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Frank StantonFrank Stanton
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Session:         Page of 755

Go to Texas --?

Stanton:

No. Well -- I made several junkets to the ranch, generally as a result of being summoned. It wasn't something that -- It was interesting, but it could be overbearing because he was a very intense individual. But, on occasion--For example, he had [Konrad] Adenauer down, when Adenauer was in the supreme position in Germany, and he said, “You might enjoy meeting Adenauer and spending some time with him.” Obviously I did, I went down and I think I was there for five days. Adenauer sent me a briefcase from a German leather company, as a result of that association. There were other occasions when I was there on affairs of that kind. But, that kind of -- socializing isn't quite the word. It's a professional kind of thing. Ruth went with me on a number of occasions. He even named a road down there on his ranch or something -- I think he put a sign up and called it “Stanton something.” It was a gag. But it was that kind of socializing. In Washington, I don't think I ever had dinner or lunch with him alone. Yes, I guess I had lunch with him a couple of times, alone, but when I saw him in Washington it was generally in connection with a broadcasting industry party or something on the Hill that somebody thought I should attend, it wasn't necessarily Johnson. I think I said this before: He fought me on Number 315, wanted no part of authorizing the debates because he didn't want to debate. In my book, it wasn't because he was afraid of any information that would be disclosed, it was that he was never comfortable in a formalized situation like that. But, in a give and take, in his office with a group of forty or fifty people, he was sensational. He knew so much more about the problems than most of the people in the room that he was a very impressive guy. In fact (I don't know whether some of the people who have written about him would agree with me on this or not, but), I believe that if he hadn't taken over the White House when he did, much of Kennedy's social program would never have passed the Senate. Johnson knew every button to press to





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