Lyndon B. Johnson Quotes
The statement is reprehensible….If I find out some damn fool aide did it, I’ll fire the sonuvabitch.
Weeks before, President Johnson had directed Joe Califano to leak to the press that government officials considered Bethlehem Steel Company executives who raised prices to be “profiteering from the war in Vietnam.” The story was in the papers, editorials criticized the steel executives, and they became outraged. Then, when a businessman complained to the President about the profiteering charge at this meeting, he acted surprised and made this remark.
Lyndon Baines Johnson, 1908-1973, 36th President of the United States (Democrat, TX), Statement at a meeting with businessmen
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Compare this quotation with {632907}. Most members of Congress had limited management experience and the only solution to an organizational problem was to fire people. The referenced quotation has people fired to trigger reform and change; in this quotation, it is for the purpose of inspiring public trust. Ironically, there is no evidence in the management literature that suggests that firing for either of these reasons will have the desired objective.
Lyndon Baines Johnson, often referred to by his initials LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, in office from 1963 to 1969. He served as the 37th vice president from 1961 to 1963 and assumed the presidency following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. A Democrat from Texas, Johnson was also a United States representative and later majority leader in the United States Senate. Johnson is one of only four people to have served, at various times, in all four federal elected positions.