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LBJ Eliminates Cabinet Members from Consideration for VP Slot

July 30, 1964 - President Johnson tonight eliminated Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, all other Cabinet members, and “those who meet regularly with the Cabinet” as his Vice-Presidential running mate.

The move appeared to leave Minnesota’s two Senators, Hubert Humphrey and Eugene McCarthy, as the leading possibilities to run with Mr. Johnson.

The President went before newsreel cameras and a hastily assembled group of reporters shortly after 6 o’clock to make his announcement. He had communicated his decision personally, he said, to Mr. Kennedy and to Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, and Secretary of Agriculture Orville Freeman.

He had also sent word of the decision, he continued, to Adlai Stevenson, U.S. delegate to the U.N., and to Sargent Shriver, director of the Peace Corps.

All these men had been prominently mentioned in Vice-Presidential speculation. Mr. Johnson’s statement ruled out each one.

He gave no hint of who his ultimate choice might be, but he said he would continue to give the matter “the most thoughtful consideration.”

In addition to the two Minnesota Senators, speculation on a Vice-Presidential candidate has included Gov. Edmund Brown of California, Mayor Robert Wagner of New York, Sen. Edmund Muskie of Maine, and Sen. Abraham Ribicoff of Connecticut.

Mr. Johnson gave no reason in his brief and sudden statement for his decision not to recommend to the Democratic convention a high Administration official as his choice for running mate. Washington observers, however, advanced one likely reason.

By barring a whole category of men, Mr. Johnson spared both himself and each of them any embarrassment in being ruled out singly.

This was particularly true in the case of Mr. Kennedy, for whom there is apparently considerable support in the country and who has many close friends in Washington and in the Democratic party who have been passionately hoping for his selection.

Some Washington observers believe that, until Mr. Johnson acted today, there remained at least the possibility of an effort to have Mr. Kennedy nominated at the Atlantic City convention opening Aug. 24.

Mr. Kennedy, who was in the White House yesterday and today, issued a brief statement tonight.

“As I have always said, it is the President’s responsibility to make known his choice for Vice President,” Mr. Kennedy said, adding:

“It is in the interest of all of us who were associated with President Kennedy to continue the efforts to advance the programs and ideals to which he devoted his life and which President Johnson is carrying forward.”

Sources close to Mr. Johnson said that Mr. Kennedy had accepted the decision in good grace and had indicated that he would campaign for the President in any way Mr. Johnson wished.

Some of Mr. Kennedy’s associates were unhappy about the President’s decision, however, as indicated by private conversations.


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