Lyndon Johnson news stories on Newser

What Obama Can Learn From LBJ

Neal Colgrass — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 18:26:19 CDT

David Frum detects "an unspoken critique of Barack Obama' in the fourth volume of Robert Caro's massive LBJ biography, The Passage of Power . Whereas Lyndon Johnson cajoled, wooed, and threatened in order to amass support for major bills—like the Civil Rights Act and Medicare—President Obama recoils "from the...

Air Force One Death Call to Rose Kennedy Released

Mary Papenfuss — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:47:00 CST

A heart-wrenching call from Lyndon Johnson placed to Rose Kennedy from Air Force One has finally been released more than 48 years after her son was assassinated. "I wish to God there was something I could do," says Johnson the day John F. Kennedy was killed. "I wanted to tell...

Jackie O: MLK a 'Phony'

Kevin Spak — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 06:48:42 CDT

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was not a fan of Martin Luther King Jr, once describing him as "tricky" and a "phony," after hearing FBI tapes of him with a woman other than his wife in a hotel room. That's just one of the revelations contained in a new book, Jacqueline Kennedy:...

Top 10 Presidential Getaways

Polly Davis Doig — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 10:12:14 CDT

President Obama is chilling in swanky Martha's Vineyard this week ... again. And while the Massachusetts hotspot is a vacation destination that has attracted presidents Kennedy and Clinton, Time r uns down a list of other noted places where commanders in chief have gone to unwind: Florida White House: Richard Nixon...

ABC Says Jackie Tapes Not So Sordid, but Won't Spill

Mary Papenfuss — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 04:22:00 CDT

ABC officials are saying that their Jackie O tapes are not nearly as "sordid" as claimed in press reports—but aren't saying what's on them. The Daily Mail has reported that Jackie Kennedy told historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. in a lengthy interview that she believed Lyndon Johnson was behind the...

Report: Jackie O Thought LBJ Plotted JFK Assassination

Mary Papenfuss — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 07:00:00 CDT

Jackie Kennedy Onassis believed Lyndon B. Johnson was behind JFK's assassination, knew about her husband's affairs with his interns, and had her own fling with actor William Holden. Those are the stunning revelations from an interview she held decades ago, tapes of which are about to be released publicly, the...

Most Productive Congress Since 1960s Adjourns

Matt Cantor — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 07:37:19 CST

The 111th Congress adjourned last night, after passing more key legislation that affected more Americans than any since Lyndon Johnson’s 1960s “Great Society,” Bloomberg reports. That included $1.67 trillion spent to save the economy, health insurance for 32 million people, and new regulations on Wall Street; in the lame-duck...

Secret Service Almost Shot LBJ After JFK Assassination

Evann Gastaldo — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 07:35:56 CDT

We almost lost a second president just hours after losing JFK, according to The Kennedy Detail , an account of the assassination by members of the president’s security detail. In it, retired agent Gerald Blaine admits to nearly shooting the VP-turned-president, Lyndon Baines Johnson. Blaine was protecting Johnson’s house the night...

WikiLeaks Documents Are Not the Pentagon Papers

Nick McMaster — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:52:26 CDT

The release of 92,000 classified documents related to the Afghanistan war has prompted many comparisons to the Pentagon Papers. But that's a bit superficial, writes Richard Tofel for ProPublica . "In terms of important disclosures, it's not even close." The biggest WikiLeaks revelations involve Taliban fighters' use of heat-seeking missiles...