President JOHN KENNEDY openly mocked the notion that VP LYNDON JOHNSON would ever succeed him, according to new book of interviews with JACKIE KENNEDY!
In new book, "Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy," interviews that Jackie gave to former Kennedy aide Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. after the November 22, 1963 assassination of her husband.
JFK chose Johnson, a Texas senator and political rival, as his running mate in 1960 after they battled for the Democrat nom.
But Jackie said in the 1964 interviews that Kennedy worried constantly, even mocking the prospect of LBJ as president.
"Jack said it to me sometimes.
He said, `Oh, God, can you ever imagine what would happen to the country if Lyndon were president?'" Jackie recalled during the taped interview.
"And Bobby told me that he'd had some discussions with him … do something to name someone else in 1968."
After JFK was shot in Dallas, the tall Texan was sworn in as president and was later elected to a full term in 1964.
LBJ declined to seek reelection in 1968 which opened the way for another Kennedy rival, Richard Nixon, to grasp the reins of power.
