With President Obama hitting his 100-day mark this week, some have likened the progress the president has made on his agenda to that of Lyndon B. Johnson, who ascended to the presidency in November of 1963 after John F. Kennedy's assassination. So for this week's Historic Whispers, we took a look back at Johnson's first 100 days.
- President Lyndon B. Johnson is expected to make changes only gradually in the Administration's Cabinet. The Kennedy Cabinet will continue to function for several months as the new Chief Executive feels his way. (Dec.2, 1963)
- President Johnson, unlike other Vice Presidents who have succeeded to the office, is well acquainted with the problems and policies of the Administration. Mr. Johnson attended most of the important conferences at the White House and was often employed as a trouble shooter. (Dec.2, 1963)
- The late President Kennedy was the busiest traveler of all Presidents. It is noted that he made eight foreign trips during his 34 months in office without running into the kind of danger that cut him down in Texas. (Dec.2, 1963)
- Under President Johnson, relations between the White House and Congress will undergo a major change. President Johnson was a highly successful Majority Leader of the Senate and can be expected to use his talents to end quarrels and set up smoother relations with congressional leaders. (Dec.2, 1963)
- Some Democrats in Congress are complaining that Mexican-Americans and Puerto Rican voters feel that a so-called "civil-rights package" is proposing to give everything to the Negroes and nothing to them as minority groups. (Dec.2, 1963)
- President Johnson, when seeking election in November, 1964, will enter into no debates with whoever is his Republican opponent. More probably, he will campaign in the Roosevelt tradition by ignoring his opponent, rather than by helping to build him up with attention. (Dec. 9, 1963)
- President Johnson is reported to be sounding out Border State Senators on what they would stand for in the way of a new civil-rights bill, if a compromise of the issue is needed to get action in 1964. (Dec. 16, 1963)
- A favorite observation made by the new President: "You can't be a statesman until after you have a certificate of election." (Dec. 16, 1963)
- A key politician, looking ahead, describes the current situation this way: "The pressure on President Kennedy, who was clearly identified as a 'liberal,' came from the 'conservative' right. The pressure on President Johnson is going to come from the 'liberal' left." (Dec. 16, 1963)
- "Intellectuals," who were so strong in Government during recent years, are suggesting now that they should be considered to be a political group, along with labor, business and farmers, deserving special attention from the White House and Congress. (Dec. 23, 1963)
- The President is reported to have used the following argument with aides of the late President to induce them to stay with him: It would be a poor memorial to John Kennedy, he is said to have argued, to have Richard Nixon in the White House. This was taken to mean that President Johnson expects Mr. Nixon to be his opponent next November. (Dec. 30, 1963)
- President Johnson appears to be making an impression on visiting business leaders by stressing his feeling that reasonable men seeking reasonable solutions can work out all problems. The visitors come away with a feeling that a punitive approach will not be taken in enforcing antitrust laws and other laws affecting business.(Jan. 6, 1964)
- George Romney, Governor of Michigan, is thought by friends to be nearly ready to announce that he, too, will seek the Republican nomination for the Presidency. With Richard Nixon, the 1960 nominee, Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York, Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, and Governor [William] Scranton [of Pennsylvania], this would bring to six the leading contenders in the race to decide who will oppose President Johnson next November 3. (Jan. 6, 1964)
- A poll taken in Texas shows that the "liberal" Democrats of that State, who had been lukewarm to Lyndon Johnson if not opposed to him, now are going all out for him. The poll indicated that 96 per cent of the State's Democrats like him. (Jan. 6, 1964)
- White House aides are being advised to get off the "cocktail circuit" in the nation's capital, because the President wants to feel free to call on his staff at night and on week-ends. (Jan. 13, 1964)
- Texans worry about President Johnson's tendency to walk through crowded streets in spite of admonitions from the Secret Service. Aides say, however, that the President's urge to shake hands with people makes it difficult for the Secret Service detail to change his ways. (Jan. 13, 1964)
- A "conservative" Democrat from the South expressed himself as "amazed" at the way sentiment in his State has swung around. Said he: "Many Southern people apparently would be willing to let President Johnson do things to them that they had no intention of tolerating from the late President or his brother, the Attorney General." (Jan. 27, 1964)
- President Johnson's political strategy at this point has one objective: Keep the Republicans fighting among themselves while he builds support among as many groups as possible for the election—only nine months away. (Feb. 3, 1964)
- When President Johnson moved into the White House he was bothered by the size of the electric-light bill. The President started turning off lights in unused rooms, but observed to visitors: "They have someone who comes around after me and turns those lights on again." Result: A White House order to turn out lights not in use. (Feb. 3, 1964)
- Asked how long the President can keep the pace he has set, an aide said: "He can keep it up just as long as there are telephones and phone operators and a staff to get ulcers." (Feb. 3, 1964)
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