Tape: WH6503.02

Conversation: 7024

Date: March 06, 1965 11:25AM

Notes:

This is a clip (1:07.11 to 12:06.157 and 14:17.966 to 14:46.683). The original full audio can be found here.

Transcript:

President Johnson: And in talking to groups, I wouldn’t say we got a 104 bills. I’d say, “Well, we’re really shooting at... we’ve got the good program, and everybody puts more on their platform than they can do. What we want to do is take care of this unemployment where it’s really distressed, and that’s Appalachia – we’ll do it. The next thing we want to do is get these people who can’t read and write, we want to educate them, and make taxpayers out of them instead of tax-eaters. That’s education; we’ve solved that. The next thing’s health. Now, that’s basic. That’s what I’m after, Humphrey. That’s my program. Then the other 100 will be incidental, so if you don’t get any but those three. Now, we’re going to get them. I went up $500 million on this health, extra. So don’t ever argue with me: I’ll go a $100 million or a billion on health or education. I don’t argue about that any more than I argue about Lady Bird buying flour.  You’ve got to have flour and coffee in your house, and [on] education and health, I’ll spend the goddamn money. I may cut back some tanks, but not on health. So that’s the go sign I gave them.

…

Now, the sky’s the limit for you. They’re a 104 bills, and they’re all yours and mine on the ticket, because that’s what we ran on; that’s our platform; that’s our program. You’re half of it, and you’re there every day. And you just help us if you can. When you get past [unclear] when you go out and speak, you can say, “We passed education. We passed Appalachia. We passed medical care.” And if you give me those, I’ll have a majority two years from now.