In this brief conversation with Rep. Frank Thompson (D-NJ) Johnson thanks him for his work on the recently passed tax and civil rights bills, and in the next breath, exhorts him to work on passage of Johnson's medical care proposals.

At the start of this conversation Johnson outlines his legislative priorities for the year, including Medicare. Most of the conversation is a discussion of the political strategy for pushing the Administration's food stamp proposal.

Larry O'Brien, Assistant to the President for Congressional Relations, recounts his conversation with Wilbur Mills about the status and legislative developments on the President's Medicare proposals. O'Brien was concerned about stories in the press which reported that the Ways and Means Committee was considering changes the Administration did not know about. Mills assured O'Brien that this was not the case. O'Brien and the President then go on to a long discussion of political strategy and possible policies for a Medicare program.

Conversation 3686-3687 with Larry O'Brien and Rep. Wilbur Mills (D-AK) provides the president an update on a number of bills, including excise taxes, social security, debt ceiling, assistance for widows, and Medicare. The President then has an extended discussion about his poll numbers. He is particularly concerned about his weak poll numbers for "more help for older people." Mills and Johnson then have a discussion regarding political strategy on Social Security.

Conversation 3690 with Earle Clements who updates the President on the status of support for pending legislation, including Medicare. The talk about the prospects of the King-Anderson proposal in the Senate, which was the early form the Medicare legislation took, and about the strategy of trying to add Medicare to a Senate bill.

Larry O'Brien provides a very pessimistic assessment of the prospects for the Medicare legislation. O'Brien reports on a discouraging conversation between Wilbur Cohen and Anthony Celebrezze and Wilbur Mills. Mills says that he sees little hope of passing a Medicare proposal through his Committee. He suggests the Administration may want to consider abandoning Medicare for now and settling for a general Social Security bill; or at best, try attaching Medicare as a rider to a general Social Security bill in the Senate. The Ways & Means Committee was scheduled to vote on the proposal the next day and Mills indicated that if it came to a vote, the Administration's proposal would be defeated.

In this conversation Johnson aid Larry O'Brien briefs LBJ on the status of various legislative initiatives, including his meeting with Congressional leaders on the Medicare bill.

Conversation 4677 Senator Smathers (D-FL) tells the President that he has gotten Senators Gore and Ribicoff to agree on the strategy to offer the King-Anderson bill on the floor. 

Conversation 4679 Because of a full schedule precipitated by the escalating war in Vietnam, the President asks Myer Feldman, Deputy Special Counsel to the President, to join him and take over a meeting with ranking Negro doctors and seek their support for Medicare.

LBJ and O'Brien discuss the strategy passing Medicare. The plan is to get the King-Anderson bill passed in the Senate and then tradeoff on the Ribicoff bill once the legislation goes to Conference.

Conversations 4942 & 4943 Larry O'Brien tells LBJ that Senator Abraham Ribicoff (D-CN) leaked details of a confidential meeting of the Senate leadership the day on Medicare O'Brien and LBJ also discuss the status of legislation on Appalachia, reapportionment, and the Mansfield-Dirksen amendment.

Mike Mansfield, Senate Majority Leader, (D-MT) informs LBJ that work on the report on Social Security is going to be delayed until after the Senate's recess. Mansfield and LBJ also talk about LBJ's finances and the President's release of his financial statement.

Conversations 5416 In this conversation, Mike Mansfield tells LBJ that at best there are 51 votes for Medicare and asks LBJ to call Carl Hayden (Senator, D., Ariz.) in an attempt to get his support. LBJ and Mansfield also discuss a developing FBI investigation.

Conversations 5417 LBJ updates O'Brien on his calls with Gore and Mansfield about the close vote on Medicare, including Mansfield's request that the President call Senator Hayden. O'Brien reports that the meeting with the New York county chairman went very well.

Conversations 5424  Lee White, Associate Counsel to the President, tells the President about an unidentified person who credits his election win with his Medicare vote.

Conversations 5426 Myer Feldman, Deputy Special Counsel to the President, tells LBJ that there is a tie vote on Medicare and asks him to contact either Jordan or Monroney. LBJ instructs Feldman to check with Humphrey. Humphrey has just told the President that he does not need help with the vote.

Conversations 5429 Alex Rose congratulates LBJ on his becoming the official party nominee. He predicts that LBJ will win by a larger margin in New York than Bobby Kennedy will in his Senate race. LBJ tells Rose that the win on Medicare in the Senate was 49 - 44 and expresses the need to get Wilbur Mill's acceptance of it in Conference.

Conversations 5430 In this conversation with Senator B. Everett Jordan (D-NC) Chairman, Senate Rules Committee, LBJ expresses his appreciation for Senator Jordan's role in getting the vote for the Medicare legislation. The Senator and LBJ also discuss the FBI investigation of Reynolds.

Conversations 5444 At Myer Feldman's request, LBJ spells out key points about Medicare bill for an upcoming story by Joe Krebs, including that it is for all Americans, was developed by a majority viewpoint, and has made its most progress in 15 years.

In this conversation, Carl Albert (House Majority Leader) and John McCormack (Speaker of the House) discuss their strategy with LBJ for how to appeal to Wilbur Mills to support the Medicare bill. Mills has asked for their vote against the bill, as Mills believes he has enough votes to defeat it either way in Conference.

LBJ updates O'Brien on his conversation with Albert and McCormack (conversation 5445). LBJ asks O'Brien to talk to Wilbur Mills to agree to take on the Ribicoff amendment in conference. If that fails, O'Brien will talk to the conferees.

Conversations 5469 Congressman Carl Albert (D-OK), House Majority Leader, and LBJ discuss the Medicare bill. 

Conversations 5470 Albert has learned that the Republicans will object to the bill going to Conference. LBJ informs him that Wilbur Mills will not help on this bill. Albert tells LBJ that he will carry both Oklahoma and Texas in the upcoming Presidential election.

Conversations 5474 O'Brien reports to LBJ that the Republicans will not have unanimous consent on the Social Security bill and the bill will go to the rules Committee. LBJ asks O'Brien to meet with labor leaders to see what can be done to promote Medicare across the country. LBJ also goes over Gallup poll results with O'Brien that show increasing support for LBJ's reelection.

Walter Reuther and LBJ discuss the Michigan delegation, the Democratic convention, Goldwater, the UAW strike, and LBJ's upcoming Labor Day speech. In the speech, LBJ plans to express his support for Medicare.

Larry O'Brien informs LBJ that his speech got the best reception he's heard in years, with no real problems.

Conversations 5673 In this conversation, Senator Smathers tells LBJ that he was in Conference briefly but did not come away with the impression that things had broken up. LBJ has heard otherwise and Smathers agrees to quietly find out for what occurred for the President.

Conversations 5677 Senator Russell Long (D-LA) informs LBJ that Wilbur Mills has not acted on Medicare. Long believes that Mills will divorce Medicare from Social Security. Long and LBJ discuss ways to keep the Medicare issue alive.

Conversations 5682 In this conversation, Rep. Hale Boggs, House Majority Whip (D-LA) tells LBJ that Wilbur Mills is acting to get out of Medicare, by bypassing the Rules Committee.

Conversations 5683 Senator Smathers tells LBJ that he has been out raising funds in Florida and to contact Clint for details about the status of the Medicare bill. Smathers informs LBJ that it looks worse and recommends letting it wind down.

Conversations 5688 Senator Clinton Anderson informs LBJ that they were unable to get Medicare passed, following Wilbur Mills' opposition to tying Social Security with Medicare. Anderson recommends dropping the entire thing, going out and campaigning for voter support, and then bringing up Medicare again.

Conversations 5802 In this conversation, LBJ and Hubert Humphrey discuss the Presidential campaign. LBJ updates Humphrey on the status of Medicare. In spite of LBJ's efforts, Congress has recessed and the bill is dead. LBJ is uncertain whether Medicare will pass in the next Congress.

Conversations 5804 Senator Albert Gore, Sr. (D-TN) and LBJ discuss the status of the Medicare bill and support for LBJ's election. Gore tells the President that there was no agreement on the Medicare bill. He believes that, with the elections, LBJ will get a mandate on the issue from the people and will be assure a strong health care bill next year. LBJ and Gore also discuss recent press activities related to the election.

Conversations 5805 LBJ tells Wilson not to oppose the move to adjourn Congress and updates Wilson on his talk with Gore.

Conversations 5806 Congressman Carl Albert (D-OK) tells LBJ about the growing support for adjournment. LBJ concedes that Medicare will not be passed, and talks to Albert about getting support for an appropriation for an Appalachian Regional Commission.

Henry Wilson updates LBJ on the Veterans Bill. LBJ notes that the House is ready to adjourn. The President and Wilson agree that the best course of action is to make sure that the Social Security bill does not come up. Wilson reports that Senator Morse will be making a statement on Social Security.

In this call, Dr. Benjamin Spock is thanked by the President for his public statements in support of the Johnson election effort. Spock then informs the President that he will be appearing on television that weekend speaking in support of Medicare.

One of Administration's main constituents in the political fight for Medicare was the labor movement. President Johnson rarely missed an opportunity to at least mention support for Medicare in any conversation he had with a labor leader, such as this conversation with UAW President Walter Reuther.

Note: Recordings are in two formats: RealAudio (RA); Microsoft's Windows Media Player (WMP)

In this conversation with Don Cook, the President discusses the potential appointment of Crawford Greenwalt as Secretary of the Treasury, following the resignation of Douglas Dillion. LBJ mentions Mr. Greenwalt's conservative attitudes toward Social Security as a key obstacle to his nomination. Johnson discusses other possible nominees, including Mr. Cook himself. (Mr. Cook's comments are mostly inaudible, and the recording ends abruptly before the completion of the call.)

In this conversation with press aid, Bill Moyers, the President discusses plans for an upcoming press conference. He also explains to Moyers his philosophy on a pending proposal to increase Social Security benefits and why this increase should be made retroactive. LBJ also reflects at length on his general political philosophy on Social Security, health care and poverty programs, especially in the context of budgetary considerations.

This is a follow-on conversation to the previous discussion. In this discussion, the President and Wilbur Cohen discuss the timing and other tactical considerations involved in moving the Medicare legislation. The President is especially concerned about publicizing the new compromise proposal and directs Wilbur Cohen to draft a statement for the President's release.

In this conversation with AFL-CIO president George Meany, the President solicits the help of organized labor in passing his Medicare proposal. The President emphasizes to Mr. Meany that Medicare and his other proposals are in the interests of working people. There is extended discussion of lobbying tactics on Capitol Hill.

In this conversation with his legislative director, Larry O'Brien, President Johnson discusses legislative strategy and how to move his agenda through Congress. The President tells O'Brien to tell members of Congress that if they support his Medicare and education proposals their grandchildren will be able to say "my grandpa was in the Congress that enacted these two . . . so it makes them proud. . ."