Fearful that postelection commentary would fixate on disapproval of Republican presidential candidate Barry M. Goldwater Sr. [R–Arizona] rather than on his own popularity, President Johnson enlisted confidant Edwin L. “Eddie” Weisl Sr. in a campaign to redirect attention to an analysis of LBJ’s electoral victory. Johnson asked Weisl to tell publishers that the American public “liked [LBJ], and that he came, and he saw, and he conquered.”