LBJ Page #8

It's unreal. This can't

happen in our country.

I feel the profound grief that...

I'm not ready for that yet.

Well, with all due respect,

you better get ready.

President Kennedy's burial

has been set for Monday.

Thursday being Thanksgiving,

we don't have much of a window.

Thinking that, possibly,

the only thing we could do is to...

...pray that Lyndon Johnson can carry on.

Johnson gave Pierre the "I need

you more than he needed you" speech.

What did you tell him?

I told him I'd stay as press secretary

as long as he needed me.

Till Tuesday.

Johnson's not gonna be satisfied till

every one of us promises to serve him.

So, what are we doing here?

In his inaugural address...

...President Kennedy declared that...

...the torch had been passed

to a new generation of Americans.

The question before us now is:

Who should be the custodian of that torch?

The Constitution may say

that the vice president...

...is the next in the line of succession,

but does anyone here believe...

...that Lyndon Johnson is

the man to carry that torch?

So, what are you suggesting?

I didn't come to Washington

just to work for John Kennedy.

I came here to work

for what John Kennedy believed in.

There is unfinished business.

Right now our only hope of completing it

is by serving his successor.

That's not true. There are other ways.

We've come too far to put everything on hold.

So you think that Johnson will continue

the work of President Kennedy?

This is a man who has fought against

every piece of civil rights legislation...

...for the last 20 years.

How do you honor Kennedy

by working for Johnson?

You're looking at it wrong.

Even if Johnson believed in what

we believe in, and that is up for debate...

...how much do you think

he'd accomplish in one year?

Good point.

Could we mount a campaign by then?

Bobby is more powerful and more

popular than any other Democrat...

...including Lyndon Johnson.

The men in this room all want to see

a president, a President Kennedy...

...deliver this world to a better place.

So do the people of this country.

Hear, hear.

What are you asking us to do? Quit?

- Betray Lyndon Johnson?

- No.

No, no, no. No one is being asked

to sabotage anything.

No one is calling for a mass exodus,

and this certainly is not a coup d'tat.

Johnson needs to make his case

to the American people.

He needs to prove

that he's worthy of this job.

And if he stumbles...

...if he should fall...

...we need to be prepared to challenge him.

And it will be Bobby's time.

We can't just sweep the rest

of the agenda under the rug.

Yes. He has to make

some progress on civil rights.

- Some. We need to be realistic.

- Howdy, Zephyr.

- Evening, sir.

- Good evening, sir.

Hear anything back from the Kennedy men?

Well, two nights ago, they had a meeting...

...and I... I think we're gonna

hear something soon.

How they going in there?

It's going.

We can't just keep doing the same thing.

The best thing we can do is show

some progress in civil rights.

"Some progress" is not enough.

The civil rights bill was the cornerstone

of Kennedy's presidency.

Even Kennedy was gonna have to compromise.

Exactly.

And nobody expects Johnson

to be John Kennedy.

Do our daughters know I love them?

Of course they do, Lyndon. Why?

I didn't always know.

Rebekah loved you.

Some days, she...

...made me feel like a prince, but...

...some days...

Lyndon.

Honey?

You're not supposed to have that.

Now, what's this all about?

From the time I was a boy, I...

I had this dream...

I'd rather not have it than have it this way.

Oh, my poor darling.

They don't... They want...

They want Jack. They love Jack.

They love Bobby. They...

They don't even like me.

Lyndon...

...your mother didn't turn her back on you

because she didn't love you.

She just couldn't stand to see you

when you weren't at your best.

She wouldn't wanna see me now.

You're gonna be all right.

You're a good man in a tight spot.

President Kennedy did

wonderful things for America.

Not the least of which was choosing you

to be his successor.

He was a man of great ideas.

Now the country needs a man...

...who can deliver.

If we don't do anything about civil rights...

...we'll face a challenge at the convention.

- From Bobby?

- From someone.

The question is:

What's the minimum we need

to accomplish in order to win reelection?

Which provisions in Kennedy's bill

can we live without?

Are you saying weaken the bill

right out of the gate?

We can't risk everything

chasing ambitious goals.

Then what the hell's the presidency for?

Sit.

It can't be about a shiny airplane

or a room with no corners.

Surely, we can aspire to something greater.

You wanna back Kennedy's civil rights bill?

The entire goddamn thing.

Are you even in favor of it?

You know, about a...

...year ago...

...my private cook Mrs. Wright,

who you know...

...was driving from here

down to the ranch in Texas.

So I asked her if she would mind...

...bringing my dog,

Little Beagle Johnson, with her...

...in order that he could be there

when I got home.

Mrs. Wright respectfully declined.

She said it is hard enough...

...for a black woman driving

through the South...

...without having a dog to worry about.

Finding a place to eat,

to sleep, to use the restroom.

The personal cook of the vice president

of the United States...

...has to drive through towns

without stopping...

...then squat to pee by the side of the road.

Hundred years ago, she would've been a slave.

Hundred years from now, hell,

she might be president.

But today...

...we live in a time of too much uncertainty.

Where can she eat? Where can she sleep?

Can she vote?

And if she does, will she be harassed

for casting that vote?

Can she attend school? If so, which school?

Can she travel the cities

and towns of this land...

...without fearing for her safety?

What rights that belong

to the men in this room...

...should not be afforded to her?

Sir, you're gonna lose the support of

the people who've always had your back.

And if you aren't successful, you're never

gonna earn the support of anyone else.

Four other presidents have fought

Congress on this and failed.

There will be no compromise.

There will be no negotiation.

And there will be no failure.

This time,

Congress is not fighting a president.

It's fighting two.

Never underestimate

the intensity of a martyr's cause...

...or the size of a Texan's balls.

Good morning, Mr. President.

Good morning, Juanita.

Ted, we have scheduled a speech before

a joint session of Congress tomorrow.

I've heard.

I'd like you to write it.

Mr. President...

...I don't know

that I'll be coming back to work.

Ted...

...the voice of John Kennedy rings

throughout our land.

You gave words to that voice.

I need those words now.

Mr. President, I...

We are moving ahead full tilt

with his civil rights bill.

His entire agenda.

This is about making

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