The Johnson Tapes: What LBJ Knew-and When He Let It Slip

Newly unsealed audio transcripts reveal a president worried less about justice-and more about fallout.

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🎙️ The Tapes They Shelved

LBJ’s personal recordings have trickled out for years, but nine tapes were classified under national security grounds until the latest JFK release.

Most were recorded between Nov. 23 and Dec. 10, 1963, in the White House and at his private ranch.

What they capture isn’t a president seeking truth-it’s a man managing optics, allies, and internal threats.

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📁 Tape 11/23A – "We’re Not Starting a War Over This"

This recording, made the morning after the assassination, features Johnson speaking with J. Edgar Hoover.

LBJ:

"We’ve got Khrushchev breathing, we’ve got Castro breathing, and if we say it’s any one of them, it’s goddamn war."

Hoover replies:

"We’ve already started folding Oswald’s file. He’s perfect for this."

Johnson:

"Good. Then keep him perfect. I need that story locked tight."

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📞 Tape 11/25B – "The Problem is Dallas, Not the Commies"

LBJ to Defense Secretary Robert McNamara:

"Forget Moscow. We need Dallas to stay quiet. Too many damn locals with different stories."

McNamara:

"There’s talk about a second shooter."

LBJ:

"Then bury the second shooter. What matters is that the country’s stable."

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🧠 Tape 11/27 – "I Don’t Trust the Commission, I Trust the Result"

A private moment with Senator Richard Russell, who LBJ appointed to the Warren Commission:

Russell:

"I don’t buy this lone boy. Doesn’t smell right."

LBJ:

"I don’t care what you buy. I need it in writing."

Russell would later submit a formal dissenting opinion-but it was buried until the ARRB forced its release in the ’90s.

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📂 Memo Link: "Narrative Cohesion Must Precede Investigation"

Alongside the tapes, a White House internal memo from Nov. 29, 1963, reads:

"Presidential directive: all executive departments are to align with federal investigatory leadership. Independent commentary or contradictory findings are to be discouraged until the Commission concludes."

This memo predates any actual investigation.

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🧨 Johnson’s Ranch Visit – CIA Debrief

A 2025 file logs an off-the-record meeting between LBJ and CIA Deputy Director Marshall Carter at Johnson’s Texas ranch on Dec. 2, 1963.

Topic: "Future-proofing the domestic narrative."

No official notes exist.

But a CIA staffer’s summary (declassified this year) says:

"President expressed concern that pursuit of alternate theories would be ‘unpatriotic’ and ‘detrimental to world order.’”

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🔚 He Didn’t Just Inherit the Presidency-He Inherited the Cover-Up

LBJ didn’t just step into JFK’s shoes.

He stepped into a political minefield-and decided to pave it over instead of dig it up.

The tapes reveal a man more afraid of instability than injustice.

And one who saw truth as a threat-not a duty.