LBJ Quotes

Walter Jenkins: There's just no power in the vice presidency.

Lyndon B. Johnson: Walter, how long you been with me?

Walter Jenkins: 21 years.

Lyndon B. Johnson: And in 21 years, can you think of a time that I have taken over a new office, and not made it 100 times more powerful than when I got there?

Walter Jenkins: No, sir.

Lyndon B. Johnson: Power is where power goes.

John F. Kennedy: I'm perfectly fine.

Lyndon B. Johnson: Guessing you Kennedys don't do a lot of deer hunting.

John F. Kennedy: Well, when Kennedys fire weapons, it's usually at Nazis.

Lyndon B. Johnson: Lot of Nazis in Hyannis Port?

Lyndon B. Johnson: You know, this could be your lucky day. You might be able to vote your conscience on the Farm Bill.

Senator Ralph Yarborough: I like to think that is the only way that I ever vote.

Lyndon B. Johnson: Spoken like a true one-term senator.

John Connally: [about LBJ] He's afraid.

Walter Jenkins: Of what?

John Connally: Hell, every politician's afraid people won't vote for him.

Lady Bird Johnson: He's afraid people won't love him.

Lady Bird Johnson: Do you know why I married you? I had other offers, but I chose you. Do you know why?

Lyndon B. Johnson: I have no earthly idea.

Lady Bird Johnson: Because you asked.

John F. Kennedy: Lyndon, you have more experience and more talent, more wisdom. Unfortunately, this is politics, and none of that matters.

Lyndon B. Johnson: The better man won.

John F. Kennedy: I'm not better. Better-looking, maybe.

Lyndon B. Johnson: Yeah, if I had some of those Kennedy genes...

Lyndon B. Johnson: This damn civil rights issue is gonna tear the Democrats in two. We got rival camps that are never gonna see eye to eye. But as long as they're sitting at the table, they're gonna need an interpreter. The Kennedys don't speak Southern - the Southerners don't speak Kennedy. I'm the only man who's fluent in both languages.

George Reedy: Which side are you on?

Lyndon B. Johnson: You're missing the point. As long as neither side declares all-out war, both sides need me. The best thing that can happen for me is this civil rights debate goes on forever. And how do we make that happen, sir?

John Connally: [un-caps his pen] Compromise, boys. Endless compromise.

Senator Richard Russell: Those Harvard boys not gonna tell us how to run the state of Georgia.

Lyndon B. Johnson: Of course not. But the Kennedys did get elected by appealing to the colored man. Now, if we play this right, we're gonna have those nigras voting Democrat the next 200 years.

Lyndon B. Johnson: I'm sure we can all sit down and come to an agreement that we can all live with.

Senator Richard Russell: It seems like every time we do that, I'm the only one giving something up. And I'm about running out of things that I can live without.

Lyndon B. Johnson: Dick, you didn't have to give up your billion-dollar airplane, did you? I'm not saying lay down and die, but this train is leaving the station. So you can stand there and watch it roll on by, or you can hop on it with me and try to slow the damn thing down.

Senator Richard Russell: Voluntary integration is one thing, but don't you think that I, as an American citizen, shouldn't be forced to eat a hamburger next to someone in a restaurant I don't wanna bump elbows with?

Lyndon B. Johnson: Dick, I think it is unconscionable that you, as an American citizen, should ever be forced to eat a hamburger.

Senator Richard Russell: [leaning in] So you're telling me she's your equal?

Lyndon B. Johnson: That woman spends more time in this house than anyone except Lady Bird. She is family.

Senator Richard Russell: I don't know how I missed the resemblance. Look, what I'm talking about here is freedom. I'm talking about the preservation of a way of life. A way of life that you and I both grew up with. There's nothing wrong with that.

Lyndon B. Johnson: Then why are we whispering?

Lyndon B. Johnson: [walking right up to his face] We've been talking about this forever, and we never say a damn thing.

Senator Richard Russell: Well-a, What? What do you wanna say? That you're gonna turn your back on me? That you don't care about everything I've done for you? That you're willing to betray me?

Lyndon B. Johnson: That you're a racist.

Malcolm: Sir... the American people need to know that President Kennedy has died.

Lyndon B. Johnson: On April 14th, 1865, two men attempted to kill Secretary of State William Seward stabbing him in his home. At the same time, another assassin was on his way to take the life of Vice President Andrew Johnson. This was the same night that John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln. We don't know the extent of this conspiracy or who's behind it. Malcolm, you're to announce President Kennedy's death, only after the rest of us are safely onboard that plane. Otherwise, you're gonna make these boys' jobs a whole hell of a lot harder.