June 2, 1964 - President Johnson (pictured in January) indicated today that he would not stand in the path of Robert F. Kennedy if the Attorney General should decide to run for the Senate from New York State.
The President was asked at his news conference if he would be “willing to let him [Kennedy] go out of the Cabinet to make that race.”
“That is a matter that the Attorney General and the people in New York will determine,” Johnson replied. “Neither of them have discussed it with me.”
The President said he was not going to make any announcement about the selection of a Democratic candidate to run against Senator Kenneth Keating in New York “until the Attorney General makes up his mind.”
Kennedy has been exploring the idea of running for the Senate as one of several political alternatives.
The Attorney General has already made it clear that he plans to resign his Cabinet post after the November election, both to pursue a career of his own and to give President Johnson the opportunity to select a successor of his choice.
Kennedy has also been widely discussed as a possible Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate this fall, but he has discouraged organized efforts to promote such a move.
Kennedy was in Syracuse, New York today to dedicate a job-training center for school dropouts, established with Federal aid. He said he had not decided whether to seek a Senate nomination from New York. But he described as “very nice” a demonstration in Syracuse by people who want him to run.
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