Vantage Point of the Presidency LBJ Reflects on Kennedy Era
In this excerpt from The Vantage Point, LBJ recalls stepping into the presidency after Kennedy’s assassination without a voter mandate. He describes early doubts, the sleepless first month, and pivotal briefings with McGeorge Bundy and Henry Cabot Lodge as international tension surrounds Vietnam and France’s De Gaulle.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
McGeorge Bundy
White House
John McCane
Central Intelligence Agency
John Kennedy
Kennedy
South Vietnam
Henry Cabot Lodge
Washington
Saigon
Vietnam
Charles de Gaulle
France
Paris
de Gaulle
Europe
United States
Pearl Harbor
Addresses and Reflections on U S France Soviet Ties by Kennedy
In a vault of frank remarks, Kennedy recalls tension with De Gaulle over Vietnam and NATO obligations, notes private memory of De Gaulle’s doubts, and recounts meeting Mikoyan to stress peace. He discusses the Oswald case, Oswald's possible links to Cuba and Russia, and the national doubt after Ruby’s Oswald murder.
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Atlantic
France
John Kennedy
United States
de Gaulle
Vietnam
United Sales
NATO
Soviet Union
Annstas Mikoyan
Mikoyan
Moscow
Stalin
Latin America
Cuba
Oswald
Jack Ruby
Dallas
Lee Harvey Oswald
Russia
Texas
Warren Commission Born From National Doubts After Oswald Death
Lyndon B. Johnson recounts how the Warren Commission formed after the Oswald killing. He describes seeking a bipartisan blue ribbon panel with Chief Justice Earl Warren, who refused on constitutional grounds yet faced pressure to serve. The piece outlines his resolve to continue Kennedy's policies and his hope for national unity during a crisis marked by fear and division.
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Warren
John F. Kennedy
Faten
White House
Oswald
Castro
Bay of Pigs
CIA
Hint
Owald
Coupelligretton Gatfies
Dallas
Eugene Rostow
Yale Law School
Earl Warren
Su Preme Court
Kennedy
the Vantage Point
Lyndon B. Johnson
United States
Warren Commission
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South
Nikita Khrushchev
Vienna
Khrushchev
Berlin
Renmiedy
FBI
J. Edgar Hoover
Fidel Castro
Mya
Wow ‘Owly
Teem
Sale OM Aluminum
Second Avenue S.E
Floyd Bergen
Friends
Bergen
Steve Jackson
Dick Jordon