Oral history transcript, Lawrence F. O'Brien, interview 14 (XIV), 9/11/1986, by Michael L. Gillette

The Higher Education Act of 1965; creating the Teacher Corps to address inequality in education; proposals for a loan guarantee program and tuition tax credit; separation of church and state as it relates to education legislation; O'Brien's opinion that civil rights and Medicare legislation were inevitable, as opposed to education legislation such as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; LBJ's decision to make O'Brien the postmaster general of the U.S. and a press conference at the LBJ Ranch to announce the appointment; O'Brien's confirmation hearings and swearing-in; O'Brien's recommendation of Henry Hall Wilson to take his place as special assistant for congressional relations; O'Brien's creation of a blue-ribbon commission to initiate changes in the postal service; job offers O'Brien received in 1965 and roles he held throughout his career; how O'Brien balanced doing both congressional relations and post office work; requests to O'Brien for patronage; the Post Office Department budget and the attention the Post Office Department received at cabinet meetings; Richard Nixon's and postmaster general-designate Winton Blount's support for the blue-ribbon commission's proposal to make the Post Office Department an independent entity; O'Brien's work as co-chair of the Citizen's Committee for Postal Reform; LBJ's 1965 gall bladder surgery.