Oral history transcript, Melvin C. Winters, interview 4 (IV), 3/12/1987, by Ted Gittinger
Title:
Oral history transcript, Melvin C. Winters, interview 4 (IV), 3/12/1987, by Ted Gittinger
Number of Pages:
45
Description:
LBJ's feelings about Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1954; LBJ as a medical patient; a 1955 highway construction bill; LBJ's cousin, Margaret, and her family; LBJ's smoking habits after his 1955 heart attack; going on walks with LBJ; the LBJ Ranch swimming pool; the 1956 split between LBJ and Allan Shivers; LBJ's 1956 relationship with organized labor; the 1956 Democratic National Convention; LBJ's and Winters' opinion of JFK in 1956; Ben Jack Cage and Winters' dealings with the Cage Brothers of Johnson City; opportunities for Winters to meet high-ranking officials and celebrities such as Arthur Godfrey through LBJ; LBJ dove hunting; Jack Valenti; LBJ's decision to not bomb Hanoi out of fear of retaliation from the Russians; Wesley West; Eleanor Roosevelt; LBJ's first plane; the Lucy B crash in 1961; an October 1959 flood near the Ranch; LBJ's decision to accept the vice-presidential nomination in 1960; August Busch and his gift of exotic animals; Tommy Taylor's death; Robert Kennedy getting hurt by the scope on his rifle while hunting with LBJ; competition between Brown and Root and Chase Brothers, with whom Winters was affiliated; LBJ's 1960 campaign; the death of Mrs. Johnson's father; LBJ wearing glasses and contacts; election day 1960; the blind trust set up when LBJ became vice president; LBJ's involvement in Winters' hardware stores; LBJ's driving; the amphicar and LBJ's sense of humor.
