Oral history transcript, David Ginsburg, interview 3 (III), 9/19/1988, by Michael L. Gillette

Title:

Oral history transcript, David Ginsburg, interview 3 (III), 9/19/1988, by Michael L. Gillette

Number of Pages:

27

Description:

The formation of the Kerner Commission and Ginsburg's invitation to be its executive director; LBJ's belief that the 1967 race riots had been part of a conspiracy; Ginsburg's relationship with Abe Fortas; Ginsburg's first meeting with LBJ regarding the Commission; the questions LBJ wanted the Commission to answer; meeting Otto Kerner and finding Victor Palmieri to serve as deputy executive director; problems staffing the Commission; office space and funding for the Commission; balancing Commission work with a law practice; Ginsburg's insistence that he not be paid for Commission work; help from government agencies in the form of money or expertise; the first Commission meetings; walking through other cities to compare them to Washington, D.C.; useful sources of information, such as the Office of Economic Opportunity and Tom Bradley; visiting Newark, New Jersey, to talk to citizens about rioting; John Lindsay's involvement with the Commission; the chain of command within the Commission; late night/early morning private meetings where LBJ would verbalize his thoughts on Vietnam and other topics; Tex Thornton's, Roy Wilkins', and other people's work on the Commission; partisanship within the Commission; criticism that the Commission did not publicize the cost of their recommendations; the Commission's long-term recommendations; the perception that the recommendations were a criticism of the White House; LBJ's insistence that the Commission make its recommendations without worrying about political or financial constraints; lack of consensus among Commission members; the relationship between the Commission's recommendations and funding the Vietnam War; regret that LBJ was not more forthright in his communication with the Commission; studying cities that did not have rioting; changes in the inner cities from the 1960s to 1988; Daniel Patrick Moynihan's report on the Negro family; the Detroit riots and Governor George Romney; the Commission's involvement in urging Congress to pass legislation LBJ was backing; LBJ calling Everett Dirksen to get votes to support certain legislation; the Commission's subpoena power; the role of the media during the riots; why the Commission report was released quickly in March 1968

Contributor:

Ginsburg, David, 1912-2010

Collection:

LBJ Library Oral Histories

Collection Description:

Go to List of Holdings

Series:

Transcripts of LBJ Library Oral Histories

See Also:

See all online interviews with David Ginsburg

Relation:

Go to Interviewee bio page

Rights:

Possibly copyright restricted: see deed at end of transcript for details