Episode 26: Motortown
"Politics would be a helluva good business if it weren't for the goddamned people." –Richard Milhous Nixon
“I remember ‘68, that election was the most transformative time of my life. You see, the President contacted my old boss, Senator McGee, and promoted him to U.N Ambassador. McGee brought me along and that was when I met President Johnson. Now, the first thing I noticed about him was how tall he was. It wasn’t just his height I noticed, but how he used it. Sometimes, he would look at McGee straight in the eye and lean forward until McGee nearly fell to the floor. We all called it “the Johnson Treatment” and he would use it whenever he could. Medicare, Civil Rights, the Great Society, none of that would’ve been possible without a six foot tall man invading the personal space of some southern senator.
But of course, not all southern senators were on board when he ran in ’68. In the Beltway, most people say that adaptability is the greatest asset of a politician. George Wallace was that philosophy in its purest form. He went from supporting civil rights, to being a racist, to making his own party, and went right back to supporting civil rights. So when he ran as a third party, not a lot of us were surprised. Johnson stabbed the south in the back, he said. Supporting desegregation over “state’s rights”.
After Wallace thought he could send his dogs on a few protesters on Bloody Sunday, do you know what Johnson did? He told George Wallace come straight to the White House and gave him a good dose of the Johnson Treatment
[1]. Eventually, I got to become a lot more acquainted with the President after McGee offered a few of his staff to work on his reelection campaign. Of course, I didn’t get to meet him very much, now that he was cleaning up the mess that was Indonesia.
I did however, meet Hubert Humphrey, Johnson’s Vice President many times over. He was always a very nice man to talk to and was very eager to get things done. Humphrey acted kind to all of us, even when things weren’t going so well. He enjoyed talking about his grandkids a lot, sometimes a bit too much. In some ways, he was the exact opposite of Johnson. Johnson used threats and intimidation to get things done, but I don’t believe I saw Humphrey get mad even once. Johnson was a pragmatic soul, encouraging civil rights only after he entered the Oval Office. Humphrey on the other hand was the idealistic spirit, fighting for reconciliation ever since 1948. So when he died, many of us were very sad to see him go.
-In the Shadow of Giants by Dick Cheney
[2], 1998
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"The election of 1968 was a strange time for the American people. In the Republican Party, the growing wave of far-right conservatism clashed with the Old-School business establishment that had governed the party for so long. A major reason behind this shift in policy was President Johnson’s support of civil rights, which prompted several to abandon the Democratic Party in protest of his progressive policies. In order to provide a moderate candidate for the Republicans, several attempts were made to draft experienced politicians that would bridge the gap between the two wings of the party.
This included attempts to draft Illinois Senator Charles Percy, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, and former Vice President Richard Nixon, all of which were declined. The Republican Party quickly became a free-for-all as candidates from across America tossed their hats into the ring. Eventually, the Republican establishment did find their man in the form of George W. Romney, a rambling ex-businessman with a serious grievance against President Johnson. Many historians believe that this feud originated during May 24th, 1967, in the midst of the Detroit riots. In the present day, it could be difficult to imagine how one of the great cities of America was once a hotbed of crime, unrest, and racial violence. However, issues such as desegregation and foreign wars created a great number of social and political tensions.
Tensions that, on one hot summer day, transformed into a violent rebellion that engulfed Detroit in chaos. The riots began when a local speakeasy in the predominantly-black neighbourhood of 12th Street was celebrating the return of two American GIs. This disturbance would prompt a police raid where a large number of patrons in the speakeasy were falsely detained. Other patrons began fighting off the police, beginning a city wide riot that shocked the entire nation to its core. A total of forty civilians were shot to death by police or federal forces while three people were killed by fires and ruined infrastructure.
One of these deaths included the death of Tanya Balding, a ten year old girl who was shot through her apartment window after a resident lighting a cigarette was confused for an arsonist. Around 7,200 people had been unlawfully arrested despite the absence of any criminal records. These arrests mostly affected the black population of Detroit and included a four year old boy along with an eighty-two year old man. Yet the greatest loss was the city itself. Over two thousand buildings were demolished and the damage done to the city’s infrastructure can still be seen in some parts of Detroit today.
[3]
After the riots, Romney began to claim that the President had deliberately delayed his response to the riots and continued to criticise Johnson, publicly and privately. But for all of his flaws, Romney may have been the best candidate the Republicans had to offer. His policies created income taxes across Michigan, weakened the power of big businesses, and helped bridge the gap between black and white communities. However, the radical wing of the Republican parties began to grumble as Romney’s polls rose higher and higher. They needed a man to represent them. Even if that man was once a co-star to a chimpanzee."
-Radicals, Racists, and Riots: American Politics in the Modern Era,
1981
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“No, my husband is not a candidate for the elections this year” -Nancy Reagan, May 14th 1968, 11:20 am
“I am officially running as a candidate for the Presidency of the United States of America” -Ronald Reagan, May 14th 1968, 12:30 pm
[4]
“Johnson’s nothing but a dirty old boot. He'll slap you on the back today and stab you in the back tomorrow. And debating with him was talking to a corpse. He’s a lousy public speaker with a dull voice. The man doesn’t even believe half of what he says and that, to me sounds like a hypocrite. Standing next to him, you can see that he’s just this wheeler dealer who cheated his way straight into the White House and that makes me sick.” – Barry Goldwater to Ronald Reagan on Lyndon Johnson
“You are dealing with a very insecure, sensitive man with a huge ego. I literally want you to kiss his ass from one end Washington to the other” -President Kennedy on Vice President Johnson
[5]
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This audio is taken from “Highlights from LBJ’s Phone Calls”
[6]
Johnson: Nelson, how are ya?
Rockefeller: I’m doing all right, Mr. President.
Johnson: Now, listen here, I wanted to talk to you as a friend and I want to talk very personally, because these elections have got me concerned about your party. I mean you’ve got nuts all over the place. You got Thurmond and Reagan, who, if I remember correctly, acted second fiddle to a goddamn monkey in one of his movies. Now I thought Goldwater was crazy but these guys, I’m telling you Rocky, they’re insane.
Rockefeller: Well, we’ve got Romney, and he seems pretty reasonable. Met him back in the Beltway, I think.
Johnson: Well, I’m sorry, but the man’s a nut. A nut who can’t even keep his mouth shut for a second. Now I’m not against his religion or anything, but I just do not like the man. I mean just look at him. He couldn’t control the Negroes in Detroit without begging for Hoover to save his ass, and there is no chance in hell that he can run the country. Besides, you can’t expect him to answer a question before he starts rambling about god knows what.
Rockefeller: Well, what do you suggest, we do? He’s popular, he’s young, and he is the only liberal option us Republicans have.
Johnson: Well I was wondering if you were considered running for President. I mean back in ’64, you had a real chance against Goldwater. You could get that chance again, you know. Now look, this ain’t ’64 and I don’t any tricks or wiretappers this time. I just want to help my country and a dirty election won’t help me with that.
Rockefeller: sighs* I’m sorry Lyndon but, I can’t. Happy’s not too eager on being First Lady and besides, I think that I can do a lot more to help the country in New York. To be blunt, I don’t think that running for the White House is right for me.
Johnson: Alright, I understand Nelson, see ya later.
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Vice President Humphrey tours America on the campaign trail
Governor Romney at a press conference with his wife, Lenore and son, Mitt
President Lyndon Johnson on the White House Phone
Racial riots engulf the city of Detroit leaving many dead, injured, or displaced
Rev. Martin Luther King tours Detroit in the aftermath of the 12th Street Riots
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Hubert Humphrey should be a good man, a kind man, a soft-spoken man who could reach out to the hearts of thousands of Americans across the globe. Yes, that was what Johnson said. The friendly, smiling face to the Texan’s harsh, yet dour personality. But politicians didn’t always need to wear a mask. That was why campaigning was his favorite part of the job. A chance to meet the people of America and hear the problems that had plagued them for so long. If only he could do something to fix it. Johnson was a harsh man, a harsh President, and nothing would change that. When he disagreed with Johnson about Vietnam, Johnson shut him out until he would become another one of his yes-men. That was the way things were for the past few years in the White House.
But enough thinking, it was time to shake hands, kiss babies, and talk to the people of America. Humphrey looked across the city of Los Angeles in all of its glory. Crowds cheered as he began to approach them. A smile spread across his face as he saw people of all colors, black, white, brown, standing together as one. Years of fighting for equality nearly cost him the Vice Presidency, but now, that work had paid off. Los Angeles, a city once plagued by segregation and riots had changed.
Johnson was a hard man but he helped changed America for the better. And nothing made Humphrey more proud than to be part of that change. The Happy Warrior began to shake the hands of the cheering audience. He saw a young mother with her baby, an elderly veteran with a pin reading “LBJ in ‘68”, and a mustached man with a black leather jacket pushing through the crowd. The man had also worn his hair into an afro and covered his eyes with sunglasses, strange attire for a political rally.
“Mr. Humphrey! Mr. Vice President!”
As he reached the odd fellow, Humphrey reached out to shake the man’s hand. “Hello there, young man. How do you do?”
Soon, he saw the man’s left hand reached into his trenchcoat and the faint glimmer of metal caught his eye. But it was too late. Humphrey felt two bullets knock him to the ground while the man refused to let go. The gunshots still ringed in his ear and he struggled to stand with the burning pains in his chest. As he tried to gasp for air, he saw arms surrounding the gunman, trying to pry the assassin’s grip from his hand. Shapes began to blur and color drained from his sight. Humphrey never felt the third bullet fly through his neck. He only felt the pain throbbing in his chest and the dull roar of the crowd.
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[6] IOTL, Johnson convinced Rockefeller to run in '68 to "stop Nixon and Reagan"