Oral history transcript, Charls E. Walker, interview 1 (I), 9/16/1999, by Ted Gittinger
Title:
Oral history transcript, Charls E. Walker, interview 1 (I), 9/16/1999, by Ted Gittinger
Number of Pages:
13
Description:
Walker's first contact with LBJ; Walker keeping LBJ informed of the views of the American Bankers Association (ABA) members; Walker's banking and economics background and support for increased political power of the ABA; Walker's December 1963 meeting with LBJ, during which LBJ asked for ABA support for JFK's tax bill; LBJ's interest in keeping the budget under $100 billion; the "credibility gap"; secret increased spending for Vietnam; the 1968 tax surcharge; LBJ's education bill and the creation of the Guaranteed Student Loan Program; LBJ's frustration with rising bank interest rates; Walker's opinion of William Sherrill; how the instability of the dollar and the 1959 Federal deficit led JFK to choose C. Douglas Dillon as secretary of the treasury and Henry Fowler and Robert Roosa as undersecretaries; LBJ's request that Walker praise Fowler's abilities to the press; publicity for an ABA-sponsored luncheon attended by Robert Anderson, Robert Roosa, Douglas Dillon, and Henry Fowler; LBJ's interest in Richard Nixon's economic policy-making; visits to the LBJ Ranch after LBJ's presidency; the Bart Rowen article that quotes LBJ as saying Walker had "elbows"; deer hunting with LBJ, Jake Pickle, and Walker's son, Chuck; Walker's phone calls with LBJ, including one in which an unknown woman accidentally interrupted their conversation, not believing LBJ was who he identified himself to be; the LBJ Library fountain spraying prestigious visitors at the Library dedication; Nixon's failed secret 1972 Super Bowl play; Mrs. Johnson's opinion of Walker.
