THE VICE-PRESIDENCY: Triple Victory

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In the modest little country town of Johnson City, Texas, Voter No. 99 cast his ballot for the straight Democratic ticket. As he did so, he managed a most unusual maneuver: he voted for himself twice. Lyndon Baines Johnson was not only his party's vice-presidential nominee, he was also running to succeed himself as U.S. Senator from Texas. If he nursed any private doubts about either contest, he gave no outward sign. But after he left the polling place, got himself a haircut, and turned up at his Austin headquarters, tenseness took over. The tail of his red sports shirt flopped wildly as he paced the floor until the first returns rolled in.

"Win or lose," announced his wife, Lady Bird, "we are going back to the ranch tomorrow and be just plain vegetables for a few days." It was soon apparent that they would be happy in their vegetation. Senator Lyndon Johnson was re-elected handily, and Vice-Presidential Candidate Johnson was swept into office on the national ticket.

Last Gasp. Besides that twofold victory, Lyndon Johnson could find a third reason to rejoice: he had delivered his state to his party. It had not been easy. In nominally Democratic Texas, he could take his re-election to the Senate for granted.* But that uncommonly proud appendage to the Union had shown its evident displeasure with Johnson for taking second place on the ticket. He had been forced into last-gasp campaigning to bring it back from the brink, and subjected in Dallas to a violent, jeering, hotel-lobby mob bearing posters calling him "Judas" and "Texas Traitor." These outbursts may have helped him win.

The tall, corn-pone campaigner had proved a powerful addition to the Democratic ticket. He barnstormed effectively across the South, never compromising on civil rights, constantly harping on the religion issue in an effort to reassure doubtful Democrats about Jack Kennedy's Roman Catholicism. In the North, his stinging attacks on Nixon and Eisenhower proved surprisingly popular among liberal and labor groups that had not been overjoyed by his nomination. Even in states where his name was pointedly omitted from campaign posters, his presence paid off. So warm was Pennsylvania's response to Johnson that Governor David Lawrence, a shrewd and perceptive politician, pleaded for a return visit.

Eyeball to Eyeball. When he met Jack Kennedy in Texas during the waning days of the campaign, he treated his leader to a typical Johnsonian eyeball-to-eyeball conversation. The problem, said Johnson confidently, was not how to win, but what to do with victory. And when he got done talking, he was sure he had his new job all blocked out.

"The Vice President," said Johnson, "presides over the Senate. Any other duties he has depend on the President—and I'm very close to Jack Kennedy. I have no doubt that I will specialize in preparedness and space, and also serve the President as a sort of barometer on domestic problems." With Vice President Johnson as a troubleshooter on Capitol Hill, he explained, President Kennedy can count on congressional cooperation.