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Kennedy and Johnson
This book provides inside information on the relationship between President John F. Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, authored by the woman who spent 12 years as Kennedy's personal secretary (1953-1963).
207 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1968
About the author
Evelyn Lincoln
11 books3 followersLincoln was born Evelyn Maurine Norton on a farm in Polk County, Nebraska. Her father was John N. Norton, a member of the United States House of Representatives. In 1930, she married Federal worker Harold W. Lincoln, whom she had met as a law student at George Washington University.
Evelyn had always aimed to work on Capitol Hill for a future president, and she achieved this ambition in 1953 by becoming personal secretary to the newly-elected senator from Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy. She proved exceptionally suitable for the job, and remained close to the president up to the day of his assassination in Dallas, when she was travelling in the same motorcade. She made it a point to visit Kennedy's grave at Arlington National Cemetery every year afterward on the anniversary of his death.
In 1968, she wrote a book, 'Kennedy and Johnson', in which she wrote that President Kennedy had told her that Lyndon B. Johnson would be replaced as Vice President of the United States. Lincoln wrote of that November 19, 1963 conversation, just before the assassination of President Kennedy,
“ As Mr. Kennedy sat in the rocker in my office, his head resting on its back he placed his left leg across his right knee. He rocked slightly as he talked. In a slow pensive voice he said to me, 'You know if I am re-elected in sixty-four, I am going to spend more and more time toward making government service an honorable career. I would like to tailor the executive and legislative branches of government so that they can keep up with the tremendous strides and progress being made in other fields.' 'I am going to advocate changing some of the outmoded rules and regulations in the Congress, such as the seniority rule. To do this I will need as a running mate in sixty-four a man who believes as I do.' Mrs. Lincoln went on to write "I was fascinated by this conversation and wrote it down verbatim in my diary. Now I asked, 'Who is your choice as a running-mate?' 'He looked straight ahead, and without hesitating he replied, 'at this time I am thinking about Governor Terry Sanford of North Carolina. But it will not be Lyndon.'
Lincoln died at Georgetown University Hospital in 1995, after complications that followed surgery for cancer. Her cremated remains were inurned in a niche at a columbarium in Arlington National Cemetery.
Evelyn had always aimed to work on Capitol Hill for a future president, and she achieved this ambition in 1953 by becoming personal secretary to the newly-elected senator from Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy. She proved exceptionally suitable for the job, and remained close to the president up to the day of his assassination in Dallas, when she was travelling in the same motorcade. She made it a point to visit Kennedy's grave at Arlington National Cemetery every year afterward on the anniversary of his death.
In 1968, she wrote a book, 'Kennedy and Johnson', in which she wrote that President Kennedy had told her that Lyndon B. Johnson would be replaced as Vice President of the United States. Lincoln wrote of that November 19, 1963 conversation, just before the assassination of President Kennedy,
“ As Mr. Kennedy sat in the rocker in my office, his head resting on its back he placed his left leg across his right knee. He rocked slightly as he talked. In a slow pensive voice he said to me, 'You know if I am re-elected in sixty-four, I am going to spend more and more time toward making government service an honorable career. I would like to tailor the executive and legislative branches of government so that they can keep up with the tremendous strides and progress being made in other fields.' 'I am going to advocate changing some of the outmoded rules and regulations in the Congress, such as the seniority rule. To do this I will need as a running mate in sixty-four a man who believes as I do.' Mrs. Lincoln went on to write "I was fascinated by this conversation and wrote it down verbatim in my diary. Now I asked, 'Who is your choice as a running-mate?' 'He looked straight ahead, and without hesitating he replied, 'at this time I am thinking about Governor Terry Sanford of North Carolina. But it will not be Lyndon.'
Lincoln died at Georgetown University Hospital in 1995, after complications that followed surgery for cancer. Her cremated remains were inurned in a niche at a columbarium in Arlington National Cemetery.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 3, 2023
For anyone with a keen interest in either John F. Kennedy or the Kennedy White House years, this book is a MUST READ.
Originally published in 1968, “KENNEDY AND JOHNSON” provides the reader with a unique inside view into the personalities of both John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson from the latter stages of the 1960 Democratic primary season (when Johnson, then Senate Majority Leader, decided to enter the race and use his considerable stock as one of the most powerful politicians on Capitol Hill to upset the momentum Kennedy had built up during the primaries and claim the presidential nomination for himself), thru the hurly-burly of the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, onward to the final weeks of the 1960 campaign against Nixon, and into the Kennedy White House.
Evelyn Lincoln, the author, served as John F. Kennedy’s secretary from the time he entered the Senate in January 1953 until his assassination in Dallas 10 years later. Much of her observations of the Kennedy-Johnson relationship as it developed between 1960 and 1963 provide most of the book’s content. Indeed, Mrs. Lincoln kept a daily diary from 1955 and used it as a primary source for “Kennedy and Johnson.” There are lots of dialogue and snatches of conversations and comments from various politicians and presidential aides that give this book a compelling immediacy. Sometimes I felt in reading “Kennedy and Johnson” that I was watching history unfold before me.
As a way of illustrating this sense of immediacy I got from reading this book, I want to cite Mrs. Lincoln’s description of a very revealing conversation that she had with President Kennedy in the White House sometime in 1963:
One day Senator Dirksen [Everett Dirksen, the then Senate Minority Leader] called on Mr. Kennedy. After he left, Mr. Kennedy came out to my desk and said, “Do you know what the Senator told me today? Dirksen told me, ‘Let’s face it, Eisenhower did not know much about what was going on during his Administration. He would call a group in --- let the others do most of the talking --- he used to sit and doodle for about two hours and then he would say, “Okay, boys, who is going to carry the ball?” The Senator said that it was frightening --- Eisenhower’s lack of knowledge of what was taking place and the things he didn’t know about the United States Government. Nixon used to call on Dirksen and ask him to speak to Eisenhower, particularly about firing Sherman Adams [Eisenhower’s press secretary]. But the Senator said that he told Nixon he should talk to Eisenhower, he was the Vice President, but Nixon was scared of Eisenhower.”
“Well,” I said to Mr. Kennedy, “you and Mr. Johnson are certainly different than those two men. You certainly know what you are doing and Mr. Johnson is not afraid of you.”
“No,” said Mr. Kennedy, “the only thing Mr. Johnson is afraid of is that I will not put him on the ticket in 1964.”
And the following comes from a conversation Mrs. Lincoln had with President Kennedy in the White House on November 19, 1963 ---
“ As Mr. Kennedy sat in the rocker in my office, his head resting on its back he placed his left leg across his right knee. He rocked slightly as he talked. In a slow pensive voice he said to me, 'You know if I am re-elected in sixty-four, I am going to spend more and more time toward making government service an honorable career. I would like to tailor the executive and legislative branches of government so that they can keep up with the tremendous strides and progress being made in other fields.' 'I am going to advocate changing some of the outmoded rules and regulations in the Congress, such as the seniority rule. To do this I will need as a running mate in sixty-four a man who believes as I do.' Mrs. Lincoln went on to write "I was fascinated by this conversation and wrote it down verbatim in my diary. Now I asked, 'Who is your choice as a running-mate?' 'He looked straight ahead, and without hesitating he replied, 'at this time I am thinking about Governor Terry Sanford of North Carolina. But it will not be Lyndon.' “
Originally published in 1968, “KENNEDY AND JOHNSON” provides the reader with a unique inside view into the personalities of both John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson from the latter stages of the 1960 Democratic primary season (when Johnson, then Senate Majority Leader, decided to enter the race and use his considerable stock as one of the most powerful politicians on Capitol Hill to upset the momentum Kennedy had built up during the primaries and claim the presidential nomination for himself), thru the hurly-burly of the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, onward to the final weeks of the 1960 campaign against Nixon, and into the Kennedy White House.
Evelyn Lincoln, the author, served as John F. Kennedy’s secretary from the time he entered the Senate in January 1953 until his assassination in Dallas 10 years later. Much of her observations of the Kennedy-Johnson relationship as it developed between 1960 and 1963 provide most of the book’s content. Indeed, Mrs. Lincoln kept a daily diary from 1955 and used it as a primary source for “Kennedy and Johnson.” There are lots of dialogue and snatches of conversations and comments from various politicians and presidential aides that give this book a compelling immediacy. Sometimes I felt in reading “Kennedy and Johnson” that I was watching history unfold before me.
As a way of illustrating this sense of immediacy I got from reading this book, I want to cite Mrs. Lincoln’s description of a very revealing conversation that she had with President Kennedy in the White House sometime in 1963:
One day Senator Dirksen [Everett Dirksen, the then Senate Minority Leader] called on Mr. Kennedy. After he left, Mr. Kennedy came out to my desk and said, “Do you know what the Senator told me today? Dirksen told me, ‘Let’s face it, Eisenhower did not know much about what was going on during his Administration. He would call a group in --- let the others do most of the talking --- he used to sit and doodle for about two hours and then he would say, “Okay, boys, who is going to carry the ball?” The Senator said that it was frightening --- Eisenhower’s lack of knowledge of what was taking place and the things he didn’t know about the United States Government. Nixon used to call on Dirksen and ask him to speak to Eisenhower, particularly about firing Sherman Adams [Eisenhower’s press secretary]. But the Senator said that he told Nixon he should talk to Eisenhower, he was the Vice President, but Nixon was scared of Eisenhower.”
“Well,” I said to Mr. Kennedy, “you and Mr. Johnson are certainly different than those two men. You certainly know what you are doing and Mr. Johnson is not afraid of you.”
“No,” said Mr. Kennedy, “the only thing Mr. Johnson is afraid of is that I will not put him on the ticket in 1964.”
And the following comes from a conversation Mrs. Lincoln had with President Kennedy in the White House on November 19, 1963 ---
“ As Mr. Kennedy sat in the rocker in my office, his head resting on its back he placed his left leg across his right knee. He rocked slightly as he talked. In a slow pensive voice he said to me, 'You know if I am re-elected in sixty-four, I am going to spend more and more time toward making government service an honorable career. I would like to tailor the executive and legislative branches of government so that they can keep up with the tremendous strides and progress being made in other fields.' 'I am going to advocate changing some of the outmoded rules and regulations in the Congress, such as the seniority rule. To do this I will need as a running mate in sixty-four a man who believes as I do.' Mrs. Lincoln went on to write "I was fascinated by this conversation and wrote it down verbatim in my diary. Now I asked, 'Who is your choice as a running-mate?' 'He looked straight ahead, and without hesitating he replied, 'at this time I am thinking about Governor Terry Sanford of North Carolina. But it will not be Lyndon.' “
March 31, 2017
Alas, far too biased (JFK good-good, LBJ bad-bad) to be really useful to those of us who are not experts on the subject (I presume the experts will find some useful stuff here, it's essentially a primary source after all).
I quit after a number of chapters and donated my copy to the train station library.
I quit after a number of chapters and donated my copy to the train station library.
November 18, 2010
There is an accusatory subtext in Kennedy and Johnson. It is obvious to me that Mrs. Lincoln suspected Johnson in the murder of her boss.
December 18, 2023
JFK’s personal secretary offers her insights into the Kennedy-Johnson administration. While obviously partial to JFK, Evelyn Lincoln offers insights into both leaders, their run for the presidency, and their leadership styles.
Lincoln’s observations:
Their political battles: “Senator Kennedy had to kill the myth that a Catholic President would be an errand boy for the Pope an would trade the gold in Fort Knox for a supply of holy water; Senator Johnson had to show, somehow, that a Southerner could rise above his region and take liberal positions on vital issues.” (38).
Their communication styles: Kennedy “talked about issues, he talked about international affairs, he opened up the world of science and economics to his audience. . . .He used his most effective weapon—his rapier wit—to slash at the Republicans and to make his audience listen intently; he quote poetry to touch their hearts. . . . And he was effective, just as Lyndon Johnson was effective, in combining his public plain-folks technique with the hard back room bargaining and tough explaining of the political realities. 131
On JFK:
JFK, the listener: On an LBJ visit to Palm Beach shortly after the election, JFK, LBJ, and House Speaker Sam Rayburn, and Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield were meeting: “Mr. Johnson did most of the talking, Mr. Kennedy did most of the listening, and there were side remarks by Speaker Rayburn.” 10 I record that as it seems from other reading, a JFK strength.
JFK endured the heat: Truman was not a fan of Kennedy and let it be known. “Senator, are you certain that youa re quite ready for the country . . . May I urge you to be patient, . . . Are you certain . . . the country is ready for you?” Lincoln: “The harder the blows, the stronger Mr. Kennedy became. That was one of his great strengths.” (69)
On LBJ:
LBJ’s favorite Bible verse: “Come, let us reason together.” Isaiah 1:18 25LBJ felt, if he were able, he could reason his way to a favorable conclusion if given the opportunity to sit down face-to-face with an opponent.
The Johnson treatment: “He would frown, he would smile, he would appeal, and he would use sweet alk. And all of the time he would pound home the theme that they should do it “for good old Lyndon, and for the good of the country. If persuasive adjectives failed, he would his his hands. He would hug the victim, pat him, grip his arm with a cluthc that was as unbreakable, and just about as comfortable as a bulldog’s bite.” (50-51) LBJ. the talker. 113, 114
LBJ, the counter: Bobby Baker was his man on this front. “No bill, during Bobby Baker’s time, was ever lost because of an incorrect head-count or because Senators count not be found in time.” 53
LBJ image conscious: Lincoln records the words, “Once again, he was thinking of his image” in reference to after John Glenn’s successful space flight and an administration trip to Cape Canaveral. LBJ wanted to fly in Air Force One. JFK was miffed that Johnson was attempting to ride along “again.” 179-180; c.f. 159. “Mr. Kennedy had long ago learned that Mr. Johnson was extremely sensitive and thin-skinned and he tried not to upset him.” 122
LBJ, the brilliant legislator: “Everyone knew it was going to be a battle, but the Democrats hoped Mr. Johnson could use his renowned strategical power to pass some worthwhile legislation—for after all that was his greatest asset.” 106
LBJ Focused chapters: See Chapter 10, “Mr. Johnson at the White House” and Chapter 11, “The Vice President at Work.”
Leadership maturity: Lincoln makes an interesting comment on pages 184-185, that speaks to JFK’s growth as a leader. It is also an important point in that all leaders go through their own maturation process in their respective roles.
Even though Mr. Kennedy had always been the man in charge, from the day that Khrushchev agreed to pull out the missiles, the President had an added ingredient of self-confidence. It seemed as though he had turned the corner and was now going up a different street. He relied more on his own staff and advisers than on the politicians. After the Cuban crisis, Mr. Kennedy seemed to be less concerned with making sure the Vice President was occupied and, from then on, he let Mr. Johnson seek his own place in the administration.
Playing Second Fiddle:
Relationships: I record this except at length as it reveals the unique and differing relationships between first and second leaders:
One day Senator Dirksen called on Mr. Kennedy. After he left, Mr. Kennedy came out to my desk and said, “Do you know what the Senator told me today? Dirksen told me, ‘Let's face it, Eisenhower did not know much about what was going on during his Administration. He would call a group in – let the others do most of the talking – he used to sit and doodle for about two hours and then he would say, “OK, boys, who is going to carry the ball?” The Senator said that it was frightening – Eisenhower 's lack of knowledge of what was taking place and the things he didn't know about the United States Government. Nixon used to call on Dirksen and ask him to speak to Eisenhower, particularly about firing Sherman Adams. But the Senator said that he told Nixon he should talk to Eisenhower, he was the Vice President, but Nixon was scared of Eisenhower period.” “Well,” I said to Mr. Kennedy, “you and Mr. Johnson are certainly different than those two men. You certainly know what you are doing and Mr. Johnson is not afraid of you.” “No,” said Mr. Kennedy, “the only thing Mr. Johnson is afraid of is that I will not put him on the ticket in 1964.” 190-91
Access: "According to my records, in the first year these private conferences [between President Kennedy and Vice President Johnson] added up to ten hours and nineteen minutes—by the third year they had fallen off to one hour and fifty-three minutes.” 161
Recommendation:
Lincoln provides an interesting first-hand account from one who, as JFK’s secretary (and loyal to the President), saw both men up close. Not a “must read” but a good read.
Lincoln’s observations:
Their political battles: “Senator Kennedy had to kill the myth that a Catholic President would be an errand boy for the Pope an would trade the gold in Fort Knox for a supply of holy water; Senator Johnson had to show, somehow, that a Southerner could rise above his region and take liberal positions on vital issues.” (38).
Their communication styles: Kennedy “talked about issues, he talked about international affairs, he opened up the world of science and economics to his audience. . . .He used his most effective weapon—his rapier wit—to slash at the Republicans and to make his audience listen intently; he quote poetry to touch their hearts. . . . And he was effective, just as Lyndon Johnson was effective, in combining his public plain-folks technique with the hard back room bargaining and tough explaining of the political realities. 131
On JFK:
JFK, the listener: On an LBJ visit to Palm Beach shortly after the election, JFK, LBJ, and House Speaker Sam Rayburn, and Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield were meeting: “Mr. Johnson did most of the talking, Mr. Kennedy did most of the listening, and there were side remarks by Speaker Rayburn.” 10 I record that as it seems from other reading, a JFK strength.
JFK endured the heat: Truman was not a fan of Kennedy and let it be known. “Senator, are you certain that youa re quite ready for the country . . . May I urge you to be patient, . . . Are you certain . . . the country is ready for you?” Lincoln: “The harder the blows, the stronger Mr. Kennedy became. That was one of his great strengths.” (69)
On LBJ:
LBJ’s favorite Bible verse: “Come, let us reason together.” Isaiah 1:18 25LBJ felt, if he were able, he could reason his way to a favorable conclusion if given the opportunity to sit down face-to-face with an opponent.
The Johnson treatment: “He would frown, he would smile, he would appeal, and he would use sweet alk. And all of the time he would pound home the theme that they should do it “for good old Lyndon, and for the good of the country. If persuasive adjectives failed, he would his his hands. He would hug the victim, pat him, grip his arm with a cluthc that was as unbreakable, and just about as comfortable as a bulldog’s bite.” (50-51) LBJ. the talker. 113, 114
LBJ, the counter: Bobby Baker was his man on this front. “No bill, during Bobby Baker’s time, was ever lost because of an incorrect head-count or because Senators count not be found in time.” 53
LBJ image conscious: Lincoln records the words, “Once again, he was thinking of his image” in reference to after John Glenn’s successful space flight and an administration trip to Cape Canaveral. LBJ wanted to fly in Air Force One. JFK was miffed that Johnson was attempting to ride along “again.” 179-180; c.f. 159. “Mr. Kennedy had long ago learned that Mr. Johnson was extremely sensitive and thin-skinned and he tried not to upset him.” 122
LBJ, the brilliant legislator: “Everyone knew it was going to be a battle, but the Democrats hoped Mr. Johnson could use his renowned strategical power to pass some worthwhile legislation—for after all that was his greatest asset.” 106
LBJ Focused chapters: See Chapter 10, “Mr. Johnson at the White House” and Chapter 11, “The Vice President at Work.”
Leadership maturity: Lincoln makes an interesting comment on pages 184-185, that speaks to JFK’s growth as a leader. It is also an important point in that all leaders go through their own maturation process in their respective roles.
Even though Mr. Kennedy had always been the man in charge, from the day that Khrushchev agreed to pull out the missiles, the President had an added ingredient of self-confidence. It seemed as though he had turned the corner and was now going up a different street. He relied more on his own staff and advisers than on the politicians. After the Cuban crisis, Mr. Kennedy seemed to be less concerned with making sure the Vice President was occupied and, from then on, he let Mr. Johnson seek his own place in the administration.
Playing Second Fiddle:
Relationships: I record this except at length as it reveals the unique and differing relationships between first and second leaders:
One day Senator Dirksen called on Mr. Kennedy. After he left, Mr. Kennedy came out to my desk and said, “Do you know what the Senator told me today? Dirksen told me, ‘Let's face it, Eisenhower did not know much about what was going on during his Administration. He would call a group in – let the others do most of the talking – he used to sit and doodle for about two hours and then he would say, “OK, boys, who is going to carry the ball?” The Senator said that it was frightening – Eisenhower 's lack of knowledge of what was taking place and the things he didn't know about the United States Government. Nixon used to call on Dirksen and ask him to speak to Eisenhower, particularly about firing Sherman Adams. But the Senator said that he told Nixon he should talk to Eisenhower, he was the Vice President, but Nixon was scared of Eisenhower period.” “Well,” I said to Mr. Kennedy, “you and Mr. Johnson are certainly different than those two men. You certainly know what you are doing and Mr. Johnson is not afraid of you.” “No,” said Mr. Kennedy, “the only thing Mr. Johnson is afraid of is that I will not put him on the ticket in 1964.” 190-91
Access: "According to my records, in the first year these private conferences [between President Kennedy and Vice President Johnson] added up to ten hours and nineteen minutes—by the third year they had fallen off to one hour and fifty-three minutes.” 161
Recommendation:
Lincoln provides an interesting first-hand account from one who, as JFK’s secretary (and loyal to the President), saw both men up close. Not a “must read” but a good read.
October 14, 2015
I found Evelyn Lincoln's memoir, published in 1968, rather tame and lacking in revelatory detail. Perhaps with the passing of time readers of this history have been exposed to more insightful details of the Kennedy and Johnson administration. If Lincoln's purpose in writing this book was to provide "some new insights into one of the most crucial-and painful-periods in American history", maybe in 1968 she did. However, today it comes up frustratingly short and too polite from the woman who is reputed to have suspected the Vice President as being behind the assassination in Dallas.
Without question LBJ was full of vitriol for JFK, RFK and the entire Kennedy clan, prior to the 1960 election and throughout the White House years. John Newman in his 'Kennedy and Vietnam' documents the perfidious nature of 'polecat' Lyndon. One of the quotes in this book from LBJ attacking JFK's father "I wasn't any Chamberlain umbrella man" is interesting when considering one of the strange characters stood in Dealey Plaza!
Without question LBJ was full of vitriol for JFK, RFK and the entire Kennedy clan, prior to the 1960 election and throughout the White House years. John Newman in his 'Kennedy and Vietnam' documents the perfidious nature of 'polecat' Lyndon. One of the quotes in this book from LBJ attacking JFK's father "I wasn't any Chamberlain umbrella man" is interesting when considering one of the strange characters stood in Dealey Plaza!
April 12, 2018
Evelyn Lincoln’s “Kennedy & Johnson” is JFK’s secretary’s observations and conclusions regarding the relationship between her boss and Vice-President Lyndon Johnson from the nomination of the 1960 ticket through November 1963. The author is definitely a Kennedy partisan. While the President is always presented in a favorable light, LBJ comes across as a self-important, clumsy oaf who is more interested in his image that the advancement of administration policies.
Her bias notwithstanding, this work provides interesting insight into the interaction of these two diverse politicians. As the author muses, the Montagues and Capulets, sharing residency in Verona, had more in common than the Kennedys of Boston and the Johnsons of the Texas Hill Country. Her anecdotes slip the reader into the Administration’s inner sanctums.
Mrs. Lincoln’s conclusion that JFK was planning on asking Gov. Terry Sanford of North Carolina to replace Johnson on the 1964 ticket strains her credibility. Even if that was his plan I doubt that Kennedy would have casually confided in her.
“Kennedy & Johnson” is a quick 207 page read. It helps students of this era to discern the truth of the characters and relationships between these two leaders of the 1960s.
Her bias notwithstanding, this work provides interesting insight into the interaction of these two diverse politicians. As the author muses, the Montagues and Capulets, sharing residency in Verona, had more in common than the Kennedys of Boston and the Johnsons of the Texas Hill Country. Her anecdotes slip the reader into the Administration’s inner sanctums.
Mrs. Lincoln’s conclusion that JFK was planning on asking Gov. Terry Sanford of North Carolina to replace Johnson on the 1964 ticket strains her credibility. Even if that was his plan I doubt that Kennedy would have casually confided in her.
“Kennedy & Johnson” is a quick 207 page read. It helps students of this era to discern the truth of the characters and relationships between these two leaders of the 1960s.
December 30, 2013
This book was more interesting than the other book she wrote. It gave more insight into Kennedy and Johnson. I would recommend this book over her first one. Obviously, she had nothing good to say about Johnson, but what she says sounds pretty believable.
April 18, 2013
Written by JFK's secretary, VERY unflattering of LBJ. Totally believeable.
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