Editor's note: President Lyndon B. Johnson secured passage of Medicare, the Voting Rights Act and other milestone legislation. Tom Johnson, who served as one of LBJ's White House press secretaries, is former chief executive of CNN News Group and former publisher of the Los Angeles Times.
(CNN) -- LBJ would:
Have a list of every member of Congress on his desk.
He would be on the telephone with members (and their key staffers) constantly: "Your president really needs your vote on this bill."
He would have a list of every special request every member wanted -- from White House tours to appointments to federal jobs and commissions.
He would make a phone call or have a personal visit with every member -- individually or in a group. Charts, graphs, coffee. They would get the "Johnson Treatment" as nobody else could give it.
He would have a willingness to horse-trade with every member.
He would keep a list of people who support each member financially. A call to each to tell them to get the vote of that representative.
He would have Billy Graham calling Baptists, Cardinal Cushing calling Catholics, Dr. Martin Luther King calling blacks, Henry Gonzales calling Hispanics, Henry Ford and David Rockefeller calling Republicans.
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"He would be on the telephone with members (and their key staffers) constantly"
ReplyDeleteDuh. You think he had email back then?
What is the point here? Are you suggesting this is not going on now? Please. They ar doing everything from phone to texting to twiiter as far as we know.
ReplyDeleteHe was either number one or two (depending on how you rank the peanut farmer) of the worst presidents in the last 50 years. So I dont really care what he would do.
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