Succession

[Charles Collins]

Here's a fuller account from Holland of the "Bible" controversy. LBJ was worried about the upcoming release of the Manchester book and "unflattering" accounts of his behavior. One of the first ones was about the missing "Bible." So when Ladybird heard about the story I imagine she was shocked and told LBJ? LBJ was, fairly or not (I think not entirely unfairly), clearly worried about the Kennedy "mafia" spreading dirt on him through Manchester.

Thanks again Steve, after your earlier post, I looked at essentially the same thing in Holland’s book. The very next footnote (53) cites several sources for this:

53. Liz Carpenter’s Recollections of President Kennedy’s Assassination, December 1963, Box 4; Fortas to Johnson, memo re Bible, 29 August 1966, President’s Diary—November 22, 1963, Box 2; both in Special File, LBJL.


I don’t believe it necessary to read these sources to convince me that Ladybird Johnson took the book. Manchester appears to be wrong regarding this, but I do wonder if Judge Sarah Hughes told him about her (apparently inaccurate) memory of what happened. Perhaps it was Ladybird (and not some unidentified person) who took the book and index card from her before she departed the plane? And the Judge just remembered it incorrectly. It can happen to the best of us, we are all human…

[Jerry Organ]

The "bible" being a "missal" is in the 1968 book "The Day Kennedy Was Shot" by Jim Bishop.

In a 1986 interview, Lawrence O'Brien said Abe Fortes and Clark Clifford had the missal.

See pages 2 and 3 Link .

The LBJ Presidential Library has the swearing-in missal. Surely Donald Trump wasn't sworn in on a religious book.

[Charles Collins]

The "bible" being a "missal" is in the 1968 book "The Day Kennedy Was Shot" by Jim Bishop.

In a 1986 interview, Lawrence O'Brien said Abe Fortes and Clark Clifford had the missal.

See pages 2 and 3 Link .

The LBJ Presidential Library has the swearing-in missal. Surely Donald Trump wasn't sworn in on a religious book.

Thanks, an interesting account. Fortas and Clifford were asking O’Brien if he could identify the missal as the one on Air Force One that he gave to Judge Hughes (and he did). So, it seems to me that they wanted to be sure it was genuine. And where they got it wasn’t asked.   

Regardless, it seems to me that this was the property of the Kennedy family. And so I have to wonder why it wasn’t given back to the rightful owners.

Is it available for people to view at the LBJ library?

[Jerry Organ]

These pictures are on Wikipedia, from their page "First inauguration of Lyndon B. Johnson" ( Link ).

According to a search, the LBJ Presidential Library has the missal on display. I don't know if the missal was gifted to the Library.



The JFK Library has some of Kennedy's whalebone scrimshaw collection, which might offend some. I suspect the Theodore Roosevelt Library has some now-dubious Native American artifacts and wildlife trophies. And so on. The Trump Library will be getting Fred Trump's KKK memorabilia.

[Charles Collins]

These pictures are on Wikipedia, from their page "First inauguration of Lyndon B. Johnson" ( Link ).

According to a search, the LBJ Presidential Library has the missal on display. I don't know if the missal was gifted to the Library.



The JFK Library has some of Kennedy's whalebone scrimshaw collection, which might offend some. I suspect the Theodore Roosevelt Library has some now-dubious Native American artifacts and wildlife trophies. And so on. The Trump Library will be getting Fred Trump's KKK memorabilia.

Interesting, thanks Jerry!

Page 285 of “The Death of a President” by William Manchester snip:

It was an unusual copy, and very personal; even Larry O’Brien, to whom Ayres handed it, had never seen it before. The cover was of tooled leather, the edges were hand-sewn; on the front there was a gold cross and, on the inside cover, the tiny sewn black-on-black initials, “JFK.”

The photos show the cross to be black instead of gold. And I haven’t seen a photo of JFK’s initials. But the rest of the description (other than it is a missal, not a bible) that Manchester gave seems to be reasonably accurate. I wonder where he got such a description since the missal was missing (pun not intended).

[Jerry Organ]

From an 2013 account ( Link ) by Michael L. Gillette, who helped conduct oral history interviews for the LBJ Presidential Library:

"After the swearing-in, Lady Bird Johnson placed the missal and the typed oath in her handbag and carried them to Washington. There she entrusted the items to Dorothy Territo, the White House staff assistant who collected material for a future presidential library."

"More than a decade later, in the course of my work at the LBJ Library, I learned that the elusive missal was discreetly hidden among the Library's holdings. I raised the matter with Harry Middleton, the Library's director, expressing the view that we should offer the book to the Kennedy Library or the Kennedy family. Why keep it if we could never exhibit it or even acknowledge possessing it? Harry concurred and contacted the John F. Kennedy Library. Dan Fenn, the JFK Library director, presumably after checking with the Kennedy family, responded that the LBJ Library should keep the missal. Since neither President Kennedy nor his family had ever used it, the volume had no sentimental value to them. Besides, its only historical significance related to President Johnson. The missal is presently on display at the LBJ Presidential Library."

From another site:

"It is believed the missal was a gift to the president from Father Albert Pereira, who administered to the small parish of St. Stephen the Martyr in Millersburg, Virginia, population 1,000, where JFK and his family spent their weekends away from Washington." ( Link )

Manchester's terming the missal a "bible" and Kennedy's most-cherished possession that JFK read all the time ( ) reflects a "Northeast Liberal" bias and post-assassination reevaluation. It's less obvious in the Jim Bishop book. Poor LBJ couldn't catch a break from the Northeast Liberals (in the 60s, it was a concentration of political power and media--TV networks, Time-Life, publishers--that was literally located in the US Northeast).

That was public consumption. In Washington, LBJ benefited from long-serving Texans who were powerful in committees, as House/Senate Leaders, and as White House advisors.

[Charles Collins]

From an 2013 account ( Link ) by Michael L. Gillette, who helped conduct oral history interviews for the LBJ Presidential Library:

"After the swearing-in, Lady Bird Johnson placed the missal and the typed oath in her handbag and carried them to Washington. There she entrusted the items to Dorothy Territo, the White House staff assistant who collected material for a future presidential library."

"More than a decade later, in the course of my work at the LBJ Library, I learned that the elusive missal was discreetly hidden among the Library's holdings. I raised the matter with Harry Middleton, the Library's director, expressing the view that we should offer the book to the Kennedy Library or the Kennedy family. Why keep it if we could never exhibit it or even acknowledge possessing it? Harry concurred and contacted the John F. Kennedy Library. Dan Fenn, the JFK Library director, presumably after checking with the Kennedy family, responded that the LBJ Library should keep the missal. Since neither President Kennedy nor his family had ever used it, the volume had no sentimental value to them. Besides, its only historical significance related to President Johnson. The missal is presently on display at the LBJ Presidential Library."

From another site:

"It is believed the missal was a gift to the president from Father Albert Pereira, who administered to the small parish of St. Stephen the Martyr in Millersburg, Virginia, population 1,000, where JFK and his family spent their weekends away from Washington." ( Link )

Manchester's terming the missal a "bible" and Kennedy's most-cherished possession that JFK read all the time ( ) reflects a "Northeast Liberal" bias and post-assassination reevaluation. It's less obvious in the Jim Bishop book. Poor LBJ couldn't catch a break from the Northeast Liberals (in the 60s, it was a concentration of political power and media--TV networks, Time-Life, publishers--that was literally located in the US Northeast).

That was public consumption. In Washington, LBJ benefited from long-serving Texans who were powerful in committees, as House/Senate Leaders, and as White House advisors.

Thanks again Jerry! That appears to be a reasonable solution to the mystery. And it accounts for both Manchester not having a more accurate account and that the missal was apparently offered back to the JFK family but they essentially said “keep it”.

Ladybird was a smart lady. And I imagine that, under any other imaginable circumstance, she would have asked Jackie, or someone else, if she could have the missal. Wow, this is an interesting aspect of the succession. I learned a lot.       

[Walt Cakebread]

Thanks again Jerry! That appears to be a reasonable solution to the mystery. And it accounts for both Manchester not having a more accurate account and that the missal was apparently offered back to the JFK family but they essentially said “keep it”.

Ladybird was a smart lady. And I imagine that, under any other imaginable circumstance, she would have asked Jackie, or someone else, if she could have the missal. Wow, this is an interesting aspect of the succession. I learned a lot.       

In all of the posts...the nagging question was never answered..... Was LBJ's swearing in legal....Since he didn't swear the oath while having his hand on a BIBLE.