Real Time 1960s

Mar. 27, 1964 - Charles Collingwood of CBS News interviewed Defense Secretary Robert McNamara about the progress of the U.S.-backed war in South Vietnam. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 18, 1964 - Charles Collingwood of CBS News interviewed Henry Cabot Lodge, Ambassador to South Vietnam, in Saigon. They discussed the progress of the war and what is at stake there. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

In this brief interview, New York Mets manager Casey Stengel explains the extraordinary popularity of his baseball team, despite their losing ways. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 31, 1964 - Outplayed for 57 minutes but trailing by only one goal, the never-say-die Montreal Canadiens capitalized on two big Toronto miscues tonight and scored a dramatic 3-2 victory over the Maple Leafs before 14,436, the largest crowd of the season at Maple Leaf Gardens, for a 2-1 lead in the Stanley Cup semifinals. Henri Richard, the diminutive center who hadn’t scored a goal for so long that he couldn’t remember when, saved the game from overtime with the winning tally when there were only 35 seconds left to play. It came just 2:10 after defenseman Jean-Claude Tremblay had tied the score with his first playoff goal in four NHL seasons. Both of the goals were gifts from the Leafs. Tremblay got the equalizer when he intercepted Red Kelly’s pass just inside the Toronto zone and shot through a maze of players past goalie Johnny Bower. Allan Stanley made the miscue that set up Richard for a free skate to the goal mouth, when the Hab center intercepted Stanley’s pass at the Leaf blue line. “I could hardly believe it when Stanley put the puck onto my stick,” Richard said afterward. Montreal coach Toe Blake admitted after the game that the Canadiens had stolen this victory, adding: “But we are not giving it back to them. We will take it and the Stanley Cup too, if we have to win all the games this way.” It was a heartbreaker for the Leafs, who deserved victory on the night’s overall play. They were in full command of the game through most of the first two periods and should have been ahead by a much higher margin than 2-1 when the roof fell in. “There’s no joy in Mudville tonight,” sighed Toronto coach Punch Imlach. “They didn’t win the game, we gave it to them. But what can you say? My two best players in the first two periods, Kelly and Stanley, each made goofs in the final minutes, and it cost us the game.” For Bob Pulford, the defeat was especially hard to swallow. He scored two goals, and it was also his 28th birthday. “I thought it was going to be a birthday to remember. It was, but not because I got two goals — because we lost like that.” Imlach summed up the situation. “We won a game in Montreal earlier in the series. Now, we have to do it again.” Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 29, 1964 - Enjoy tonight’s episode of “What’s My Line,” as panelists question an astrologer, a young man who raises rabbits, and blindfolded, try to identify the week’s celebrity mystery guest, Bette Davis. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 23, 1964 - The Duke of Edinburgh met the Beatles tonight at the Empire Ballroom, Leicester Square, where the Duke was presenting the Carl Alan awards — the Oscars of the ballroom dancing world. The Beatles won two. One was for being the outstanding beat group of 1963, and the other was for making the year’s outstanding vocal record, “She Loves You.” The Beatles had a shock earlier — they were told they had to wear dinner suits. Only George owns one. So Ringo, who normally regards wearing a tie as going formal, sent round for some suits — “quick.” Three suits were fitted up in three hours. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 27, 1964 - A destructive, death-dealing earthquake struck the city of Anchorage and several smaller Alaskan towns today. In Juneau, the Alaskan capital, the office of Governor William Egan said at least 50 persons died in Anchorage. Civil defense officials in Anchorage reported that a 10-block area in the downtown section was “extensively damaged.” Many buildings were reported flattened by the shock, which was so strong it knocked detection devices off the seismograph at Cal Tech, Pasadena, Calif. Instruments at the University of California at Berkeley recorded the shock at 8.6 on the Richter scale of magnitude. Heavy damage from the quake was reported in Seward, Valdez, and Homer. All are situated along the rugged Alaskan coast. The Defense Department in Washington announced that U.S. Air Force personnel had been removed from Kodiak Island because of a tidal wave generated by the earthquake. Two 15-foot tidal waves swept through the streets of Kodiak, a fishing community of 3,500. The town of Valdez, a fishing community about 150 miles east of Anchorage, was also struck by a tidal wave, and damage was reported heavy. Twenty-six persons at Valdez were unaccounted for, and most were thought to have been on a waterfront dock which collapsed when the wave struck. In Hawaii, a tidal wave alert was sounded, and civil defense officials and police began the evacuation of approximately 150,000 persons residing along the dangerous beach and lowland areas. Most of Waikiki Beach was evacuated, and planes flew over remote villages warning residents by loudspeakers to go to high ground. Regular communications were out from Alaska, and the specific extent of damage remains unclear. However, one civil defense report said that large portions of Seward were in flames. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 22, 1964 - The World Boxing Association began immediate steps today to take the world’s heavyweight championship title away from Cassius Clay on the grounds that he is a “detriment to the boxing world.” Ed Lassman, president of the WBA, said in Miami that he had cabled the 20-member executive committee of the WBA, asking for their vote on removing the title which Clay won from Sonny Liston February 25 in Miami Beach. In New York, Clay responded to the action in typical fashion. From his Harlem hotel, he said: “That’s one way you might get me whipped. I hope they [the WBA] won’t act like a coward and take it away from me just because they have the power. One thing is certain: I won’t lose my title any other way. I’ll fight three men — yes, three — on the same night. And if one of them is big enough to whip me, he’s the champion. I’d like to fight Floyd Patterson and Sonny Liston and Doug Jones or Eddie Machen on the same night.” Lassman told reporters: “I am certain the title will be vacated.” Clay, after winning the title, acknowledged he was a member of the Black Muslims. He said last week he would be known as Muhammad Ali. Lassman said today: “Clay has proven himself by his personal action as a detriment to the boxing world and has set a poor example for the youth of the world.” Lassman said if the title were vacated that the WBA’s world championship committee would decide the process for selecting a new champion. “I would say the rankings for April 1 will list only eight men, not 10 in the heavyweight division,” Lassman said. “The two missing would be Clay and Liston.” Removal of the two, Lassman said, would leave Doug Jones as top-ranked heavyweight boxer, followed by Ernie Terrell and Eddie Machen. As for Clay, he called himself the savior of boxing, adding: “I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. I’ve never been caught stealing. I don’t run around with women. I don’t carry pistols.” Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 19, 1964 - At London's Dorchester Hotel, British Labour Leader Harold Wilson presented the Beatles with Variety Club awards at a jam-packed luncheon. John Lennon was the first to arrive. He slipped swiftly in from his car through a screaming mob of 200 girls. After he disappeared into the hotel, Ringo, Paul, and George drove up in another car, and the attack was switched to them. But police managed to get them through. Then they took their places at the star-studded tables. In his speech, Mr. Wilson hailed the Beatles as “those elder statesmen from Merseyside.” He said he had recently returned from Washington, where the echoes of the Beatles’ visit were still reverberating. Then, in a hilarious ceremony, he presented the awards — silver hearts. George said: “It’s very nice to get one each. We have trouble cutting things into four.” Paul said: “They should have given one to good old Mr. Wilson.” Ringo said: “I’m the one who never speaks. Thanks” — and sat down. John said: “Thanks for the purple hearts.” Afterwards, Mr. Wilson posed for pictures with the Beatles. Would they vote Labour at the elections? Paul wise-cracked: “What, a conservative group like us?” And Ringo: “No. I mean, we don’t really follow politics.” The Beatles then signed autographs for Mrs. Wilson for one of her godchildren. Said Mrs. Wilson: “The Beatles are quite the favorites in our home. We always watch them on television, and we like listening to their Liverpool accents — as my husband and I met there.” She smiled: “And ‘gear’ isn't really a new word. We used it in our day!” Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 15, 1964 - President Johnson tonight named as his major domestic objectives an attack on the causes of poverty and passage of the pending civil rights bill. He said his anti-poverty plan, which will go to Congress tomorrow, will represent only “a beginning” in getting at “the roots and the causes of poverty.” As for civil rights, he said, there was “nothing more important for this Congress to do than to pass the civil rights act as the House passed it.” He said he believed the Senate would do so “in due time.” The President spoke on a one-hour televised interview carried by the three national networks. The interviewers were William Lawrence of ABC, Eric Sevareid of CBS, and David Brinkley of NBC. The interview was taped in the President’s office yesterday. It ran originally to about 80 minutes but was edited by network officials, who cut out repetitious and less interesting portions. The White House had no hand in the editing. Most of the hour was spent on domestic subjects. These were among Mr. Johnson’s major comments:— Reports of a break between him and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy are “newspaper talk.” Mr. Kennedy understands his view that it would be unwise now for anyone to campaign for the Vice-Presidential nomination. — Congress should act to make certain that any vacancy in the office of Vice President is always promptly filled. But he doubts that the necessary steps can be taken this session. — He has not seen or talked to Robert G. Baker since Mr. Baker quit his post as secretary of the Senate Democratic majority last October. He is confident the current Senate inquiry into Mr. Baker’s outside business affairs conducted while he held the Senate post will reach just conclusions. — He follows Secret Service advice on the security of his person, “with rare exceptions” such as the experts’ desire always to have policemen between him and crowds. He ignores this because he wants to be “a people’s President.” — Asked whether he had any one memory more vivid than others from the days immediately after President Kennedy’s assassination, Mr. Johnson said: “Yes. I have rarely been in the presence of greatness, but as I went through that period, I observed Mrs. Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy, I saw her greatness, her gallantry, her graciousness, her courage, and it will always be a vivid memory.” Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 15, 1964 - The most extensive program of Negro education and political action seen in the South was outlined for Mississippi today by civil rights organizations. Plans for the program, named the Mississippi Freedom Summer, call for an effort by 2,000 full-time workers, including 1,000 white and Negro college students from both the North and South. Detailed proposals for the campaign, which is expected to reach into every corner of the state, were approved at a conference of the Council of Federated Organizations in the Masonic Building in Jackson, Miss. The council has been pressing a voter registration drive in Mississippi since the spring of 1962. It is made up of the NAACP, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The Freedom Summer program will be headed by Robert l, a SNCC field secretary, who will be the project director, and David Dennis, a CORE field representative, who will be assistant project director. It provides for the following: — Freedom schools that will offer intensive instruction in a broad curriculum ranging from remedial reading to political science. — Community centers that will provide job retraining; instruction in prenatal care, nutrition, and other health problems; recreation facilities; art and craft classes; drama groups; organized sports, and folk festivals. — A “freedom registration” designed to place 400,000 Negroes on mock voter lists and thus demonstrate their desire to obtain the franchise. — A “freedom election” to be held during the regular Mississippi Democratic primary on June 2. — Campaigns supporting two Negro “freedom party” Congressional candidates. The two congressional candidates are the Rev. John Cameron of Hattiesburg in the Fifth District and Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer of Ruleville in the Second. — Challenges on the floor of the House of Representatives to the right of Mississippi’s delegation to hold seats on the grounds that many Negroes in the state are denied the franchise. Seven “freedom centers” are recruiting white and Negro college students. The volunteers will be asked to pay the cost of their transportation to and from Mississippi and their expenses, expected to range from $180 to $200, for the summer. Local Negro families will provide housing for them. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 14, 1964 - After Jack Ruby was sentenced to die in the electric chair for the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, defense attorney Melvin Belli cried: “I hope the people of Dallas are proud of the jury they shoved down our throat!” Vowing to quit practicing law if he didn’t reverse the verdict, he went on: “This is the greatest railroading kangaroo court of law in history! Do you believe this is a part of the United States? If this venomous infection spreads throughout the country, God save us all!” He then called Dallas “a little bit of Russia” and said the jurors “had their minds made up — and they have made this city a shame forevermore. Even in darkest Africa you wouldn’t argue for a man’s life after midnight.” Belli had asked the court to recess last night and let the lawyers argue this morning, but the request was denied. Belli, a San Franciscan, said that “never, never, never will travelers come to Dallas again and remember it as anything but a city of shame!” Belli had pleaded with the jurors to acquit Ruby of murder as a sick man with brain damage who shot Oswald on Nov. 24 in the City Hall basement while in a blackout caused by psychomotor epilepsy. He had argued that Dallas, on the defensive over President Kennedy’s assassination, would condemn Ruby to death to prove it is not a lawless city. Ruby will remain in his maximum-security cell on a top floor of the Criminal Courts and Jail Building, where he was tried, while his case is appealed. If the appeal fails, he will be moved to death row at the State Penitentiary in Huntsville. A spokesman for the Dallas District Attorney’s office said it would be at least two years before Ruby was executed, assuming that appeals were filed and dismissed promptly. Suppport this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 14, 1964 - Jack Ruby was sentenced today to die in the electric chair for the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, accused assassin of President Kennedy. The jury in Dallas, Tex., deliberated 2 hours and 19 minutes. The speed with which the verdict was returned and read at 12:20 p.m. to those assembled in the courtroom and to a television audience by Judge Joe Brown brought an impassioned protest from chief defense counsel Melvin Belli. Before the jurors or the dazed-looking defendant were led away, he cried out to the jurors: “May I thank this jury for a verdict that is a victory for bigotry? I assure everyone on this jury I will appeal this to a court where there is justice and due process of law!” Guards leaped to the front of the trial room between the press and the counsel tables, while others surrounded Ruby and ran him out to the prison elevator. As the 52-year-old defendant was pushed past him, Belli shouted: “Don’t worry, Jack! We’ll appeal this and take it out of Dallas!” In a rear bench beneath the cameras which were allowed to film the judging of the man who committed the world’s first televised murder were Ruby’s sister, Mrs. Eileen Kaminsky of Chicago, and his brother Earl, who owns a dry-cleaning store in Detroit. “Oh God!” Mrs. Kaminsky wept. Earl put his arm around her and waved away a reporter, but she looked up at the newsman and said: “What can we tell you? He didn’t get a fair trial, that’s what we can tell you!” Above the pandemonium, Belli cried: “I hope the people of Dallas are proud of the jury they shoved down our throat!” Vowing to quit practicing law if he didn’t reverse the verdict, he went on: “This is the greatest railroading kangaroo court of law in history! Do you believe this is a part of the United States? If this venomous infection spreads throughout the country, God save us all!” He then called Dallas “a little bit of Russia” and said the jurors “had their minds made up — and they have made this city a shame forevermore. Even in darkest Africa you wouldn’t argue for a man’s life after midnight.” Belli had asked the court to recess last night and let the lawyers argue this morning, but the request was denied. Belli, a San Franciscan, said that “never, never, never will travelers come to Dallas again and remember it as anything but a city of shame!” Belli had pleaded with the jurors to acquit Ruby of murder as a sick man with brain damage who shot Oswald on Nov. 24 in the City Hall basement while in a blackout caused by psychomotor epilepsy. He had argued that Dallas, on the defensive over President Kennedy’s assassination, would condemn Ruby to death to prove it is not a lawless city. Ruby will remain in his maximum-security cell on a top floor of the Criminal Courts and Jail Building, where he was tried, while his case is appealed. If the appeal fails, he will be moved to death row at the State Penitentiary in Huntsville. A spokesman for the Dallas District Attorney’s office said it would be at least two years before Ruby was executed, assuming that appeals were filed and dismissed promptly. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 14, 1964 - On tonight’s episode of “The Lieutenant,” a newspaper reporter writing an expose of Marine training methods holds Rice (Gary Lockwood) responsible for the accidental death of a Marine. With Robert Duvall. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 13, 1964 - Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy was the guest tonight on “The Jack Paar Program.” It was the Attorney General’s first televised appearance since the assassination of his brother, President John F. Kennedy, on Nov. 22, 1963. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 8, 1964 - Enjoy tonight’s episode of “What’s My Line,” with Stan Musial, Steve Allen, Arlene Francis, Steve Lawrence, Dorothy Kilgallen, and Martin Gabel. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 12, 1964 - Malcolm X predicted today that there would be more racial violence than ever in the U.S. in 1964. He declared that “Negroes on the mass level” were ready to act in self-defense. Mr. X broke last Sunday with the separatist Nation of Islam movement, which is headed by Elijah Muhammad. He announced then that he would organize a broadly based, politically oriented, black nationalist movement composed of Muslims, Christians, and non-believers who were intellectually and emotionally ready to follow the black nationalist banner. Today, at a news conference in New York’s Park Sheraton Hotel, Mr. X formally opened this drive. “White people will be shocked,” he told reporters, “when they discover that the passive little Negro they had known turns out to be a roaring lion. The whites had better understand this while there is still time.” He urged Negroes to abandon the doctrine of non-violence in the civil rights struggle. He asserted: “It is criminal to teach a man not to defend himself when he is the constant victim of brutal attacks. It is legal and lawful to own a shotgun or a rifle. We believe in obeying the law. In areas where our people are the constant victims of brutality and the Government seems unable or unwilling to protect them, we should form rifle clubs that can be used to defend our lives and property in times of emergency, such as happened last year in Birmingham, Plaquemine, La., Cambridge, Md., and Danville, Va. When our people are being bitten by dogs, they are within their rights to kill those dogs. If the Government thinks I am wrong for saying this, then let the Government start doing its job.” Despite his statement Sunday that he would not seek to take members away from Elijah Muhammad’s movement, Mr. X arrived at the conference accompanied by several Black Muslims who have presumably followed him out of the Chicago-based organization. He announced that he established temporary headquarters at the Theresa Hotel in Harlem and would soon open his own mosque for those of his followers who are Muslim. But he said the mosque would be a meeting place for Negroes of all religious persuasions who wanted to enter into discussions of the black nationalist movement. Mr. X said his new movement was being financed by voluntary contributions. He said he would accept contributions from whites, but that white people could not join because, he said, when whites join an organization they usually take control of it. Questioned about the school integration dispute in New York, Mr. X said he did not oppose any rational solution but that he believed the only real solution would be to improve the quality of those schools with largely Negro student bodies. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 10, 1964 - Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge won a smashing victory tonight in the nation’s first Presidential primary of the 1964 campaign. In cities and hamlets alike throughout New Hampshire, voters slogged through sleet and snow to write in the name of the Ambassador to South Vietnam as their preference for the Republican nomination for President. Lodge, an undeclared candidate in the primary who is in Saigon, led almost from the start as the returns were counted. He slowly pulled away from the two principal declared candidates in the contest, Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York and Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona. Former Vice President Richard M. Nixon, also an undeclared candidate and the beneficiary of a write-in campaign, was running fourth. At 1 a.m., NBC gave these vote totals on the basis of 85% of the vote: Lodge, 28,526; Goldwater, 18,989; Rockefeller, 17,192; Nixon, 14,226. The Lodge totals were especially impressive because they required voters to write in his name, while supporters of Governor Rockefeller and Senator Goldwater had merely to mark crosses beside their names. Returns indicated that Mr. Lodge was winning all 14 of the delegates who will cast votes at the Republican National Convention July 13 in San Francisco. In the Democratic primary, President Johnson and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy were having their names bracketed together by the voters as write-in choices for the Presidential and Vice-Presidential nominations. There were no names printed on the Democratic ballots. At 11:37 p.m., ABC gave these vote totals: Johnson, 27,492; Kennedy, 15,167. Shortly after 11 p.m., George Cabot Lodge, the elder son of the Ambassador, read a prepared statement from his father in Saigon, asserting that “the voters of New Hampshire have paid me the highest of compliments.” He said he would “consider their action and all its meanings.” Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 10, 1964 - On tonight’s episode of “The Steve Allen Show,” Johnny Carson placed a prank call to Jack Paar. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 9, 1964 - Miriam Makeba, a South African-born singer who believes racism is bringing disaster and tragedy to her country, offered today a “freedom song” to members of a United Nations committee. She spoke, rather than sang, the words in a low and sometimes broken voice. The song was about freedom for Africans, and the main theme was an appeal to the world for an economic boycott against the Government of Dr. Hendrik Verwoerd: “You say you want to make me free — then don’t trade with the men who are killing me.” Miss Makeba was invited back by the 11-nation Committee on Apartheid in South Africa — she first appeared at the U.N. in July — to give her testimony as a petitioner who had lived and worked in South Africa. In July, she talked about her personal experiences, but this time she spoke of the African leaders jailed by the South African Government — and she recited the song’s words, written by Vanessa Redgrave, an English actress. Miss Makeba came upon them a few days ago and decided they best expressed her message. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Here is a campaign film in support of the Presidential candidacy of Senator Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.). Included are excerpts of speeches, interviews with the candidate, and interviews with New Hampshire residents as Goldwater seeks votes in the New Hampshire Primary scheduled for March 10th, 1964. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 8, 1964 - On tonight’s episode of “The Ed Sullivan Show,” Florence Henderson sang “I'm in Love with a Wonderful Guy,” a tune from the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “South Pacific.” Miss Henderson started her career on the stage performing in musicals, such as the touring production of “Oklahoma!” and “South Pacific” at Lincoln Center. She debuted on Broadway in the musical “Wish You Were Here” in 1952 and later starred on Broadway in the long-running 1954 musical “Fanny,” in which she originated the title role. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 31, 1964 - Outplayed for 57 minutes but trailing by only one goal, the never-say-die Montreal Canadiens capitalized on two big Toronto miscues tonight and scored a dramatic 3-2 victory over the Maple Leafs before 14,436, the largest crowd of the season at Maple Leaf Gardens, for a 2-1 lead in the Stanley Cup semifinals. Henri Richard, the diminutive center who hadn’t scored a goal for so long that he couldn’t remember when, saved the game from overtime with the winning tally when there were only 35 seconds left to play. It came just 2:10 after defenseman Jean-Claude Tremblay had tied the score with his first playoff goal in four NHL seasons. Both of the goals were gifts from the Leafs. Tremblay got the equalizer when he intercepted Red Kelly’s pass just inside the Toronto zone and shot through a maze of players past goalie Johnny Bower. Allan Stanley made the miscue that set up Richard for a free skate to the goal mouth, when the Hab center intercepted Stanley’s pass at the Leaf blue line. “I could hardly believe it when Stanley put the puck onto my stick,” Richard said afterward. Montreal coach Toe Blake admitted after the game that the Canadiens had stolen this victory, adding: “But we are not giving it back to them. We will take it and the Stanley Cup too, if we have to win all the games this way.” It was a heartbreaker for the Leafs, who deserved victory on the night’s overall play. They were in full command of the game through most of the first two periods and should have been ahead by a much higher margin than 2-1 when the roof fell in. “There’s no joy in Mudville tonight,” sighed Toronto coach Punch Imlach. “They didn’t win the game, we gave it to them. But what can you say? My two best players in the first two periods, Kelly and Stanley, each made goofs in the final minutes, and it cost us the game.” For Bob Pulford, the defeat was especially hard to swallow. He scored two goals, and it was also his 28th birthday. “I thought it was going to be a birthday to remember. It was, but not because I got two goals — because we lost like that.” Imlach summed up the situation. “We won a game in Montreal earlier in the series. Now, we have to do it again.” Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 7, 1964 - President Johnson said today that U.S. troops would be moved to and from South Vietnam depending on the need for them in the war against the Communist Viet Cong guerrillas. The President’s statement at a news conference was the first official suggestion that more men would be sent as advisers to the South Vietnamese Army if they were needed. However, Mr. Johnson did not predict an additional commitment of forces. He made the point, he said, only to indicate that the occasional withdrawal of men who missions were completed should not be taken as a sign of flagging American interest in the defense of South Vietnam. A careful evaluation of future policy, the President said, must await the return from Vietnam next week of a study group headed by Defense Secretary Robert McNamara. A “good deal” of the decision on future American troop movements, he said, will depend on their report. Mr. Johnson was careful to speak of the U.S. forces as “advisers” and “trainers” of the South Vietnamese, a phrasing that is intended to make clear that the U.S has not formally committed its own troops to battle there. Speculation about an American withdrawal from Vietnam has persisted side by side with speculation about a greater U.S. involvement and possible extension of the war into North Vietnam. Both types of speculation derive from past Administration statements. Mr. Johnson said he did not think Vietnam ought to be the subject of partisan debate since it had been a problem under both Republican and Democratic administrations. He denied that anyone was “hiding” information or policy decisions and said he expects men of both parties to work with the Administration as a team. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 6, 1964 - Seven prisoners today broke out of the Dallas County Jail that holds Jack Ruby and made a dash for freedom. They overpowered guards and used a razor blade and a fake pistol on hostages. Television cameramen covering the Ruby murder trial recorded the drama, giving Dallas the additional distinction of having the first filmed jailbreak in history. Ruby was in court just a few yards away as the prisoners swarmed out of a jail elevator into a second-floor corridor packed with witnesses, court officials, and newsmen. Two escapees were recaptured almost immediately and two more an hour later, but three were still at large when the court session ended for the day and Ruby returned to his top-security cell. One of the defense’s key witnesses, stripper Karen Lynn Bennett, known as “Little Lynn,” who was about to be called to the stand, collapsed, screaming: “Oh my God, they’re going to get me,” when she saw the jailbreakers in the corridor. Lynn, 19, who is about to have a baby, soon recovered and was able to take the stand. Red-faced officials, still smarting over worldwide criticism of their failure to protect Lee Harvey Oswald, alleged assassin of President Kennedy, admitted that a breakdown in security had permitted the escape. A guard in the jail, which is on the fifth floor of the county courthouse, failed to lock up the prisoners while “soaping out” a corridor (handing out soap to the prisoners). They jumped him and held a razor blade to his throat until he gave up his keys. The prisoners, all sentenced to heavy terms for robbery, overpowered another guard and raced to the jail elevator. They forced the elevator operator to take them down to the second floor. One prisoner, Clarence Gregory, grabbed Edna Biggs, a clerk in the probations department, and held a bogus pistol in her ribs. A sheriff later said the pistol had been realistically carved in soap, painted with black shoe polish, and held together with syrup. Its barrel was a black pencil. When Mrs. Biggs wriggled free, she ran into the offices of Judge John Mead with Gregory in hot pursuit. Judge Mead’s clerk was seated at her desk. “This man came rushing in and said, ‘Show me a way out of here.’ I told him, ‘There’s no way out but the window.’ He said, ‘No, I’m walking out of here, and you’re walking with me.’” Pressing the soap pistol into her back, Gregory forced the clerk to walk through the corridor, past photographers and T.V. cameramen who were outside the Ruby courtroom. It was this portion of the jailbreak that was shown later on television. At the parking lot, Gregory and the clerk were surrounded by sheriff’s deputies. The convict was disarmed of his soap pistol by Deputy Charles Player. The police are still searching for Billy Ray Brock, Randolph Hudnall, and Lennard F. Driggers. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s