Luci Baines Johnson Interview: Nov. 22, 1963 and the Transition

On November 22, 1963, Luci Baines Johnson, President and Mrs. Johnson's daughter, was a student at the National Cathedral School in Washington, D. C. In this video interview with LBJ Library Director Mark Updegrove, she reflects on that tragic day in Dallas and her father's transition to the presidency.
transition.lbjlibrary.org

[@chrismcevoy2503]

Rest In Peace John Fitzgerald Kennedy May 29, 1917-November 22, 1963

[@contactjoy4140]

Luci and I are the same age. At 16 she was a Politician's daughter while I was the wife of a US NAVY SUBMARINER when President Kennedy was assassinated..... 2 extremely different lives yet we were devastated to our core by the same event. Luci's telling of her sequence of events that day is as though she's reliving it..... Phenomenal story teller. Thank-you Luci..

[@utoobjunkie4902]

Thank u Luci for giving these types of interviews. I was too young to fully form distinct memories of this time. What I do remember was how proud my immigrant Catholic grandparents were when they were elected. I remember more about the overwhelming sadness Nov. 22, 1963 and beyond. Without these interviews my grandchildren will have little tangible history to learn from. My fears are when we fail to fully appreciate the past, we are doomed to allow history to repeat itself....

[@nightowl5475]

I’m sure she’s a very nice lady, but do you really expect her to say what LBJ really thought about the Kennedys, especially Bobby Kennedy! I mean come on, she’s doing her job to keep things dignified. I wouldn’t expect anything less from this nice lady.

[@saphirus1able]

What an articulate and gracious woman. It was very inspiring to listen to her recount her memories of that sad time in history.

[@saphirus1able]

Friend - I really think she is genuine. I understand your anger and scepticism. But if LBJ had anything to do with it, I really don't think Lady Bird and his daughters knew. They seem like honourable people.

[@Sighkler24]

Now after so many years, Presidents Kennedy and Johnson have moved into history rather than living memories. It’s wonderful to hear first hand accounts from those who do remember.

[@gregrak9389]

thanks so very much for posting the interviews with LBJ's daughters, two very intelligent, very FEMININE women, as it should be. Clearly evident that the Johnson's did a fine job raising these ladies.

[@hankaustin7091]

the EPITOME of Southern graciousness and charm!! What a delightful woman!

[@whos1st]

Miss Johnson, than you very much for your personal recollections of both November 1963 as well as the era your family was in public life. I wished that I could thank both your father and mother for their strength, grace and dignity they brought to the office of President. Please know I hold both in very high esteem. And you are very clearly their daughter. Take care and may God bless you.

[@sportsmediaamerica]

Never knew Luci was so articulate. Very well chosen words.

[@leeweisbecker2213]

Very moving recollections expressed with great eloquence. Thanks to the family and the library for presenting them.

[@robertglenn5398]

Indeed, presidential libraries are renowned for presenting first class bullshit...

[@Sootaroot]

This one certainly did. What a yakkety-yak.

[@patsyjohnson3963]

I can only imagine the shock this family suffered.

[@reidx512]

Thank you for posting--What a special lady, I appreciate seeing this....

[@gordoncheyne5567]

Amazing interview. She's very articulate.

[@gwp5066]

I mean this in a good way, in these interviews, she and her sister seem like characters in their own movie. they speak with such drama and authenticity.

[@Menyou1962]

They are born liars, just like daddy and the witch

[@lisabrooks8092]

Luci Baines Johnson is a very evolved woman. This is evident by her legacy as a progressive communications executive at her family's WLBJ radio station in Austin, TX. She has also done fabulous work in the realm of philanthropy via her work with Vision Quest International, a charity devoted to helping children with visual disorders.

[@kathleenpapaleo253]

You can tell she was still moved by the events in Dallas!

[@joltinjack]

Very decent, lovely lady - like her Mother.

[@favsa5015]

beautiful too

[@Menyou1962]

She is evil and looks like the boy from the adams family

[@marycahill546]

Honest and very touchiing. Thanks for sharing this!

[@sgh416]

I believe Luci was sincere, even if dramatic and rehearsed. She’s not a politician. Give her a break. She was a teenager when JFK was killed. Lynda did give a better interview. Say what you will about LBJ. I watched him on TV as he begged Congress to pass the Civil Rights Legislation. Not since Charles Sumner, six-term Senator from Massachusetts, had anyone summoned the courage to do that. He died in the 1870’s. It would never have gotten through.

[@BrookelLakeKC]

I agree. I can’t believe how they allowed him to become the villain in the public eye. No wonder the man had a heart attack as soon as he left office.

[@jayarbetman1873]

A great listen. Eloquent and forthright.

[@gregoryklein3311]

Very special lady. Thankyou for remembering and telling your story. Loved the story about when she started the fire in the fireplace. What was really nice is how she felt about JFK. Which was exactly how the world felt. Hope.

[@pookiebear364]

Though many things have been said of the Johnsons, I found this interview to be most excellent. Thank you for posting it.

[@kenlucas8685]

pookiebear36

[@wonkaboy57]

Very powerful and moving.

[@rah62]

She's had a half-century to rehearse it.

[@comedianjazztate2903]

+Anastasia Beaverhausen I was thinking the same thing.

[@patcox8745]

Rehearsed well.......

[@bograms784]

Wonderful interview. Quite a graceful woman.

[@waltspears8179]

Graceful .somewhere we as Americans must come back togeather.this hate between us is not going to end well

[@beasleybrother1]

Luci Baines Johnson shows a whole lot of grace and respect in her story. Whatever or whoever was involved in the JFK murder, will be and probably have been dealt with in one way or another. But Luci had zero to do with the death but her life dramatically changed.

[@jstasur]

beasleybrother1 Box 13

[@joaquinpraveenvishnu8509]

Exactly...These idiots will never rest. They should read the works of Bugliosi and Baden

[@alvinglenn458]

Nov. 22 1963 and just 22 days my Father was Assassinated by Japan's Imperialistic Mentality during WWII. My Father contracted Malaria in the Waters off Tarawa fighting as Platoon Sgt. in the Marine Corps. A hunting Accident took him from me. That Warm December Afternoon when he fell to his death .. .

[@reneepotter4577]

R.G.Potter / South Sound, WA -- As I listened to Luci Baines Johnson recount the events surrounding the Kennedy assassination, I was reminded of her father, LBJ. I can hear LBJ, speaking, with the same choice of pauses and intonation, as if giving a political speech. It is uncanny.

[@ronniebishop2496]

I was in a movie called the Deerhunter in 1978, when I had my first major panic attack because of post traumatic stress syndrome from Vietnam war. When they went from that bar to that chopper coming into that village I went back to Vietnam.! And I got up not knowing what was happening and went to a bar to get a drink.

[@chrismcevoy2503]

My mother went to an all girls school in the 1960’s as Luci Baines Johnson did.

[@TheJMascis666]

It's just like looking at Ladybird again after all these years.

[@TheJMascis666]

Yep, I think that everytime I see Caroline Kennedy.

[@texan903]

Lady Bird was a beautiful woman, her daughter looks nothing at all like her outside of their dark hair.

[@mikewynne7131]

She looks and talks just like LBJ.

[@ronniebishop2496]

We had just lived through the fabulous fifties and the baby boom generation of being spoiled and BANG our greatest man leader and example was killed and that’s why even today we still don’t know the exact truth but we know the truth of the big picture, he was killed by a conspiracy. But who all was involved we may never know.

[@clairebunt5887]

Well she is bound to say that isn't she shes not going to say well my father hatd those Kennedy boys is she ?? Come on 🤬🤬🤬

[@michaelbarnhart2593]

Ms. Johnson here has a lot of her father's personality, and her older sister comports herself much like their mother. My viewpoint from seeing interviews. :-)

[@texan903]

Luci looks just like her dad, too.

[@gardensofthegods]

You can see she's extremely painfully aware of how so many believe her father helped orchestrate Kennedy's horrible demise... whether or not it's true is not the point at this moment watching this... the point is that it seems to permeate almost this whole recollection . She knows people will be watching this who knows how many generations from now and I've never seen such a professional dramaturgist before unless it was someone like Laurence Olivier in that 8-minute video talking about the real Marilyn Monroe. Even he , Lord Laurence Olivier is not as dramatic as this... I think maybe she used to watch a lot of William Shatner ?... I'm not making fun of her by the way I think this is very very good... and holds one Spellbound truly

[@sempre_avanti_01]

She has her father’s cadence.

[@mikerose6489]

Thank you for sharing. She is elegant and still beautiful. LBJ I believe came to be a true believer in Cvil Rights. I do believe that the Vietnam war caused his premature death. Lady survived him by 34 years. Please more of Luci on her father.

[@ScottSpotMedia]

Her speech pattern is so LBJ!

[@hankochai]

She sounds so much like Laura Bush it’s uncanny.

[@MsBackstager]

She's more emotional, in interviews, than her sister Lynda.

[@deniselyman5147]

Hi Luci!!!

[@andrewwerner2061]

😢😪😢😪😪😪😢😪😭.for so many reasons

[@jameshutchins8965]

Oh my, she shows the handsome visage of her mother. Our present Senate should remember Isaiah and think of how to follow it.

[@jimhale8967]

Regretfully, and speaking frankly, a thouroughgoing examination of Lyndon Johnson's life shows numerous absolutely sociopathic choices and actions. I am gladened to see that it is also true that in many ways he must have been a good father. His daughter loves him. The Human condition is such a real combination of opposites. Jim

[@lynnpineda7615]

Luci on LBJ as VP: "biding his time" .. for what? Expected death of JFK? Quote attributed to him at 1960 when asked why accepted VP nomination: "One out of four Presidents die in office"...

[@rah62]

VPs bide their time for 4 or 8 years when they can get their chance to run for President.

[@HappyHauntsMaterialize]

On becoming president. LBJ literally worked his way up almost every step on the political ladder of our government.

[@joaquinpraveenvishnu6524]

Such a gracious woman. Great expressionist. Just like LBJ. An honorable and dignified man who had his whole world turned around on Nov 22, 1963. His works on Space exploration and Civil Rights will be forever remembered

[@gregb7595]

classy lady

[@deanmortis7585]

Thank you for your comments, Chris Rice. You know your history !!

[@brentpage8773]

Lucy, Lynda, & Lady Bird knew about the animous. Robert Caro intelligently illustrated the lack of affection between Jack & Lyndon. The Kennedys did condescend to the Johnsons but that didn't warrant murder.

[@gbiggar7469]

WE WONDER WHAT SHE FEELS ABOUT WHAT NIXON SAID ,,, " JOHNSON AND I BOTH WANTED TO BE PRESIDENT BUT THE DIFFERENCE WAS, I WASNT WILLING TO KILL FOR IT...!!!"

[@sethshaw448]

This utter non sense about JFK Assassination conspiracies (especially the ridiculous assertion that LBJ played part) . . . it really has to Stop. I find it offensive. JFK was assassinated by a single crazy person (who just happened to work at a place that was located along the parade route on Nov 22, 1963. That's all. 0% of a Conspiracy in the JFK Assassination. An Absolute 0% chance. 3 shots. 1st one missed, 2nd one Non-Fatal Wound, 3rd shot fatal head wound. It was the furthest thing in the world from a Professional job. If the driver of the Limo swerves after hearing loud bangs (like he should have), Kennedy survives. I just can't stand the absurd Conspiracy claims, and even worse, these underhanded remarks that somehow LBJ was in the know or involved with the Assassination. 0% chance of LBJ involved. and more importantly, 0% of a Conspiracy. And I mean 0%. Not 1%, 0.000000000000%. So lets not slander LBJ please. thanx

[@Menyou1962]

@@sethshaw448 You are absolutely living under a rock if you believe anything from this lying person or the story about Oswald

[@gcozzie123]

@@sethshaw448 I guess if you refuse to read information all these years your delusion has taken over your brain

[@NkrumahTure]

Her perspective is only one of a teenager of that period, since she was just 16 at the time.

[@darkcloud9581]

Even Lady Bird said in a interview how the secret service agent as soon as shots were fired jumped over the seat and push LBJ down yet the idiot in the JFK car sat there and 5 seconds after JFK was shot from the front through the throat just sat there and turned as the limo came to a stop till that head shot from the grassy knoll.

[@AA-ke5cu]

The front shot came from the sewer grate not the grassy knoll.

[@emailsender7139]

that's what he supposed to do. Geo Bush senior was in Dallas at time and later recalled he didn't remember where he was during assassination.

[@emailsender7139]

all criminals. nothing has changed today

[@stephenernestsmith4555]

"As her father would quote 'Isaiah'?"

[@njmhk6124]

2:35 Listening to this, I found it very intriguing, if not odd that Luci would refer her father (LBJ) as ''Senator Johnson'' when she was describing the first time she met then Candidate Senator Kennedy at the DNC in 1963. Did this strike anyone else as strange? Or is it just me? I don't know, I listened to it a few times, the way she says it....I just got a funny feeling about it.

[@SaulWizz]

She called him "my father" before and after this moment of the interview -- I think she was just trying to clearly point out for those who might not know that both of them were senators at the time of the 1960 Democratic Convention, and both vying for the nomination. She was adding historical context to further explain how sad a moment it was for her as a 13-year-old girl, and how touched she was by JFK's graciousness to her and her family.

[@vivianpowell1732]

@@SaulWizz I agree with your explanation. What a thoughtful thing JFK said to Luci Johnson at that moment, telling her that he needed her father just as Luci herself needed him. That had to have been comforting for her.

[@nancydavis1391]

LOVELY LADY....I REMEMBER WHEN SHE MARRIED PATRICK NUGENT

[@blueticecho5690]

I always wonder what her old daddy meant when he said "Those SOB's will never embarrass me again...The night before..

[@marcmarinacci7378]

take a guess sherlock

[@Melinda8162]

@sboudreaux27 Oh yeah, he did!!

[@BrookelLakeKC]

@sboudreaux27 because whether the Kennedy sons realized it or not, their old man had ties to the mob who also pulled a lot of strings to help get jfk elected. Which then meant jfk was expected to do “certain things” while in office. Again he probably didn’t realize this explicit and therefore made tough decisions based on what he felt based from a moral and strategical stand point which pissed off all the wrong people behind the scenes. Bobby went after the mob too (believe he was AG under JFK?). Politics is one of the darkest and shadiest entities. I think people need to realize that even today, the wealthiest men at the top still control things. Including g the dirty few in the CIA.Bush Sr was in the CIA during those years too. His hands aren’t clean In area of his political life and I think most people fail to realize this.

[@americajanson8848]

@@BrookelLakeKC yes but I didn't

[@acajudi100]

💕😊❤️🇺🇸💯💯💯

[@paulmaloney8007]

Every word is slowly measured, the interview could have been done in half that time

[@davidpringle5812]

in which case it might have been less than half as good

[@bentroy6263]

Does great job with Girl Scouts

[@ronniebishop2496]

The men like LBJ did not let any women know anything about business. Does that sound familiar?

[@MOKHUTA]

Chilling testimony

[@Lambchop47]

Interesting interview! Thank you for posting it. I'm now reading a bio of LBJ, "The Passage of Power," by Robert Caro. It's great! Really well-researched and well-written. I highly recommend it. (Too bad the conspiracy nutjobs have to post here, though!)

[@rickporvaznik5030]

No way Osward did it alone. Look a Dr. Cyril Wecht.

[@gcozzie123]

You're joking. Maybe you should check out other things in this KZbin library. My father liked Kennedy. 🤣🤣😥

[@ferabra8939]

LBJ was an intelligent man. He wouldn't have bad mouthed JFK in front of his kid. In fact he did respect President Kennedy, and it was mutual. Not so with RFK.

[@NWoodLane]

Towards the end, she sounded just like her father.

[@andywerner838]

Interesting

[@WhiteCamry]

When was this recorded?

[@TheLBJLibrary]

This was recorded in October 2013.

[@WhiteCamry]

TheLBJLibrary Thanks.

[@mikelkirby2791]

Oh, but the "Grace of God", you get the message.

[@wayofthinkin]

God bless Luci and Lynda. But I am afraid that their father orchestrated the most heinous crime of the 20th century.

[@elaineeike5363]

Luci must be aware of the many well documented books that substantiate this claim...

[@RJN8580]

Bar McClellan, Billie Sol Estes, Roger Stone and Phillip Nelson..NAILED IT...LBJ the mastermind behind Kennedy's death. Ed Clark financed the 'THE BIG EVENT' with the help Mac Wallace, Oswald(never fired a shot..PATSY) was a CIA Asset, along with CIA hit men.

[@TheJMascis666]

No he didn't.

[@chrisrice7819]

norr4636 you are corect,the truth will set you free.

[@chrisrice7819]

wayofthinkin THEY GOT RICH OFF THE VIETNAM WAR. LADY BIRD INVESTED IN COMPANYS THAT WERE SUPPLYING THE WAR MACHINE.

[@chrismcevoy2503]

Luci and my uncle Donald are the same age.

[@chrismcevoy2503]

They were both born in 1947.

[@emailsender7139]

Johnson ladies were gracious, LBJ not so much.

[@iandowd3665]

She's doing a very convincing job, if history hadn't told us the situation between her dad and the kennedys you would think they were best friends. doesn't she know the cat is out the bag .

[@darkcloud9581]

well with your father you would always do your best to preserve his legacy .........but what we know as he put it a "heart beat" away from the presidency and he put in place the motion to create JFK's last heart beat.

[@HappyHauntsMaterialize]

@@darkcloud9581 bull

[@americajanson8848]

@@darkcloud9581 she should be in Hollywood

[@wayofthinkin]

To Elaine Eike : Thank you for commenting on my post. Please contact me at : dean_sundown @ Hotmail.com

[@thillwl]

She even sounds like Lady Bird.

[@bentroy6263]

Great lady. Y’all if get the chance, visit the ranch outside of Austin.

[@jimranallo686]

It was a well known fact that lady bird was extremely envious of jackie kennedy as well as the big shot of brown and root who played a major role in the acceleration of the conflict I se asia

[@bucklaw]

The poor ranch owners...

[@BeepathSkyclad]

Luci, Luci, Luci....now you know your daddy did not like the Kennedys. Ferchrissakes, tell the truth, woman!

[@RJN8580]

LOL...I totally agree

[@beasleybrother1]

There is a difference between being respectful and not liking someone. As for LBJ's extracurricular activities, that was between him and Lady Bird only. I always thought how LBJ's health deteriorated quickly was kinda karma for any past digressions.

[@budsaplenty]

If Lyndon was out of town doing what ever I would have surely kept that Lady Bird singing for the weekend and possibly her daughter too. I could hear her now around the pool he wants me to have it shaved before he gets back hehe I had it shaved two days ago..oops

[@joaquinpraveenvishnu6524]

OMG. You all ought to be ashamed to call yourselves Americans. LBJ was a dignified man. If you judge him on JFK assassination and Vietnam War, then what about Civil Rights? LBJ was an honorable man. The 36th President.

[@agamemnon533]

Melissa Reginelli JFK & LBJ were political opposites. JFK was seeking detente with the Soviet Union & Cuba & was planning to get the United States out of Vietnam. LBJ was a dedicated cold warrior with the Vietnam War.

[@Caleb_Mandrake872]

What a dramatic, fictional, storyteller. Has all the right timing for the build-up & deliverance in her inflection within her voice = Revisionist

[@thomasprince7487]

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree

[@deborah8618]

Luci -- your public loves you - please, No off color nails -- pretty pink nails, or, even just the color of your suit - please stay with that -- know your Mother would have. Also, your lipstick could be less brick and more cherry red. You are so loving and devoted family legacy - this country appreciates you. I was 10 years old and still remember all the details of that day and so, very much connect with your story and legacy.

[@BrookelLakeKC]

What?! Why do we judge women in that manner? 🙄

[@oradixiegalloway955]

Very nice acting lady,every tub stand on its on feet.

[@user-xe5cz3dw8m]

Is she sharing her personal recollections or reading a Tale/poem written by Edgar Allen Poe?

[@shirleyhowley4721]

O your a good actress !!

[@Mo-yd8xc]

How does her hair remain that dark?

[@barbaraobach]

My bio father's 86yr old bedridden stroke victim, but the majority of his hair is dark

[@doclawyer]

JFK really messed up when he made LBJ his VP.

[@PattyBlock]

JFK had to. He needed LBJ to win Texas and the presidency.

[@ppumpkin3282]

LBJ was a master politician. As much as he might have envied the Kennedys and saw them as a threat to his legacy and his agenda - he did have a lot of respect for the kennedys. It’s all bidness.

[@mariepanker809]

P Pumpki

[@chrisallen7911]

I have every respect for Lady Bird, Luci and Lynda. They are true Southern Ladies who have stayed close and proud to their heritage. When I watched these interviews I had to remember how young and impressionable they were and the fact that they IDOLIZED their Father. That being said I believe that Johnson was a murderous thug who on one side Loved his Family and on the other had a thirst for power that knew no ends. I believe he was involved in the Kennedy Assassination. How much..I don't think we will ever know.

[@scottvincent7666]

That sure was dramatic.

[@chrismcevoy2503]

Luci should’ve written down her feelings in a journal that day if she wanted to do something.

[@lanabuscham7350]

I'm sorry.... this sounds so Damn rehearsed, especially when she talks about the events of Nov 22 and what happened in her all girls school. Thats when I stopped watching.

[@josephsebastian4081]

Yes and agood actress too

[@Menyou1962]

She's desperate to separate herself from any blame 🤣

[@lawsonj39]

Blame--for Kennedy's death? She was a child! What are you blathering about?

[@Menyou1962]

@@lawsonj39 True, but she most definitely knows what her "daddy" did. She is a witch.

[@79goldmaster1]

Democrats of the past were fine people and honest. What happened to them ???

[@brendagray4958]

What happened to Republicans??

[@martinjenkins6467]

I'm a Republican but I could have voted for JFK and LBJ, great men. The democrats these days disgust me. They are hell bent on destroying America. LBJ had his critics but he truly loved America. I always supported him because of the liberal scum in the college's, who were happy to destroy their own administration. All they got was Nixon.

[@barbaraobach]

How do you tell someone you don't know, her father was a walking, talking God, here on earth, Johnson, mistaes and all, was as great as that ,everything , imperfect and dated and all, that a man or president should be , our greatest president, bar none

[@guydean1224]

Great Lady, unfortunately her Father did more damage than good ie Nam and welfare state!

[@ronniebishop2496]

She grew up with people in the Congress ! She went to school with their children. Back then politics was more gracious even as tough as it was because everyone in office understood why they had to vote the way they did, he’s from Colorado he had to vote for the cattleman’s or he’s from Texas he’s got to vote with oil we know that.

[@79goldmaster1]

Luci is so beautiful. She's such a classy lady. I need a wife like her.

[@Ranwolfe]

Where do you see beauty?

[@marcmarinacci7378]

OMG

[@79goldmaster1]

She's a fine lady. Can't you see beauty in that ???

[@Melinda8162]

@@marcmarinacci7378 😁😁😂

[@JasonWalkerTN]

Did your dad "admire" Kennedy before or after ordering the home state hit?

[@fruff30]

Her father's 4 year reign of terror in office was one of this country's biggest disgraces.

[@peterfranks6243]

Her first few words were the complete opposite of what her father stood for, the man who had everything to gain by Kennedy's death