5. M ARTIN L UTHER K ING, J R.: Now, the real problem that we face is this: the Negro community is about to reach a breaking point. There is a great deal of frustration and despair and confusion in the Negro community, and there is this feeling of being alone and not protected. If you walk the street, you aren’t safe. If you stay at home, you aren’t safe; there is the danger of a bomb. If you’re in church now, it isn’t safe. So that the Negro feels that everywhere he goes, if he remains stationary, he’s in danger of some physical violence.

6. M ARTIN L UTHER K ING, J R.: Now, this presents a real problem for those of us who find ourselves in leadership positions. Because we are preaching, at every moment, the philosophy and the method of non-violence. And I think I can say, without fear of successful contradiction, that we have been consistent at standing up for nonviolence at every point, and even with Sunday’s [the church bombing] and Monday’s [allegations of police brutality against demonstrators] developments, we continue to be firm at this point. But more and more, we are facing the problem of our people saying, “What’s the use?” [Break.]

7. P RESIDENT K ENNEDY : Now, it’s tough for the Negro community. On the other hand, what the Negro community is trying to do is a very important effort, which has implications all over the country. And I know that this bombing is particularly difficult. But if you look at any—as you know—any of these struggles over a period across the world, it is a very dangerous effort. So everybody just has to keep their nerve. If the Negroes should begin to respond and shoot at whites, we lose. I think [Alabama governor George] Wallace has lost. I heard a Southern senator with regards to civil rights say to me today, this is what I hear from him—that Wallace has made a bad mistake [in endorsing the brutal police response to the protests].

8. P RESIDENT K ENNEDY : Now if you get... Wallace is in a bad position. And because you gentlemen and the community have conducted yourselves in the way you have, it’s with you. And of course when the police starts going for guns, they’ll shoot some innocent people, and they’ll be white, and then that will just wipe away all this support that’s built up. There will be no—in the beginning, you can’t get anything. I can’t do very much. Congress can’t do very much unless we keep the support of the white community throughout the country—as a country. Once that goes, then we’re pretty much really down to a racial struggle, so that I think we’ve just got to tell the Negro community that this is a very hard price which they have to pay to get this job done.

13. P RESIDENT J OHNSON : Vance? V ANCE H ARTKE : Yes, sir. P RESIDENT J OHNSON : Can’t you help me on this excise tax thing? You’re going to wreck this damn bill. We’re not going to have any. They’re going to get together this afternoon and try to make a motion to keep all excise taxes in there, and we need your help. H ARTKE : [searching for words] Well, I mean, I suppose that way started out— P RESIDENT J OHNSON : I know it. And [New Mexico senator] Clint Anderson, though, they all got mad yesterday because you-all screwed up that oil vote. And they’re after the oil companies, and [Delaware senator John] Williams and everything else. Those big oil companies oughtn’t to be raising hell [for] 40 million. They got off with 400 million, and they ought to let you-all off the hook. But now we’ve got it in a big screwed-up mess, and we—all of us are going down in defeat if we can’t operate any better than that. There’s no leadership in the committee. So for God’s sake, get in there. Clint Anderson says he’ll change, and you change, and get two or three more and let’s...

14. H ARTKE : The one big thing in there, the one thing I wanted, was [to cut the tax on] musical instruments. P RESIDENT J OHNSON : Oh, well— H ARTKE : This is— P RESIDENT J OHNSON : What’s important is the big credit to the Democratic Party, and let’s go on. The goddamned band and musical instruments—they won’t be talking about it next November. H ARTKE : They will in Elkhart— P RESIDENT J OHNSON : What they’re going to be judging us by is: they’re going to be judging us whether we passed the tax bill or not and whether we’ve got prosperity.

18. P RESIDENT J OHNSON : And I think that we’ve just got to sit down with our Northerners and tell them, “Now, goddamnit, you’re going to have poverty [legislation], and you’ve had accelerated public works, and you’ve had slum clearance, and you’ve had urban renewal, and you’ve had these things that we helped you on, and we’ve have passed all the labor things you want—manpower retraining.” [For] the Negroes—we’ve spent a lot of time on civil rights, for your area/districts. Now, for God’s sakes, let us get some votes in the South and Midwest, so we can have the control. L ARRY O’B RIEN : Yeah. P RESIDENT J OHNSON : Just let us control this Congress by getting some votes in the South and Midwest. Now, we don’t want to keep on electing Republican-Democrats from Florida, from Texas, and these other states, and we don’t want to elect all-Republican delegations from the Midwest. L ARRY O’B RIEN : Yeah.

20. P RESIDENT J OHNSON : Now, you go on and get me some kind of a farm bill. I don’t want to know the detail— A LLEN E LLENDER : I’m going to get you— P RESIDENT J OHNSON : But you and [Agriculture Secretary] Orville Freeman get together; if you and Freeman can’t... You see, this is an election year, and Democrats are up. If we don’t have a farm bill, they’re going to catch hell. Now, don’t— E LLENDER : I’m going to get— P RESIDENT J OHNSON : You and Freeman get—you and Freeman get together, and you-all agree on something, because he thinks you’re a good man— E LLENDER : All right. P RESIDENT J OHNSON : And you think he’s a good man— E LLENDER : All right. P RESIDENT J OHNSON : And damn it, you can agree. Both of you give a little bit— E LLENDER : All right. P RESIDENT J OHNSON : —and go on and get something!

22. P RESIDENT J OHNSON : You oughtn’t to hold up my poverty bill. That’s a good bill and there’s no reason why you ought to keep the majority from [considering] it. If you can beat it, go on and beat it. But you oughtn’t to hold it up. You ought to give me a fait shake and give me a chance to vote on it. I’ve got it in my budget. I’ve cut my budget a billion under last year— H ALLECK : Wait a minute; let me talk to you just a minute. You want the civil rights bill through; you wanted the tax bill through. And I helped you do it. And god damn it, did I help you on civil rights? P RESIDENT J OHNSON : Yeah, you sure did. You helped [President] Kennedy, you agreed with— H ALLECK : Oh, for Christ’s sake, I helped Kennedy and I’ve helped you. P RESIDENT J OHNSON : That’s right. H ALLECK : Now wait just a minute, my friend... P RESIDENT J OHNSON : And you helped yourself. Because y’all want civil rights as much as we do. I believe it’s a non-partisan bill. I don’t think it’s a Johnson bill. H ALLECK : No, no, no. You’re going to get all the political advantage— P RESIDENT J OHNSON : No, no— H ALLECK : We aren’t going to get a goddamned thing— P RESIDENT J OHNSON : No, no.

23. H ALLECK : Wait just a minute. Now, we got a lot of things in that bill, that I don’t know what the hell the Senate put in there. Maybe we ought to kind of take a little look at it. P RESIDENT J OHNSON : Maybe you ought to, I’m not saying that you— H ALLECK : Now, wait a minute, Mr. President. I’m just looking at it hard-boiled. And once in a while, I can get hard-boiled. P RESIDENT J OHNSON : Well, you wouldn’t want to go to your convention without a civil rights bill, would you? H ALLECK : You know as a matter of fact if you scratch me very deep, Mr. President... P RESIDENT J OHNSON : I wouldn’t scratch you at all, because I want to pat you. H ALLECK : Now, wait a minute. Wait just a minute. [Johnson chuckles.] If I had my way, I’d let you be fussing with that goddamned thing before your convention instead of ours. But I’m perfectly willing to give you the right to sign that thing on July 4. Now, I think you’re taking advantage of an Independence Day thing that ain’t right, but that’s not for me to say. P RESIDENT J OHNSON : I don’t know what you’re talking about.