Things I've Learned, with Poli Sci Professor Benjamin Ginsberg
For example, he was a staffer in the Lyndon Johnson White House and he was an assistant director of what was then called the Bureau of the Budget, but in those days they didn't have political staffers. The staffers were civil servants, and at the time he had an office right next to Lyndon Johnson's, as he had before for Kennedy and Eisenhower.
[He told me] he had to leave government for a while. Lyndon Johnson was a great man, he said, but he was a total lunatic. He used to be up all night - Johnson was a well-known insomniac - and would get a couple hours sleep in the afternoon. But if Johnson was up all night walking around and opened your door, he expected you to be there.
[Seidman] said everyone would go nuts because they would be in their office the whole night. And then [he told me that] Johnson would call two a.m. staff meetings in his bathroom. And Johnson would sit on the can with his pants down and hold a staff meeting.
So Harold Seidman said to himself, you know, here I am, an adult, and I am standing in this lunatic's bathroom holding a staff meeting. I am out of here.
He was also the one who wrote the legislation written by Congress admitting Alaska and Hawaii to the Union.
N-L: You must be very interested in the upcoming election?
BG: Well, it now seems like a foregone conclusion as a strongly democratic year. I listened to all the debates, which have become irrelevant this year. And I must say every time Sarah Palin says, 'You betcha.' I crack up.
But still, this is a year that will clearly be a democratic year. I'm thinking of 1964, when the Democrats swept to power, or 1980 when the Republicans swept to power.
The point is, we're in an economic crisis, and the party in power now is going to lose. You don't have to be a genius to figure this out.
N-L: What do find most interesting about the upcoming election?
BG: Well, you know, this is an historic race in a number of ways. I am totally fascinated by the fact that we will have an African-American president.
[He told me] he had to leave government for a while. Lyndon Johnson was a great man, he said, but he was a total lunatic. He used to be up all night - Johnson was a well-known insomniac - and would get a couple hours sleep in the afternoon. But if Johnson was up all night walking around and opened your door, he expected you to be there.
[Seidman] said everyone would go nuts because they would be in their office the whole night. And then [he told me that] Johnson would call two a.m. staff meetings in his bathroom. And Johnson would sit on the can with his pants down and hold a staff meeting.
So Harold Seidman said to himself, you know, here I am, an adult, and I am standing in this lunatic's bathroom holding a staff meeting. I am out of here.
He was also the one who wrote the legislation written by Congress admitting Alaska and Hawaii to the Union.
N-L: You must be very interested in the upcoming election?
BG: Well, it now seems like a foregone conclusion as a strongly democratic year. I listened to all the debates, which have become irrelevant this year. And I must say every time Sarah Palin says, 'You betcha.' I crack up.
But still, this is a year that will clearly be a democratic year. I'm thinking of 1964, when the Democrats swept to power, or 1980 when the Republicans swept to power.
The point is, we're in an economic crisis, and the party in power now is going to lose. You don't have to be a genius to figure this out.
N-L: What do find most interesting about the upcoming election?
BG: Well, you know, this is an historic race in a number of ways. I am totally fascinated by the fact that we will have an African-American president.
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