Summary Of The Transition By Robert Carson

After reading The Transition by Robert Caro, an article about the transition of power from President John Kennedy to Lyndon Johnson following Kennedy’s assassination, I was amazed at how Johnson was able to make the transition from Vice President to President effortless. From the moment that Johnson arrived at the hospital waiting to hear about the condition of the President, accounts from many White House staffers and secret service agents immediately noticed a change in the demeanor of Johnson. Homer Thornberry described Johnson to be “Very calm. All through the time he was just calm”. I was very surprised that Johnson was able to maintain a calm and collected demeanor, while having to make important decisions throughout the day.

I can only imagine what was going through the mind of Lyndon while waiting in the wing. With the lingering thought of the possibility of a conspiracy, that the Vice President and members of the President’s

The same day, a Senate Hearing by the Rules Committee in Washington was putting together, what would have been, a media firestorm. Growing information reference a scandal involving Johnson was soon to be released in detail to the media. This blaze would have ruined Johnson’s reputation. Multiple politicians in Washington, such as Richard Nixon, were already predicting that President John Kennedy would drop Lyndon Johnson from the Vice President position during Kennedy’s bid for a second term. In my opinion, it is very interesting to think about what would have happened should Kennedy not have been killed. The media outlets would have released the growing story of the scandal and Vice President Johnson would have been abandoned. However, when news broke about the death of a President the story of the scandal was pushed aside, luckily for Johnson. The timing for Johnson could not have come at a better