Happy Monday! Another week ahead. This week's weird moment from history is how President Lyndon B. Johnson conducted meetings and interviews while on the toilet. I learned way too much about LBJ while doing research for this post and it is going to be a LONG time before I write another weird history post about him. But there will be at least another one in the future.
Man was weird.
Quick history lesson for my non-Americans who may not know who LBJ is. Lyndon Baines Johnson was the 36th President of the United States. He assumed the position following the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He was president from 1963 til 1969.
NOW if you're like me and you grew up with the rewatching the movie Forrest Gump over and over again your first introduction to LBJ might be when Forrest was being honored with the Medal of Honor and showed the president where he was "shot in the buttocks" during the Vietnam War. I haven't watched Forrest Gump in years, but if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. It's a great movie. Probably part of the reason I became such a history nerd. Might write a post about the movies that turned me into the history dork I am.
But back to the subject of this post: President Lyndon B. Johnson. Some people read the title of this post and are confused or disturbed and you have every right to be. Let's start at the beginning of his presidency. One of the first things LBJ did was overhaul and expand the phone system in the White House so that he could take calls anywhere. Historian William Doyle claims there were phones "under dinner tables, coffee tables, end tables in bathrooms, and on windowsills." Yes, he took important calls in the bathrooms.
Doris Kearns Goodwin, a presidential historian who was a White House aide during his presidency has spoken about her memories about him telling her to follow him to the bathroom to continue a conversation. There is also a story she shared about a story LBJ told her about his National Security advisor, McGeorge Bundy. During one of these bathroom meetings, Bundy stood in the furthest corner of the bathroom with his back to the president. After LBJ told Bundy to "come closer" the advisor back up to LBJ. Kearns quotes LBJ as saying "I thought he was going to sit on my lap! Hasn't the guy ever been in the army?"
I doubt an actual photo of LBJ conducting one of these meetings exists, but above is a screenshot from the 2014 film, All the Way where one such meeting is portrayed. LBJ is portrayed by Bryan Cranston and Senator Hubert H. Humphrey Jr. is portrayed by Bradley Whitford.
Joseph A. Califano Jr. who was a member of LBJ's cabinet also recalls the president's odd unbothered nature in Robert Dalleck's book Flawed Giant: Lyndon Johnson and His Times, 1961-1973. Califano remembers, "He barked orders at me over the phone at dawn and after midnight in the formal setting of the Oval Office and as he stood stark naked brushing his teeth in his bathroom".
Another excerpy from Dalleck's book:
Outlandish comments and behavior were other parts of Johnson's calculations. Urinating in a sink, inviting people into the bathroom, showing off a scar, exposing his private parts...For Johnson they were meant to shock and confuse and leave him in control.
Some people believed that by LBJ inviting people into the bathroom while he "sat on the throne" was a power move. Used to put others in an awkward position so that he had control over the conversations. Others posit that he just didn't want to stop the discussion. Either way, I think most if not all of us can agree it is weird.
If you found this post interesting at all, I highly recommend giving the 2014 film, All the Way a watch! It's about LBJ's tumultuous relationship with Martin Luther King Jr. (portrayed by Anthony Mackie) regarding the passing of the Civil Rights Act. Also shows a shift in politics regarding the southern states.
Thanks for reading my little history ramblings! If you have a weird moment in history that interests you feel free to drop it in the comments! And check out my other "That Time..." posts!
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