A Land of Milk and Honey

[RogueBeaver]

For Filipino voters last week there was no place to hide. Signs and posters begged them to re-elect "the Congress man with the Golden Heart." Along the highways, motorists were urged, DRIVE CAREFULLY THE LIFE YOU SAVE MAY HELP ELECT SERGIO OSMEÑA JR. There was no escape in movie theaters or bookstores, or on TV or even in the courts—political campaigning has taken over the national life in what has become the closest presidential race in 20 years.
Bathroom Murder. The ruling Liberal Party, headed by incumbent President Diosdado Macapagal, is running scared. The Nacionalistas are crowing that public-opinion polls show their candidate, Senate Majority Leader Ferdinand Marcos, neck and neck with Macapagal. Both candidates have published glowing biographies. The President's, entitled Macapagal—The Incorruptible, runs over 200 pages. His rival's, called For Every Tear a Victory, is not only fatter and more fulsome, but has been made into a film that runs for three weepy hours. A Manila critic described it as a trilogy: "The first part is about Marcos, the second part is about Marcos, and the third part is about Marcos."
The movie has quite a tale to tell. In 1939, when Marcos was a stripling of 22, he was tried and convicted of the murder of Julio Nalundasan, a political foe of his father's, who was shot dead one evening while brushing his teeth. A brilliant law student who passed his bar exam with the highest grade in the country, Marcos successfully appealed his case to the Supreme Court. During World War II, he led a hard-hitting guerrilla campaign against the Japanese and, at war's end, emerged with 27 U.S. and Filipino medals and citations. ​

On Again, Off Again. Marcos and his party have been battling a Liberal attempt to ban his biographic film on the flimsy technical grounds that the full Board of Censors had never screened it. The Nacionalistas appealed to the courts and the ban was revoked. The Liberals carried the case to the Court of Appeals and the film was banned again. By last week it had gotten all the way to the Supreme Court, and it appeared that the legal struggle would continue indefinitely. Macapagal's problem is complicated by the fact that his own biographic film—despite simultaneous shooting in three studios and the Malacañang Palace—is not yet ready for release.
There are other issues in the campaign, which has only six weeks to go. In the first, fine rapture of his 1961 election, Macapagal appointed a presidential anti-graft committee. Its report last year stated that "graft and corruption have invaded all branches of the government on a nationwide and more massive scale." The Nacionalistas have tried to use the report against Macapagal, but have been unable to pin anything on him since his personal record is remarkably clean for a Filipino politician. Anticorruption has become the main plank in the campaign of a third candidate in the race, ex-Foreign Secretary Raul Manglapus, who left the Liberal Party to run for the presidency as leader of the reform-minded Party for Philippine Progress. ​

Both major candidates have been touring the grass roots. Macapagal invaded northern Luzon—Marcos' stronghold—in his air-conditioned Ford Galaxie with license plate No. 1, and was in good form, averaging 20 handshakes a minute. Marcos is putting on a more colorful show, appearing bedecked with a lei made of sampaguitas, the national flower, and singing duets with his beauteous wife, Imelda, before jeeping off to the next barrio.
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Candidates Gallery​

Liberal​

President Diosdado Macapagal (L-PA) (inc.)​

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Nacionalista​

Senate Majority Leader Ferdinand Marcos (N-IN)​

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The Issues​

Economy: Pres. Macapagal will continue his economic liberalization programmes that were stalled by the recalcritant Congress elected in 1963 if re-elected. Marcos will likely halt further reforms while Macapagal has slammed his rival as an economic nationalist who would mire the country in permanent Third World status.​

Graft: Macapagal's anti-corruption units and auditor-general have been starved of funding by Congress. The President is also seeking a Liberal Congress to further his domestic agenda. Marcos has also promised to root out corruption, though the President himself has a notoriously squeaky-clean record.​

Vietnam: Macapagal has pledged to send a combat engineering battalion to Vietnam, Marcos has refused to make any commitments.​

NAC: 47%
LIB: 44%

PRO: 5% ​

 

[RogueBeaver]

The VRA is still stuck up here with the Southerners continuing to filibuster despite all the odds being against them. Fortunately with the new reform we only need 60 votes to end this nonsense instead of 67 as was previously the case. Nonetheless they’re still on somewhat germane topics; it is only later when they’ll start reading all sorts of weird things like newspapers & novels in order to drag it out. I am going to vote for the VRA & will have to explain the vote back in Texas, but it is the right thing to do both for the country & in my opinion the party. It is long past the time when the 13-15th had some actual steel backbones behind them & not just empty phrases on scraps of paper as the latter 2 currently are in all but name. HB & I will probably be the only Southerners who will vote for it which is not a surprise. Or as Bob put it the other day, “if you do that it would show a true profile in courage” & then joked about him adding a new chapter to the book. Otherwise there is not that much domestic legislation being rammed through until this is cleared, though the arms deal to SVN did pass by large bipartisan majorities. The coup was 2 days ago & the Marshal has assumed the role of head of government while Thieu the role of head of state. I suspect that Thieu would be better as sole leader either of the junta or as executive president because TM is far too flamboyant & unserious about much except about drug smuggling. Not exactly the qualities one is looking for in a national leader, but fortunately State seems to be smarter about this than I thought they were. D says K is an unserious asshole who wears pearl-handled revolvers & a white scarf while inspecting –a Patton wannabe.
- Bush Diaries, Apr. 6

Fulbright is just as much of an asshole as I remembered him, always droning on & on about something while not letting the witnesses, admin or otherwise, get a word in. The European subcommittee is far more tolerable while we listen to concerns of our allies across the pond. There is a good chance that there will be another UK election this year that would bring Lab & Wilson to power, meanwhile there is also a presidential election in the Philippines that might see Macapagal tossed in favour of Marcos. If Macapagal wins a second term, which no president except Quezon has ever managed, then we will get that engineering battalion sent to Vietnam plus continued economic reforms. Here’s the rub: if Marcos wins, despite being pro-American, we will not get the economic reforms & the battalion becomes iffier. To execute a U-turn would damage his political support at home from the intellectuals who dislike Macapagal’s economic liberalism. However at this stage I would say that Marcos has a solid lead & it is up to Macapagal to make up the lead in the remaining time. There is also a presidential election due in France this year which will see de Gaulle returned to power- at the age of 75 no less- but the succession is a murky prospect which no one seems to be thinking about. De Gaulle will be 82 when his second term expires so there is a high likelihood of him dying in office. Closer to home there has been talk of little but the VRA. To be honest I cannot wait until this bill is enacted & we can move onto other things like all the nanny-statist crap that Johnson is going to ram down our throats in the fall. That is what needs to be slowed down & amended, which is why Bobby is introducing some amendments for localization which I will support if not co-sponsor- that will throw a spanner into the WH plumbing.

- Nixon Diaries, Apr. 30

The boss is in Europe for the 20th anniversary of VE Day which is being celebrated around the world & we are still prepping for the 20th of VJ Day in August. Last month the 100th anniversaries of ACW commemorations wrapped up so it has been a busy year in that respect. We are still working on getting the VRA through the Senate which will preoccupy the Senate until the August recess; thereafter we can focus on other domestic matters which have been held up due to these delays. POTUS is spending a lot of time on the phone with various recalcitrants as he rounds up the final votes to secure enactment. Another bill we’ve sent to Congress is the EOA which will help considerably with urban dev. RFK has introduced an amendment to modify the delivery method to block grants & therefore enable local leaders to distribute the money as they wish. Since the VRA will deal with the Southern states mishandling of those funds the boss sees no need to defeat the amendment & it will be passed along with it come August. So far we have the votes we need to end the Dixiecrat filibuster & then we can finally move past these endless civil rights discussions into the core of this presidency: New Deal 2.0, but permanent, is how he sees it. His vision is of people working machinery in rural areas, government reaching out to improve the underprivileged’s lives, etc. Right now the Republicans, a few Southerners (RFK is the only Northern Dem with doubts) will not vote for most of it but the votes are there nonetheless & it will get through even if there are no more than 220 ayes as has been the case in the House on more than a few occasions recently. When he gets back we will try to get this through before June so everyone can go home on schedule- just a couple of more votes to be nailed down.

- Jenkins Diaries, May 8

The VRA comes up for a vote next week & all the votes are nearly rounded up. After eighteen months of CR debates it will be quite a relief to end the travesty of waiting a century too long & move onto less emotional, more bread & butter type legislation such as the economy, domestic spending & the like. Only 2 Southerners are going to vote for it, both Republicans. Actually Baker is wavering, only G is willing to unhesitatingly take that plunge. TBH I don’t really see a political downside once you get past the initial constituent anger phase, given that a Democrat is hardly going to be running against a Republican on civil rights. However given regional mores & the seeming betrayal the next trip home will be hell on earth, & I would not be surprised at all if he got death threats for that vote. Right now I’m trying to keep VRA in the back of my mind & focus on other things coming down the pipeline. My amendment to the EOA has been accepted by the WH & that is just about all I can do right now. I won’t have the seniority to craft bills of my own until ’69 most likely so for the next 4 years I have to focus on amendments, committee work & speeches. As the saying goes, a workhorse not a show horse, & I think I’ve made a good impression so far with Teddy’s help. Armed Services continues to be the most interesting committee but on Judiciary we are now considering Marshall’s confirmation to SCOTUS, a vote in which I will quite happily vote yes given his sterling qualifications. At home there is an increasing chorus for me to intervene in the Assembly deadlock- in which I have no interest in dealing with. I’m operating nationally, not locally & I am not aiming to challenge Rocky as a Tammany-style boss of NY, which is not germane to a U.S. Senator’s duties IMO.

- RFK Diaries, May 31

The VRA finally passed last night at roughly 11:30 p.m. when cloture was invoked & the Southerners finally caved in. It has been 18 months of CR talk which has finally come to a close with a dark chapter in our history. What was interesting to see was our 2 Southern senators, Bush & Baker, vote yes with everyone staring at them like they were from another planet? Both spoke quite well on how this was a vote that was a century overdue & that it was matter of basic American values applying to each & every citizen regardless of race. At the last minute they tried to introduce an amendment for women because many liberals can be quite sexist as well, not just Republicans. That was spiked in committee & had to be yanked, no pun intended. With the EOA’s passage assured there is much more domestic legislation heading down the pipeline & we must be prepared for it. Rumour has it that there will be another UK election before the year is out, which will likely result in a Lab victory. We are all hoping for a Liberal win in the Philippines to bolster out effort in Vietnam. I’m going to be heading to Vietnam once the session ends to check up on what’s going on & try to meet with Thieu & the Marshal.
- Nixon Diaries, June 26

1) The block grant amendment was defeated by the White House in a phone marathon IOTL. ITTL since LBJ is away in Europe it gets snuck in.

 

[historybuff]

Maybe Nixon could be Speaker of the House sometime.

 

[RogueBeaver]

How exactly does a senator become Speaker? Unless you mean majority leader or president pro tem?

 

[DSS]

Maybe Nixon could be Speaker of the House sometime.

Unfortunately, as awesome as that would be, Nixon's already in the Senate, and he would never go back to the House. Though Senate Majority Leader Nixon has been brought up, and I'm still very supportive.

 

[historybuff]

Oops, I meant President Pro Tem. There's been a few TL's I've read where Gerald Ford becomes Speaker though.

 

[RogueBeaver]

I am just back from Vietnam & I can say that our strategy continues to function as expected. The new equipment & training is improving ARVN/VNAF morale while the Marshal and Thieu continue to debate over who is really in charge. Right now it appears to be MK but in the long haul Thieu will overtake him playing the tortoise to the hare. He is a far more competent commander if much less of a natural politician. Most of all, he is reliable, keeps his word & is a much shrewder judge of international opinion which matters very much for SVN. To think that last year there was talk of committing combat troops, when in fact there is absolutely no need for that. What is needed is a strong government capable of maintaining provincial loyalties when times get tough since keeping the urban cliques in line is a piece of cake. In the long haul they will have to create a state with a military, not a military with a state as is currently the case here & in Pakistan. At home the EOA was passed & now there is much more to come. Among the legislation that has been passed, here is a partial list: the HEA, SSA & Medicaid. The latter 2 I think could be better served via a voucher system so a procedural vote against & yes on the main vote. What worries me is that all these agencies will subsidize a dependency culture & erode traditional family structures that held everything together during the worst of the Depression- something that many seems to have forgotten. Immigration is finally going through but we will not be able to take it up until the fall session when everyone’s minds will be focussed on it. I’m quite happy the brothers decided to take that up as their first major piece of legislation- to show what they are interested in can become a bipartisan endeavour.
- Nixon Diaries, July 7

Soon we are all going back home for the August recess, though I do plan to head to the NATO Parliamentary Conference in October- the UK election is next week & Lab will coast to a win. I’m a bit wary of what they will do, because there has never been a Labour government re-elected for two full terms in British history. I wonder why- it might have something to do with their track record. Obviously, but it is time for a change every once in a while, even if to remind you why the other guys were around for so long. The INA is working its way through the House now, all the bigots, DAR & their ilk, going on about how it damages the current system by flooding us with immigrants. Of course Teddy & I have a somewhat different perspective on this, as do all but the Southern Democrats and a couple of ultraconservative Republicans. Both G & HB are voting for this one as are all the Republicans, which is a long-due overhaul of an antiquated system that discriminates against those outside of Europe and North America. It should prioritize economic migrants, not refugees, though we cannot neglect them either. We purposely wrote these criteria into the bill yet I am not sure if the Administration will not seek to junk it because they still believe in the “huddled masses” concept. That’s all lovely, but it weighs down our economy with integration monies. That is why they have to be a minority of the new applicants, excepting of course War Pac refugees. When we come back in September there will be a lot on our plate, mainly educational & urban dev legislation that was delayed from the spring session. As was discussed in HELP, I’d prefer that this be done indirectly, because federal bureaucrats are clueless about local conditions. My amendment passed last time, this time the WH is trying to kill it. My WH source says that Johnson was “hopping mad” when he found out about my last block grant amendment.
- RFK Diaries, July 31

UK general election, 3 August
630 seats in the House of Commons
Labour: 373 seats (+73)
Conservative: 247 seats
Liberal: 10 seats
Incumbent Prime Minister: Alec Douglas-Home (Conservative)
Subsequent Prime Minister: Harold Wilson (Labour)

The boss has signed the INA into law & now we are full speed ahead to the real meat once we get back after Labour Day. There are a dozen task forces devising new ideas for agencies & bills to be presented to Congress. We killed the Kennedy amendment for block grants, which is directly at odds with the boss’ view of the GS. He believes in New Deal 2.0, directed federally, while RFK doesn’t have a single New Deal bone in his body, but a strong local-government advocate & sees this more as a PPP endeavour than anything. In that respect he’s closer to the GOP than all our other Northern senators, which explains why Nixon co-sponsored that amendment. The boss is going to be hysterical if they ever get together on a major piece of domestic legislation- not that it would pass because while the GOP can eventually retake the House I don’t see them coming close in the Senate anytime soon. Meanwhile he is going to visit Vietnam ahead of the upcoming SEATO meeting in Bangkok where we are all anxious to discuss the treaty’s renewal, plus some arms deals for our better-behaved friends in the region. Fulbright wants a clampdown on aid to Africa & more resources devoted to Europe & Vietnam while ignoring Asia. When I made a remark about “these people” (Dixie) yesterday he blew up on me, but said that they use it because once you get past that they don’t have anything to offer their constituents. Rayburn put it best: “all you guys ever say is n------, n------, n------” & now that era is ending. After that there will be no foreign trips for the foreseeable future, though the VP will lead our delegation to the NATO Conference. Hubert likes those trips abroad because they boost his ego & make him feel a valued part of the Administration, which he is.
Jenkins Diaries, Aug. 5

Congress is about to reconvene for the fall session & it is far too soon for my liking. The major legislation heading down the tubes is mostly to do with education, most of which I will vote against due to how it is structured. Everything has to be taken on a case by case basis rather than just a blanket yes or no vote. I went down to Houston to explain my vote for the VRA which caused considerable hostility to say the least. Several death threats were phoned into both our (H & I)’s offices which reduced one of the women to tears from the sheer hysteria. I told him never to threaten one of my staffers again then hung up. Poor soul- she was crying for at least 10 minutes, you never get over that kind of horrid abuse. There is so much hate festering down there, because as all 4 of us agree, it peaks before it dies, they are angry because the old system is now DOA & will never come back. Pure reaction more than anything else, they masked class warfare with racial rhetoric. An ad hoc alliance between all whites against the poor blacks was necessary & appealed to the middle class on it as an economic/law enforcement issue since pure appeal to prejudice wouldn’t work. The President described it best: “if you can convince the lowest white man that he’s higher than the highest black man...” What they feared most was an alliance between the poor whites & blacks. Huey Long was the first to recognize & harness it into a coalition, which is exactly what the Dems are trying to do. However all this welfare dependency is eroding the family structure & most Dems don’t seem to care about the consequences. Pat Moynihan’s warnings are quite stark. Bob says he’ll wait a couple of years before telling them “I told you so” because no one is listening; they’re all caught up in this mess.
- Bush Diaries, Aug. 31

September has been a busy month. Both the HEA & Job Corps got through, the latter being a straight lift of the NYA he headed nearly 30 years ago, by lopsided margins. Dems voted unanimously for both, which is quite rare these days. We of course voted against the Job Corps but largely for the HEA. Barry voted against both, he’s appalled at all that’s coming through the pipeline so quickly with barely any time to fully digest all the bills. We’re all doing our best though & Bobby says the HELP debates are getting shorter with the votes increasingly more lopsided. He’s mostly acquiescing in this because there is nothing he opposes here, while the rest of us do on general principle. This will be the year where everything gets through & then next year there will be a mad rush before summer when everyone will transition into campaign mode for the midterms. Already I’ve been attending RNC meetings & Bliss is fixing up our lousy organization that got us trounced last time. He’s convinced me that we can win the House in 2 or 3 cycles if we play our cards right & the expected backlash materializes. With the recent Watts riots are a foreboding of what’s to come the Dems will be in serious danger. If their white blue-collars turn against their minorities, the NDC collapses & we win in ’68 while they’re in an existential crisis. It is our job to help this process along.
- Nixon Diaries, Sept. 29

 

[RogueBeaver]

The NATO IPC was certainly an interesting one, where everyone was focussed primarily on defence issues. Hubert led our delegation & the UK one was led by their new MOD. I don’t see much quality on the Lab frontbench, now that I’m starting to follow events on that side of the pond much more intently than I used to. I’m not surprised that the ones with the most backbone on that side are a Lab from Leeds, Denis Healey, and a woman doing her best to not flash her very apparent Blue creds, Margaret Thatcher. Were I on that side of the pond I would either be an ONT or a Lib, depending on the issue. It is rather unfortunate that the Tory right does not exist as a viable force anymore- are they switchers? Meanwhile everyone else is talking about the upcoming election in France where Mitterrand is running the General a tough race even if the outcome is predetermined. I’m mildly surprised that he’s polling so well, for even many French who don’t agree with CDG’s domestic policies like his foreign policy & assertion of French identity. Surely that’s worth a couple of points of crossover lefties in the polls? LBJ does not give a damn about foreign policy outside of Vietnam- he has barely left the US since becoming President, which I find appalling & proof of all the European stereotypes about us. The most important of these is that we’re insular, uncouth & uncultured, the quintessential cowboys. Next summer I want to go to Europe before I have to do my first round of nationwide stumping for Democrats in the midterms. My contacts at the DNC are beginning to suit up, for if this rioting continues it will not bode well for the party. Republicans love to use the law enforcement issue against us, but I see it as a mixture of the two. Our slogan should be “tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime”, but that requires a shift in thinking from the New Deal.

- RFK Diaries, Oct. 5

We’re winding up now, the HEA has been signed by the boss & now it is just routine legislation in advance of next year’s big project: Model Cities which will consume most of our time & energy. The boss is prepping for the midterms now, the November off-years are sure holds. This time we will be playing defence, not offence & the aim will be to discuss all the good that this Congress & the President have done for the American people. There has already been a commission created to study the causes of Watts- which was entirely due to Anderson taking his eye off the ball & focusing on small fry like Berkeley students allegedly plotting to lie in front of troop trains. California will be a tough governorship to hold next year, Brown is going to violate his no-third-term pledge & run anyways. Rockefeller is invulnerable in NY, though come 1970 RFK can take him out when he will not have to worry about playing career hopscotch. In PI we are still hoping for a Macapagal victory & it looks like he is capable of pulling off a Truman ’48 upset if everyone goes to the polls. Now more than ever we need a reliable ally in Malacanang & he is by far the better choice. I highly doubt Filipinos want a murderer as their president, even if he did get acquitted. There is also an election coming up in Canada which Pearson will win easily, the boss is planning to call them both with congratulations once the results are in. A meeting with the leadership today went reasonably well- the boss spent an hour with Dirksen & Halleck to keep everything lubricated. The IPC went quite well, the 3 ranking ones we sent were Nixon, Fulbright & RFK along with Hubert leading the delegation. Hubert sent the President a report that they are committed to an increased commitment next year, particularly from the Germans which had the side effect of pleasing the French.
- Jenkins Diaries, Oct. 31

In 2 days we will see Pearson get a second term & in a couple of weeks the Philippine results. France does not vote until year’s end & CDG is still maintaining a comfortable double-digit lead in the polls. Mitterrand is running a strong campaign that would in my opinion win easily against anyone but de Gaulle. Right now the French Left is in a state of disarray, this huge, unwieldy coalition is unworkable & the effects would be quite apparent were they in a position to win control of the AN. Fortunately that is not the case right now. There is little going on in the Senate right now to speak of, the focus is on slowing down the freight train that is LBJ. Watts has had a commission created to deal with it & the report is expected out early next spring- Anderson’s fault for not reacting properly. Just like Brown to be a modern-day Nero, vacationing while the state goes up in flames. Had I won in ’62 there would’ve been National Guard mobilization within minutes of receiving the request from LA, but they chose to dawdle & worry about a hypothetical, irrelevant threat such as troop train lie-downs. There is simply a lack of concern for the middle class in California- law enforcement, an end to the gravy train & endless spending. The next gubernatorial candidate, likely George Christopher who is a softie, needs to tackle these issues if we are to survive down here. I met with Christopher the other day; he says he is prepared to face these challenges. Nonetheless I would like to see a conservative in the Mansion. I’ll start scouting among the House delegation to see if any of them would be interested. Christopher would at least be tough on law and order issues that much I know- & that might be what I have to settle for.
- Nixon Diaries, Nov. 5

Canadian federal election, Nov. 8
265 seats in the 27th Parliament

Liberal: 143 seats, 41.2% (+12, + 1.2%)
PC: 86 seats, 31.6% (-11, -0.8%)
NDP: 18 seats, 15.3% (+1, +2.4%)
RC: 9 seats (new creation)
Socred: 5 seats (party split)

Incumbent Prime Minister: Lester Pearson (Lib)

Philippine presidential election, Nov. 19
(L) Diosdado Macapagal/ Gerardo Roxas: 47.8%
(N) Ferdinand Marcos/ Fernando Lopez: 47.4%
(P) Raul Manglapus/ Manuel Manahan: 4.6%

Incumbent President: Diosdado Macapagal (Lib)

Both our candidates won in Ottawa & Manila, which is excellent news. Predictably the cries of fraud are going out given that it was less than a 0.5% margin but Macapagal is honest & has a clean record. Of course Marcos will probably run again in ’69 once M is term-limited out of the Palace, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Here at home everyone has headed home for Thanksgiving before we head back for the final two weeks leading into the Xmas recess. Watts blew up over the summer & the commission is still a couple of months out from reporting. There are two components: law enforcement & dealing with the underlying issues, & the latter will not be fixed by endless subsidies- you need jobs, mostly blue-collar. That is what Bob is trying to set up in Bed-Stuyvesant but that is only one small, local project. Nonetheless as a test run for the PPP concept it is a good start & hope he finds the right people to help him. Business doesn’t like him at all, not since the 1962 steel strike which went over the line IMO, but he doesn’t like them & can’t conceal it- nor can he conceal his emotions. That is too bad because he’s by far the best Democrat they’ve got policy-wise & is at least willing to listen. After Xmas we are coming back for more legislation as everyone’s thoughts will begin to turn to the midterms- Ray Bliss is reinvigorating the RNC & will try to gain as much as possible outside the Senate.

- Nixon Diaries, Nov. 30

Senator Kennedy: You might not have the responsibility in each one of these fields, but you certainly are mayor of the city and therefore we need some leadership.
Mayor Yorty: I do not need a lecture from you on how to run my city.
Kennedy: One of the problems is not just a question of people going around promising Negroes or the poor all kinds of things, but the fact that these people expect to have as much of a chance as you and I have had.
Yorty: Well, certainly they will not have the chance you have had, but I hope they have the one that I have had.
Senator Ribicoff: I would say that the city of Los Angeles right now, from your testimony, does not stand for a damn thing.
Yorty: Well, it stands for a lot. We are a great city.

"You are being extremely unfair. I think you should confine your questions to things that are possible for me to answer without bringing a computer."
After Yorty had explained several times that he had no authority to specific areas, Ribicoff declared: "This morning you have really waived authority and responsibility in the following areas of Los Angeles: schools, welfare, transportation, employment, health and housing, which leaves you as the head of the city basically with a ceremonial function, police and recreation."

Mayor Yorty: That is right, and fire.

Senator Ribicoff: Collecting of sewage?

Yorty: Sanitation, that is right.

Ribicoff: In other words, basically you lack jurisdiction, authority, responsibility for what makes a city move?

Yorty: That is exactly it.

In the investigation's harshest denunciation so far, Ribicoff then criticized Yorty for failing to provide leadership in the ghetto: "You are giving short shrift, and you are short-changing a few generations by doing absolutely nothing for the disadvantaged groups." The rest of the questioning was equally acrimonious, but Yorty remained calm, his face reddening only occasionally. As he saw it, he told the subcommittee, the trouble was that "in the East they tend to look at the whole nation, look at the cities and think they are all the same. They are all different, and they have to be handled differently, and ours certainly has to be handled in a different way." As the end neared, Bobby Kennedy took a last crack at Yorty: "The mayor of Los Angeles I would like to have stay here through all of these hearings, and I think he could safely do so, because as I understand from your testimony, you have nothing to get back to." Answered Yorty: "That is sort of a ridiculous statement."

1) Edited for brevity, the rest is mostly a feature on LA.

 

[historybuff]

Well, Marcos won't be a problem anytime soon. Who's this Walter character?

 

[RogueBeaver]

Marcos can still run in 1969 when Macapagal is term-limited. IOTL the results were 51-42 for Marcos.

Walter Jenkins is LBJ's longtime chief of staff.

 

[Wendell]

This is a good read thus far. Please continue.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

RB you mentioned something about nuptials, who are you planning on marrying??

 

[Historico]

Lol, god it took me back to Bobby's grilling of the Teamsters with his Watts investigation. Keep it comming

 

[RogueBeaver]

The New Year is now upon us as Congress reconvenes & all the focus is once again on urban issues. LBJ’s commission will be reporting in a few months & we are all anxious to see what the report will say. Most likely it will not shift the blame entirely onto CA but instead try to focus at the underlying issues- LBJ has stacked it with quite a few liberals to ensure that outcome. The holidays were quite nice when we went back to Houston; everyone was quite happy with how this past year has turned out & hopes that this upcoming year will be much better. There is huge potential for November gains not just in Congress but the governorships & in the state legislatures. This is our big chance to strangle LBJ’s legislative agenda before it gets completely out of control. RN & I agree that retaking the Senate anytime soon is impossible, it could take a decade at this rate given that so many Southern seats are off-limits to us, though that will eventually change once the stranglehold is broken. In California there is little hope of finding a suitable candidate in place of Christopher, though RN is still canvassing amongst his House members in hopes of finding a strong conservative. In NY there is no hope of defeating Rocky & Bob says he has “precisely zero” intention of running for governor in ’70, given that a) he despises local politics b) he’s running for POTUS in ’72. UPDATE: got a note from RN, he’s convinced Craig Thomas to run against Christopher- which is good because if he doesn’t run in ’68 he at least wants a conservative on the ticket to represent his views. I am going to spend this year on committee work again given that none of us except RN have the seniority to do much else.

- Bush Diaries, Jan. 7, 1966

The boss delivered his SOTU tonight, which hit a lot on upcoming campaign pledges & reminding everyone of all the good the 89th has done for the American people. Few of the Republicans if any applauded but ours gave him a thundering ovation. Most of it was discussing urban renewal, the struggle in Vietnam & foreign aid. He enjoyed delivering the speech but serious stumping will not start until September as usual. The GOP are going to throw everything they’ve got at us & we must be prepared to fight for every seat in the House & state legislatures along with the governor’s mansions. This is going to be seen as a forerunner to ’68 & especially among the media. Among the items on his legislative agenda is repeal of Taft-Hartley’s 14b, which isn’t happening but we are still going to try anyways, if for no other reason to buck up labour’s efforts on our behalf this year. A DOT, environmental cleanup & much more is on the agenda- further proof that the strategy is to get everything through before November when it will become much harder to do so given that the rising tide of disenchantment since Watts has produced some ominous warning signs. Namely that people are starting to say that we’ve done too much for the Negroes that all this spending will cause inflation to spike & that law and order is being neglected in the ghettoes. Not all this criticism is coming from Republicans, but also from Southern Democrats & RFK who say that there must be more of an emphasis on L&O & a new approach to urban affairs strategy. I’ve seen his ideas which in the President’s eyes are too Republican for us to even consider. He’s quite happy to chart an independent ideological course even if there’s no chance of any of his agenda being signed by this President.
- Jenkins Diaries, Jan. 31

I am keeping an eye on what is happening with the Commission from my vantage point on HELP. Even next year I will still be too junior to have the clout to pass one of my own bills, which is nearly impossible given that many of my ideas are more likely to garner Republican than Democratic support. If the GOP does well in November I will introduce a couple of my pet projects such as welfare reform & an omnibus crime bill. At least if it passes the House but fails in the Senate I can say that I tried & later reintroduce it once the party balance shifts more in my favour, namely more like-minded Dems & many more Republicans. If nothing else, it will embarrass Johnson who will look vindictive & petty by trying to kill it. These are serious problems which the Admin is not addressing & I will take my case to the country on my next speaking tour. Democrats will never win if we are painted as soft on crime which has been the case since Watts. Yet no one seems to listen, or if they do are not addressing the problem sufficiently- half-measures. The GOP is going to run on the permissive society theme, at least from my understanding of their strategy. Rocky, who has never been a conservative Republican, has begun championing tougher crime & antidrug measures. TBH I don’t know why Lindsay isn’t more honest with himself & join our party given the stances he’s taken in recent months- he ran on being to Abe Beame’s left on civil rights! Not that we want him, but one thing I hate is intellectual dishonesty. I do not see why 14b is being brought onto the table when he knows perfectly well that they will filibuster it, & I would not vote for cloture. I feel that use of 14b should be legal but rare, not as a bludgeon but only in circumstances where all other options are exhausted.
- RFK Diaries, Feb. 5

Sens. Robert Kennedy (D-NY) and Abe Ribicoff (D-CT) confer at a session of the Health and Labor Committee, Feb. 7.

Even more legislation coming down the pipeline from the WH & the House, including something that shocked me profoundly: a proposal to repeal TH’s 14b. Why on earth LBJ included something that will die in committee I will never understand. What I do understand is his compulsion-obsession for everything to be enacted before September when they will be fully on the defensive for all the massive statist follies they have been enacting for two years. The accelerator has been fully depressed for long enough, now we need to fully apply the brakes & hell even shift into reverse in a few areas. This is less harmful than the earlier stuff, mostly environmental & consumer protection legislation that I can vote for in good conscience. If he had passed more of these sorts of initiatives over the last 2 years then there would be a good record of bipartisan accomplishment. We will reap the winds of what LBJ has sown in November but must wait for the American people’s judgement. In Texas there is a rising tide of conservatism, but we are still far too weak in most Southern states to even attempt to break the century-old living lie. The Dems will have to help us out even more over the next 3 or 6 years depending on what happens in the interim. RN is going to stump around the country for various candidates as is Bob, they both want to increase exposure a bit & more importantly get out of DC & mingle with the voters rather than stay here which can get extremely tedious at times. Pat Brown is in big trouble in CA & he doesn’t even know it yet. Or as RN put it the other day: “I want every Californian to know that Glenn Anderson was responsible for Watts.” Brown can play the part of the American Nero who vacationed while LA burned.
- Bush Diaries, Feb. 26

Calif. Gov. Pat Brown (D) campaigns in Los Angeles, Feb. 24

We got briefed on a top-secret project: our effort to topple Sukarno. After what happened in October he is effectively finished but the transition process will be drawn out & depend on negotiations between Nasution & Suharto. I suspect the latter will take the top job & rule unilaterally without a junta, because the others will be more likely to follow his leadership. We could not have asked for a better outcome in Indonesia than his removal & an end to Konfrontasi which nearly led us to deploy forces in support of Britain when Jack was in office 3 years ago. In Europe not much is going on either- no elections are scheduled anywhere for the next couple of years except in SVN next year. If I had to describe the mood back home it would be rage: rage between the races & rage from citizens directed at the government. Most of my constituents are quite happy with my votes, writing to say thanks for everything I’ve done. Some deserve a personal reply, most do not. Bobby had to revamp his office hours because so many of those who visit are neither constituents nor out-of-state/foreign visitors but just celebrity gawkers & I can entirely sympathize with that. His office is cramped & small anyways as is the case for all the freshmen. If the Dems remain this clueless we’re going to kill them in November & in ’68.

- Nixon Diaries, Mar. 31

Lt. Gen. Suharto

President Sukarno at a news conference, Feb. 14.

Indonesian Army Chief of Staff Gen. Abdul Haris Nasution.

1) 1966 SOTU can be found here.

 

[CCA]

I love the irony of a staunch conservative doing a liberal wank

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Great update keep up the good work

 

[peasandcarrots84]

interesting! its a shame rockefeller didn't do better... shouldnt lyndon johnson be blue? or is rocky blue because he's the more liberal...

anyway, rocky's nomination will regardles push the Grand ole party in a more libertarian nomination... maybe Paul or Bob Dole will become president in this story

 

[RogueBeaver]

I just heard very interesting news down in Alabama- Ryan deGraffenried is running for Governor against Lurleen Wallace. I don’t know how he thinks he has any chance whatsoever at winning the Democratic primary, but IMO he should wait until Lister Hill retires in ’68 & can then take the open seat. TBH it is much safer that way, by ’74 things will be quite different without all the rawness that we are currently seeing. I am planning to embark on a campaign tour this fall but try not to miss too many important votes in the Senate, I will have to miss a good deal of committee work though- alas that is the price to pay. There have been so many invitations that we have been forced to cut about 90% of them- only appearing in the most crucial battlegrounds given that I have Senate duties to attend to as well. If I accept much more than that & they will begin speculating that I intend to challenge LBJ in ’68 which is preposterous nonsense. Indonesian transitioning is continuing unabated & we expect the formal handover to take place sometime next winter. Good riddance to the old man anyways, even if I found him more of a left-populist nationalist than an actual Commie when I visited 2 years ago. Elsewhere there is little to discuss, though ASC is becoming more interesting with some fishy procurement deals going on that I feel merit investigation. ASC offers the best opportunities for me to visit ‘Nam & our installations around the globe to visit. Recently I visited some NYNG troops awaiting deployment & discussed at length with them how they felt about current defence policies & the response was generally positive for the most part. It is quite refreshing to see the selflessness of our men & women in uniform as a very welcome change from the endless selfishness of DC.

- RFK Diaries, Apr. 4

Alabama gubernatorial candidate Ryan DeGraffenried





Gov. George Wallace watches his wife, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Lurleen Wallace, address a crowd outside Montgomery.

The report just came out & they essentially blamed everyone for the riots but the rioters: it was all social conditions & little to do with actual law enforcement. Already in the South Wallace is saying that liberal activist judges are releasing criminals because “they didn’t get pineapples as a kid” to use his line. It is a very serious issue that needs treatment on both sides of the spectrum, but law enforcement absolutely has to come first. I am going to make a speech on the subject, but BK is not going to introduce either of the bills he is working on right now, saying that the report is not as he’d like it either. He feels that law enforcement & the dereliction of duty on Anderson’s part is neglected but also that the root causes are largely correct. Where he differs with them is when it comes to solutions, all of which would never be accepted by this Congress & especially the kind of Democrats who serve here- all the New Dealers & coastal liberals in his party. Otherwise the tempo is finally beginning to decrease a bit, even LBJ runs out of ideas once in a while. Later this month I plan to start stumping in the South for our candidates & then head off on a European jaunt in early June before returning back home for the final month before the August recess. That is when they’ll try to cram as much as possible in before we adjourn & everyone goes off to campaign especially in the House where they have already started campaigning. The first place I will be going to in the South, after doing a joint fundraiser with GB in Dallas, is Alabama to talk to their Chamber of Commerce. We don’t have a candidate but hoping RDG beats Wallace, though in Georgia Bo Callaway has an excellent shot at the governorship.
- Nixon Diaries, Apr. 30

Rep. Howard "Bo" Callaway (R-GA) on the stump in his gubernatorial race outside Atlanta.

I attended a fundraiser with RN in Houston earlier this week for the national, not the state party which is just as weak & underfunded as ever. It will be a long time before we have the infrastructure & enough grassroots support to directly challenge Democratic dominance. Many of the Democratic conservatives are still reluctant to break ranks even though the fiction, if it was ever really concealed, is now fully exposed for all to see. I am personally hoping to come close to a House takeover in November, along with gubernatorial & state legislative gains rather than focusing on the Senate. That could take a decade or more to reverse given the current state of affairs up there. I voted against tabling the Watts report which is obviously rigged to suggest that law enforcement had absolutely nothing to do with it. Bob voted for it reluctantly but also made a speech saying that while he disagreed with some of the conclusions his biggest beef was with the proposed solutions to those problems of lack of education, healthcare, housing etc. He got more applause from our side than from his, which is increasingly frequent in domestic debates but something he takes philosophically. I am not campaigning but staying in the Senate & attending to the important work we are doing here. What I will do is co-sponsor a bill with Bob to repeal the Chicken Tax, which will have the bonus effect of determining the protectionist/free trader divide in both parties, with both of us being members of the latter side. That will be done next year because he doesn’t want to stir up divisions in Dem ranks ahead of November, which makes sense from his POV. Later today there will be another hearing at Commerce before we head home for the weekend & in a few weeks prep for Memorial Day.

- Bush Diaries, May 5

The boss is preparing to go on the stump starting this summer, especially in the urban areas where we are becoming increasingly vulnerable due to the urban rioting. His plan is to run on all the accomplishments that have occurred so far & the need to retain a Democratic Congress to continue down this path. There will have to be some new crime legislation but RFK is refusing any compromise on his omnibus bill. In one of the few times where civility never left the room in one of these meetings, he said that the proposed amendments we suggested would leave it a “shell, weak, impotent & useless” plus making a mockery of his stated objectives for it. Therefore it would be put aside & tabled at a later date in his view, though the President did his best to convince him to keep it there. I honestly have no idea what he’s planning- his speeches on the subject have been far more honest & he says what is needed is more intellectual openness in both parties, that no idea should be ignored because of its ideological origins. In theory that sounds good, in practice he’s taking a swipe at most of the things the boss holds dear which is not a way to gain allies in the party given that he is in a tiny minority. BS is the lab where he’s tinkering with his ideas & has experienced mild to moderate success so far, but it is almost entirely dependent on his sponsorship to keep everything lubricated. Few can bang heads together better than he can, even if they are often the wrong heads. Our next trip abroad will be to the Manila Conference in October to coordinate policy amongst SEATO HOGs vis-a-vis ‘Nam which is becoming somewhat disjointed as of late. Here’s hoping that the conference goes well.

- Jenkins Diaries, May 31

California Democratic gubernatorial primary, June 1
Gov. Edmund G. Brown: 51.7%
Samuel B. Yorty: 43.1%
Others: 5.3%

California Republican gubernatorial primary, June 2
Rep. Craig L. Thomas: 57.4%
George Christopher: 42.5%

Craig Thomas’ victory in the 1966 gubernatorial primary was primarily the work of Richard Nixon, who by that time controlled the state party and wanted to ensure conservative dominance. Pat Brown had been forced to put down a conservative challenge from Los Angeles Mayor Sam Yorty for the Democratic nomination, further weakening the vulnerable Governor after the Watts riots of the previous year. Thomas picked Nixon protégé, then-Rep. Robert Finch, as his running mate and the campaign would focus primarily on law and order issues. Brown was stunned that Thomas was able to use California’s world-class educational system built during his tenure as a cudgel against him. Thomas was providing a political outlet for all the outrages- outrages that, until he came along, hadn’t seemed like political issues at all. Thomas’ distortions of the welfare regulations: he often repeated the mantra that anyone who came to California could apply for welfare within 21 days. That was untrue: only those who could prove at least five years of California residency in the past ten were eligible, and then only after 21 days.

A Time to Remember: the 1960s by David Frum

Sen. Robert Kennedy (D-NY, silhouetted) speaking in a Lakewood amphitheatre on behalf of Gov. Edmund Brown and other Democratic candidates.

1) Known as "Alabama's JFK" (like RFK and Sanders, born in 1925) and a New Southerner in the Sanford/Sanders/Carter/Askew/Clinton mold, DeGraffenried died in a 1966 plane crash IOTL while campaigning against Lurleen Wallace for the gubernatorial nomination. He had lost the nomination to George Wallace in 1962 55-44. ITTL the plane crash does not occur.

2) In 1966, the Alabama state constitution forbade governors from seeking a second consecutive term, and Wallace's best efforts did not yet convince the Legislature to amend this provision. As a workaround in the Ferguson mold, Wallace ran Lurleen while he did most of the work behind the scenes.

3) The Chicken Tax is a tariff imposed on European light trucks by LBJ on Big Labor's behalf.

 

[Wendell]

There's a Craig Thomas who was in politics from California? The only one with which I'm familiar was from Wyoming.

 

[RogueBeaver]

Oops, Craig Hosmer, who represented CA-32 in the House.