LBJ did not need to be sworn in after Kennedy's assassination.

[Jara sang]

But he made Jackie stand there with her husbands brains all over her while he took a mock oath of office. The transition from Vice President to President does not require swearing in, as the oath for the Vice Presidency includes the transition of power when the President is incapacitated. The whole thing on Air Force one was merely propaganda to show the American people who was in charge and with the blessing of the dead President's wife.

LBJ is also the only President to witness his predecessor's assassination.

One more interesting note. The man in charge of the Whitehouse situation room when Kennedy was shot, commander Hallett is a member of one of the world's most exclusive clubs. Hallett is one of the few people in the world who can say they've met both Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald his accused assassin. He met Oswald in Moscow while working for the U.S. Embassy when Oswald renounced his citizenship.

And one more thing. The night of Kennedy's departure from Texas, at a gala fundraiser in Austin, Johnson was supposed to give a speech "And thank God, Mr. President," Johnson reportedly intended to say, before pausing for effect, "that you came out of Dallas alive."

I'm reading Max Holland's The Kennedy Assassination Tapes and thought those little pieces of information were eerie enough to share.

[alphafemale]

1. "Let them see what they did to him." I've always heard she demanded

to be photographed that way.

[wicket]

5. same here

n/t

[greenbriar]

6. johnson actually asked her to change and she said NO

LEt them see!

[Jara sang]

13. Really?

He does say that Johnson would not leave Dallas without Mrs. Kennedy on board Air Force One.

on edit:correction

[greenbriar]

14. It is in her autobiography

pretty heartless that LBJ

[greenbriar]

18. only because he would have looked more like an ass than he did

LBJ was a ruthless heartless son of a bitch

[Jara sang]

20. Correction: He does address Jackie in the blood soaked dress in the book.

I had to skip ahead a bit, I'm only on page 20.;)

[KittyWampus]

10. That shows quite a strength of character, IMO.

I'm finding myself meditating on that comment.

Would I have been a jibbering idiot in the same situation?

[Frank Cannon]

34. That's right; she did (n/t)

[ClusterFreak]

2. Reminds me of some of John Lennon's final recorded thoughts...

In a radio interview he gave only hours before his murder, he said (paraphrasing) he had so much more to accomplish in his life, so much more to do before he was dead and buried. He went on to add he hoped that wouldn't be for a "long long time".

Back to your comments specifically....wasn't JFK headed to a luncheon or something at the International Trade Mart? The same organization headed up by Clay Shaw, the guy charged by Jim Garrison for his role in JFK's murder?

[aquart]

3. He damn well did "need" to take that oath of office.

WE needed to see "the peaceful transfer of power." WE needed it. Damn smart of him to understand that.

I take it you were not born then?

[bbinacan]

7. Well said. n/t

[Suich]

8. My thought exactly...Thanks!

I was 21...you?

[longship]

11. You are correct.

A president hadn't been assassinated in a long time. This was shocking news to everybody, not just people in the USA. Kennedy was loved by many, many people. But the international situation was a bit dodgy. Johnson understood that in a situation like that, the world needed to know that the continuity of governance was a fact. Hence, the faux oath of office.

[Jara sang]

15. The U.S. Costitution does not require it.

So he didn't have to take the oath.

[Spider Jerusalem]

24. The US Constitution may not require it, but ALL EIGHT vice presidents...

who've succeeded on the death of a sitting president have TAKEN it.

[onenote]

25. What's the basis for saying the VP doesn't need to take the oath?

Admittedly, I haven't gone back and looked this up, but my recollection is that the constitution provides for the election of a president and specifies that before executing the powers of the office the pres is to take the oath of office. Where does it say that a vp becoming pres also doesn't have to take the oath?

onenote

[Jara sang]

29. Amendment XXV to the United States Constitution

Section 1
In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

[aquart]

31. Ah. And NOT swear to uphold the constitution?

That must make Cheney salivate.

[onenote]

33. but that alone doesn't mean the oath isn't required

Article II provides that the President must take the prescribed oath before executing the powers of the office. The fact that there are two ways someone can become president, election or succession to the office, doesn't mean that the oath is only required in the former and not the latter.

onenote

ps -- of course we now know there's a third way to become president: have the SCOTUS give it to you

[NYC Liberal]

37. Yes, he shall BECOME President, but cannot EXECUTE the office until

he takes the oath.

Art II Section 1:

Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:--''I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.''

[Jara sang]

38. He already took the oath when he became Vice President.

[TahitiNut]

22. I agree. I also believe I recall hearing that Jackie suggested it.

[Frank Cannon]

35. Damn straight. We were absolutely terrified of the Communists...

and the thought of our country without a leader was the scariest thing possible. (It is today.) It was a little piece of quickie theater that desperately needed to happen.

[pnorman]

4. "Max Holland's The Kennedy Assassination Tapes"

Thanks for the tip. I just checked the Amazon reviews of it. It looked to be a worthwhile read, so I ordered the digital version (.pdf format). I have it open to "Page One" right now.

pnorman
On edit: Mentioned early in that book, was a fantastic collection of White House related tapes (with txt). Here it is: http://www.whitehousetapes.org/

[Jara sang]

16. Yeah that is a great site too.

I just ordered the audio from amazon of the Johnson tapes.

[nemo137]

9. Coolidge and Truman were both also sworn in.

It's not necessary (presidency travels faster than light, I guess), but it's customary, like one poster said, to show the peaceful transfer of power.

[no_hypocrisy]

17. Is it a fact that Coolidge was sworn in by his father by candlelight?

[greenbriar]

12. not only do the people of the US need to see it, the world

needs to see it to so as not to be seen as weak..

but chimpy has ruined all that. I believe that should anything happen to the bastard, the rest of the world would be sending us congrats instead of sympathy

[FreedomAngel82]

19. Very interesting

I didn't know that about the speech. I still have a "gut" feeling Johnson was involved. One way I know is we now know that Kennedy was going to pull out of Vietnam and while Kennedy was being burried he was shaking hands about staying in Vietnam.

[Cleita]

21. I remember first hand the images coming over the TV

(black and white) and later in color in various magazines of Jackie with her stained suit as Johnson was sworn in. She really looked to be in shock but still stood there.

So many questions. We need answers now more than ever.

[JVS]

26. I've never seen the pictures in color

In B&W I see no stains

[Cleita]

28. See my post #27. It was meant for you.n/t

[Cleita]

27. I'm trying to remember the magazines, but I definitely remember

the bright red on her pink suit. One, I'm almost sure one of them was "Life". There is also film that I remember from those days, a lot of it blurry, but colored.

[Spider Jerusalem]

23. Yes, he did.

Sorry, but that bit of information is wrong. Every time a president has died in office, his successor has been sworn in as president.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/pihtml/pioaths.html

Note also differences in wording--

presidential oath: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

vice-presidential oath: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same: that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter."

[caledesi]

30. What did you want LBJ to do? Read "My Pet Goat?" I take it

you are young. I was 16 yrs old and even though LBJ was an SOB in many ways...he showed statesmanship that day. OMO.

[T Town Jake]

32. "a mock oath of office"....Jeesuz, where to start....

...This was, in fact, done deliberately, but not for the nefarious reasons you imply.

It was to show the world in general and Americans in particular that there was a continuity in the government of the United States, and that the missiles weren't going to start flying any second. The United States in 1963 was right in the middle of the highest amperage of the Cold War, an amperage that had been dialed up, incidentally, by none other than John Fitzgerald Kennedy, a Cold Warrior's Warrior of a kind that would not be seen again until his fifth successor took office on Jan. 20, 1981.

The tradition of what you call a "mock oath of office" started back in 1841 (April 6th, to be exact), when John Tyler was sworn in after the death of President William Henry Harrison. It has been followed, in those tragic circumstances, to that exact letter ever since.

Query: was, to the best of your knowledge, the ghost of John Tyler ever spotted on that grassy knoll?

I'm sure that's what we'll hear next, after all...:eyes:

Do keep us updated.

[KharmaTrain]

36. And 42 Years Later This Matters Because???

As others have posted here, Jackie said that she was the one who wanted to keep that dress on so people could "see what they've done". Also let's put some perspective here. JFK was shot at 12:30pm in Dallas...they were back in Washington by 5:00pm...not much time for Jackie to freshen up considering all that she had gone through during that time.

If anything LBJ had a very special relationship with Jackie at the time. The national archives contain phone calls between Johnson and Jackie and Bobby Kennedy during the days of the funeral, and you hear a man whose main concern was the comfort of the family.

How come I get a feeling the author of this book probably wasn't alive on November 22, 1963...hindsight is 20/20...the truth moves one day further from discovery as each day passes.

[H2O Man]

39. Interesting.

Of course, many people disagree with that view. As noted in the 11-23-63 New York Times article by Russell Baker ("Johnson's Choice in '60 a Suprise", section 2 "Constitution Vague on President's Successor"): "Contrary to popular opinion, the Constitution does not specifically state that the vice president shall become president in the event of the president's death. It says the 'powers and duties' of the office 'shall devolve on the Vice President.' But while constitutional lawyers have debated the issue, the succession of the vice president to the presidency has been established by what scholars call 'constitutional custom'."