. kennedy get elected and his running mate, lyndon johnson, who had an impact on jfk's victory in the 1960 election. it must also be noted that before that inspired partnership, the t

president lyndon b. johnson. >>> 35 years. pulitzer prize winning author robert carol has spent researching, thinking about, and writing about the life of president lyndon baines johnson. the result of that extraordinary toil, other than two pulitzer prizes, 3,388 pages so far. he has just published the "passage of power," the fourth volume of his l.b.j. biography, and the 76-year-old is far from done. he says he will move to vietnam to write the next volume on the warriors. before he does that, he joins me today. >> great to be back. >> so in the last volume, you had gotten to the point where lyndon johnson, through this extraordinary skill he had at running the senate, had passed the most -- the most important civil rights legislation since reconstruction, perhaps one of the most important pieces of legislation in american history. >> yes. >> then he begins his years as vice president, which is a huge letdown for a man who had really run washington. >> yes. he is humiliated by the kennedys. they look down on him, and they're

i keep wering something that lyndon johnson said. can always go back and amend it. i feel it's an accomplishment to get a health care. >> he delegated too much of the stimulus or even health care to congress that do you think he should have been more active, or, i mean, the alternative views, look, the republicans are very strong. the important thing is to get something done. would johnson have taken a more activist role? >> i can -- you can answer that definitely. johnson would have been on the phone every minute with the leaders of congress. to watch him work on people, you know, everybody says johnson was always talking. not so. you listen to him on with -- when he wants somebody -- when he wants something from somebody, he -- he will let the senator talk and he will let the senator talk, and all you hear from johnson sometimes is uh-huh, uh-huh. until he hears what he wants to hear. what's the lever he can push with this guy? what does he want? you know? then johnson starts speaking. you know, in this book kennedy has a tax cut b

why did lyndon johnson make that ca call?ight say, you know, you don't really know, but it's a call that's so fraught with human emotion. lyndon johnson's secretary, a woman named marie famer, gets on the phone to take down the words of the oath as kennedy and castenback are giving it to her. she says i said to her what were their voices like? she said, catsenback's was like steel, bobby's wasn't when he started. i kept thinking you shouldn't be doing this. castenback said that the fact johnson called robert kennedy in that moment is just appalling. >> it is an amazing book, the detail. i'm just, you know -- it's a big book. i'm just getting through it. i can't wait to keep reading. you are the most gripping biographer of our day. >> thank you. >> and thank you. thank you so much. and we look forward to, of course, the next installment, which is all about him embracing jfk's legacy and the passage of civil rights. >> thanks. >> so, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> robert caro. >>> up next, the showdown over women's health

lyndon johnson, jack kennedy and bobby kennedy. lyndon johnson despises jack kennedy. but he's the senate majority leader, kennedy is a young senator. johnson said of him "he's pathetic. he was pathetic as a senator, he didn't even know how to address the chair." he used to mock him, he used to literally callim not aman's man. he said he used to say to people "you know how skinny his ankles are?" and he'd hold up his fingers like this. he doesn't realize... he thinks he's going to have the democratic nomination in 1960. he doesn't realize that this young senator for whom he has no respect really is a great politician and is racing around the country corraling delegates and pressing people and taking the nomination away from him. by the time johnson wakes up it's too late. >> ifill: and his little brother whwas considered the real number two when president keedy s president, attorney general, he would be undercutting him at every turn, at least that's the way johnson saw it. >> bobby kennedy, you hate to use words as a historian like hatred, but hatred isn't too strong

what makes you think lyndon made it up there? [laughter] whatever lyndon john's soul may rest, i trust he is looking with favor upon these proceedings. proud that we've gathered to discussion his presidency. c-span has chosen to record a session on the new ground breaking book which means the kennedy library gets to vote the millions of viewers. with all sincerity. i nod my head, gray haired as it may be with respect anded a admiration for you, the new biography, for the johnson presidential library and for the man it masterfully honors. ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming to the kennedy library mark gup grove and john avlon. [applause] >> guest: i guess the competition never really ends. mark, this is an extraordinary book you've done. it is a portrait of a man by those who new him. it doesn't fall into that trap of so many somatic. you get a sense of what johnson's leadership style was. and it is such a contrast leadership style with many other presidents. because we're here at the jfk library, the book begins wit

you started living with lyndon johnson in the 1970s. are you still learning things about this man today? >> yes. i was astonished for this book to learn the sheer legislative genius with which he got, for example, the civil rights bill started again. >> so what are your big questions that you hope to address in the next volume? >> in the next volume? >> yeah. >> well, the next volume will be very darker in tone. this is really about the finest moment in lyndon johnson's life. when he takes over the government and really asserts himself and starts these wonderful programs moving. the next volume is how vietnam comes to gradually overshadow these programs and how his presidency really ends, not in triumph, but you might say in tragedy. >> wow. so that is going to be a lot darker. >> yes. >> when will that be out? >> did my publisher ask you to tell that question? two or three years. >> what about publishing right now? are you seeing a lot of changes in publishing since you started? so much information flow happens all the time. we're in t

but hate isn't too strong to describe bobby kennedy and lyndon johnson.son is vice president, robert kennedy seldom invites him, he had great parties at hickory hill. when johnson is invited he's put at what robert kennedy's wife ethyl calls the loser's table. and johnson know os it's the loser's table. >> jon: i've been at that table. and then afterwards he has a phone call with robert. >> yes. one of the most, you know, the man who told me about this call, nicholas-- died yesterday. he was robert kennedy's deputy attorney general. and i said what is the reason for the call, you know, johnson from air force one calls robert kennedy, a few minutes after he is learned that the brother he loved so much is dead. to ask him the formalities of how he takes over his brother's position. and catsenbach said you know, cohave told me, cohave called any one of a hundred government officials, forget the wording of the oath of office, we all knew it and i spoke to johnson's secretary who took down the oath of office. i said well what was it like. he said well catsenba

this is really about the finest moments in lyndon johnson's life.hen he takes over the government and really asserts himself and starts these wonderful programs moving. the next volume is how vietnam comes to gradually overshadow these programs and how his presidency really ends, not in triumph, but you might say in tragedy. >> that is going to be a lot darker. >> yes. >> when will that be out? >> my publisher tell you that? two or three years. >> what about publishing right now. are you seeing a lot of changes in publishing since you started? so much information flow happens all the time. we're in this huge digital movement. what's the value of digging deep as you do today? >> well, you know, if you find out something, i'm trying to talk about political power in my book. if you find out something about how it works and you try to explain it to people, and you manage to explain it to people, i don't say i have but that's what i've tried to do. you don't want to explain to just one generation, you want the book to last. i've been frig books 40 years.

and lyndon johnson is knocking heads the way that only lyndon johnson can knock heads. >> can listen to on the tapes. it is so great. >> it is incredible. and he has lady bird and lady bird is doing the exact same thing with grace and tact. i mean, lyndon could, you know, do this. you know. and get them by the collars and have every piece of dirt known to human kind on him. you know. and then you have lady bird reaching out afterwards. and sort of calming the feathers. keeping her own tally on how the votes were going at the exact same time that she's knowing how to balance. she's knowing how to do head start. she has tremendous relationships across the aisle. that's something i think we don't really realize. i mean, i -- i mean, i have always been struck by the affection mrs. bush between you and senator kennedy. and eleanor roosevelt was very close to john foster dulles. i mean, the reason we have the universal declaration of human rights is because of eleanor's relationship with john foster douglas. i mean, you have never -- you would never think they were friends. and so what lad