LBJ: The Early Years is told under no uncertain terms that a committee spot on the Foreign Relations Committee in the Senate would be his if he stayed for a crucial labor vote. This meeting proved important as time moves forward to 1959, when Kennedy is one of the candidates for nomination in the Presidential campaign for the Democratic Party. A visit by JFK's brother Robert Kennedy to Texas is arranged as father Joseph Kennedy, who along with his sons, wish to know if LBJ is running for President or not. Johnson refers to Robert Kennedy as a "Harvard man" in a derisive tone
Secretary to the President of the United States had one messenger and one secretary (referred to as an amanuensis in the common parlance of the time) at his disposal, both of whose salaries were paid by the President personally. In fact, all Presidents up to James Buchanan paid the salaries of their private secretaries out of their own pockets; these roles were usually fulfilled by their relatives, most often their sons or nephews. James K. Polk notably had his wife take the role. It was during Buchanan's term at the White House in 1857 that the United States Congress created a definite office named the "Private Secretary at