Texas is known for its big men, its big talk and its big heart – and all three are preeminently embodied in the Texan we have with us tonight. He is at all times and in all places a tireless worker, an undaunted Democrat and a leader without peer or precedent. When our party reached a low ebb after November 1952, he was there to start us on the road back – and that road led to the Congressional victories of 1954, 1956 and 1958 – and it is going to lead to the greatest Democratic victory of all time in 1960. Some people say our speaker tonight would be interested in the Presidency next year – but frankly, I don’t see why he should take a demotion.
Whatever future he may desire, his place in history is already secure. Democrats referring to their annual party dinners frequently abbreviate them as J-J Dinners. The day may well come when we will talk of J-J-J Dinners – honoring Jefferson, Jackson and Johnson. At least that’s a better abbreviation than we would have for a Kerr-Kefauver-Kennedy Dinner.
But on this subject of initials, the Republican National Committee published the snide comment that LBJ, our guest’s own initials, really stood for "Let’s Block Jack." I know that is not so – and if they mean anything other than his name, they stand for the three qualities he brings to every task: labor, brains and judgment.
Our speaker tonight comes from that part of Texas which many people say would be a great place if it only had more people and more water – but then, as someone else observed, that’s all they need in Hell.
He was associated with the King Ranch in Texas, which is so large and so dry that the cattle have to be flown from pasture to pasture in jet planes. If they tried to walk, they would either die of fatigue on the way, or become so tough and muscle-bound as to be suitable only for Democratic dinners.
His record, as a Congressman, Senator, and public servant, is both long and illustrious, his wife, the lovely Lady Bird, is both wise and beautiful. His state, his party, and his colleagues in the Senate are all immensely proud of him.
And though he is new to you here tonight, I know Massachusetts Democrats will like our speaker. He believes not in defeat but in victory – and Massachusetts Democrats are still enjoying a great victory. He skillfully heals and deals with dissent and disagreement – and Massachusetts Democrats have been known to disagree. He likes to talk about Texas – and at our party dinners we like to talk about taxes. Some observers say that our speaker has succeeded in splitting the Democratic Party right down the middle – and this gives us more unity than we’ve had in twenty years.
Texas may no longer be the biggest state in the Union – it may no longer be the most solidly Democratic. Things are really tough down there when they spend thousands drilling for water, and can’t find anything but oil. But Texas still has the biggest and solidest Democratic leader of them all – the man who today richly deserves the title of Mr. Democrat – the man who has reinvigorated and reunited our party in the Senate, and kept the Republicans on the run – one who has on so many occasions performed yeoman service, without publicity or credit, for measures of importance to me and vital to Massachusetts – the man whose personal friendship I will always cherish and whose tremendous skill I shall always admire – the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, the Chairman of the Democratic Policy Committee, the Chairman of the Democratic Conference, the Chairman of the Democratic Steering Committee, and, in his spare time, the Chairman of the Select Committee on Outer Space – the Senior Senator from Texas – The Honorable Lyndon B. Johnson.
Source: Papers of John F. Kennedy. Pre-Presidential Papers. Senate Files, Box 903, "Introduction of Senator Lyndon B. Johnson, Truman Dinner, Boston, 8 May 1959." John F. Kennedy Presidential Library.