Last of LBJ Presidential Tapes to be Released Today

Dude, is that LBJ on your iPod?

The final installment of the tapes Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) made as President of the United States will be released today at 9:00 a.m. CST during a ceremony held at the LBJ Library located on the University of Texas campus in Austin.  For the first time, MP3 versions of the conversations will be available that include high-resolution photographs of persons related to the conversation.

Lyndon Baines Johnson

The tapes cover one of America’s most turbulent historical periods from May 1968 through January 1969.  Among the more notable events discussed on the tapes are the assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy (June 1968), the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia (August 1968), the unrest and rioting at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago (August 1968), peace talks with North Vietnam and the decision to halt bombing (October 1968) and a discussion with President-elect Nixon about reports his campaign urged South Viet Nam not to join the Paris peace talks until after the election (November 1968).

The tapes cover a unique historical window that some say is one of the most violent and dangerous times in American history.  Although not discussed within this release of tapes, the assassination of Martin Luther King in April 1968 certainly provided an emotional contribution to the unfolding domestic events that are covered.

LBJ was a controversial president at the time for his escalation of the Viet Nam conflict despite growing resistance to American involvement in the war.  He rose to the presidency as the result of an assassination, and in 1968 two more national leaders were gunned down in cold blood.  Protests became more frequent and increasingly violent.

On March 16, 1968, the My Lai Massacre in South Viet Nam occurred and soon found its way into the press.  The mass murder conducted by U.S. Army forces of 347 - 504 unarmed South Vietnamese civilians that included women and children shocked the American conscience.  LBJ took to the airwaves on the evening of March 31 to announce he would not seek re-election.

Four days later, Martin Luther King is assassinated in Memphis, TN about 24 hours after giving his now-famous, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” address that forshadowed his death.  The speech, referencing a bomb threat against King’s plane the day before that delayed his arrival to the city, includes the now well-known lines:

“I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And so I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”

King’s assassination sparked a wave of riots in more than 60 cities across the United States, including my town of birth, Pittsburgh, PA.  The riots in Pittsburgh and elsewhere lasted well through the summer months.  There was a great deal of blood and property damage across the nation, even though King himself never lifted a hand against anyone.

Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) learned of King’s death at a campaign stop in Indianapolis, IN and addressed the crowd about it despite being warned that it may cause a riot.  Kennedy acknowledged the hatred and anger the news might bring, but urged the crowd to rise above the times and first publicly referenced his own brother’s assassination.  Quoting the Greek poet Aeschylus, he said:

“Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget
falls drop by drop upon the heart,
until, in our own despair,
against our will,
comes wisdom
through the awful grace of God.”

Indianapolis did not have to endure the riots that rocked the remainder of the country, and many attribute that to the speech RFK gave that night.

Two months later, RFK was killed by an assassin’s bullet.

Two months after the RFK assassination, Russia invades Czechoslovakia on August 21, 1968.  This event is a response to reform leader Alexander Dubcek’s call for democratic reform and decentralization of the government.  The Cold War between America and Russia is a delicate balance at this point in time, and the crushing might of the Russian Army into the small country frightens many into believing that Russia has larger goals.

At the time in America, children are taught how to “defend” against nuclear attack.  One school practice I particularly disliked was an exercise in which the students were told there are enough supplies in a bomb shelter for 14 people to last a month when fallout levels are expected to be safe enough for re-entry into the world.  There are 16 people in the shelter though, so students were asked to choose which two would be sent out to die based upon their value to future society. 

Yes, this actually happened, and I experienced it for three consequetive years from 1969 - 1972.  None of the exercises I participated in resulted in a single suggestion that the 16 merely eat less during the 30-day period nor was the solution ever presented by teaching staff.

On August 27, the Democratic National Convention opens in Chicago which is led by the highly conservative and controversial Mayor Daley who declares, “As long as I am mayor of this city, there’s going to be law and order in Chicago.”

The so-called “Chicago Seven” had already been working the crowds to protest the Viet Nam War and to defy authority.  The group that included Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines and Lee Weiner was involved in a week-long set of confrontations with police that involved innocent citizens and journalists who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

Black Panther leader Bobby Seale was originally included among the group that was indicted for conspiring to incite a riot and other charges, but his lawyers managed to separate him from the others, thus reducing the Chicago Eight to the Chicago Seven.

This installment of the LBJ tapes is probably the most important insight to how isolated and absolute power views events of seismic importance to average Americans.  The above background is provided to give context to that end.

The timeframe presented on these tapes is enormously significant, and every American should learn more about it.