The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 103, July 1999 - April, 2000 Page: 148
554 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
of international relations.' Arthur M. Schlesinger and Theodore C.
Sorensen, the semi-official historians of Camelot, argue that foreign pol-
icy and Kennedy's wise decision to select Lyndon Johnson for the sec-
ond spot on the ticket were two major reasons he beat Vice President
Richard M. Nixon in the general election.2 Other than saying Johnson
was a vigorous campaigner, these writers never explain how Johnson
contributed to the victory. In their subsequent scholarly studies, Kent M.
Beck and Robert A. Divine have challenged the idea that the Mass-
achusetts senator handled the matter well. According to Divine,
"Foreign policy, rather than contributing to Kennedy's victory, cost him
votes and transformed a nearly certain triumph into a cliffhanger."3 He
contends Johnson was a nonfactor in the debate on foreign policy that
fall, a view others have accepted.4 At the national level Divine's argu-
ment is essentially correct, but the electoral college makes regional out-
comes of equal, if not greater importance.
New information requires a reassessment. Regional newspapers and
documents uncovered in the mass of material at the Johnson Presiden-
tial Library, including the papers of John Connally, his campaign man-
ager, show that foreign policy played an important role in the Johnson
campaigns of 1960. Other documents in the Nixon pre-presidential col-
lection in the National Archives, and the Eisenhower and Kennedy Pres-
idential Libraries make it clear that Johnson had a key role in the debate
on foreign policy. Put together, this material helps explain the outcome
of an extremely tight presidential campaign.
Since he was a domestic politician, first and foremost, it is easy to
assume that Lyndon Johnson had little interest or experience in interna-
tional affairs. Such was not the case. A quick examination of his back-
ground will show that he actually had a good deal of experience in this
area. The idea that he knew little of foreign relations is hardly new, and
the suggestion always angered him. "I suppose sitting in on all those
' Theodore H White, The Making of the President, 196o (New York: Atheneum Publishers,
1961).
2Arthur M. SchlesingerJr., A Thousand Days (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1965); Theodore C.
Sorensen, Kennedy (New York: Harper & Row, 1965).
' Kent M. Beck, "Necessary Lies, Hidden Truths: Cuba in the 196o Campaign," Diplomatic
Hstory, 8 (Winter, 1984), 37-59; Robert A. Divine, Forezgn Policy and U.S Presidential Elections, vol.
2, 1952-196o (New York: New Viewpoints, 1974), 286.
4 Doris Kearns, Lyndon B. Johnson and the American Dream (New York: Harper & Row, 1976);
Merle Miller, Lyndon- An Oral Biography (New York: Putnam, 198o); Paul K. Conkin, Big Daddy
from the Pedernales: Lyndon Baines Johnson (Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1986); Robert Dallek, Lone
Star Rising: Lyndon Johnson and His Times (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991); Kathleen
Hall Jamieson, Packaging the Presidency: A History and Criticism of Preszdential Campaign Advertiszng
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1984); Stephen E. Ambrose, Nixon: The Education of a
Politician, 19r3-1962 (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987); Herbert S. Parmet, Jack: The
Struggles ofJohn E Kennedy (New York: Dial Press, 1980); Herbert S. Parmet, Richard Nixon and
His Amenca (Boston- Little, Brown, 199o).148
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 103, July 1999 - April, 2000, periodical, 2000; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101220/m1/184/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.