 Governor, how you getting along? Well, it's rough down here. Well, it's rough everywhere, but... Well, we got two votes today. We had 414 to nothing in the house on the Vietnam Resolution and 88 to 2 in the Senate. Well, that's wonderful. I've got a little part of this country that you've got all of it in the world. I want to talk to you. Have you got a pencil? The Federal District Court last night issued an order requiring the school district to transfer Negroes to high schools in 11th and 12th grades upon their application at St. Helena, Paris. Yes, I was aware of that order. It must be made on the 13th and 14th and must be acted on by the 15th. School begins at 17. Now that the district court has decreed that there must be desegregation and I think that's the specific direction of the 5th Circuit Court. The question is how that order is complied with. Now, the judge informs us that the counsel for the school district, the attorney general, Jack Grimillion, is it? He was there in the office that day. I remember. He agreed to the issuance of the order. They tell me the local police force consists of a sheriff and two or three devotees and that they've had some core workers in that parish and voter registration and they haven't been harmed or harassed. But despite this, there's some feeling that area being on the border there and there might be some trouble when the schools are desegregated, not from particular school authorities, but could be from outsiders. Our information is very confidentially that there's a good deal of this group that's been operating in Georgia and Mississippi these last few days, a clan of people in there. We've got some FBI people that they infiltrated and they say they're pretty strong. Now, we feel that law and order ought to be maintained and assume that... We just do, Mr. President. We believe it will be now. I talked with the attorney general this morning and he feels like that this again is confidential that the federal court was as lenient as they possibly could be. We feel confident that there won't be any violence. What I believe, I think, I know the state is as anxious to keep federal troops out as we are and I certainly don't want to come in, but if the state is willing to guarantee law and order, I sure don't want to work through the state. Well, we certainly hope that you give us an opportunity to preserve it because we can hold to do it. I would try to stay over there and argue. Any group before that? Well, I knew that was the way you felt, but I thought that there are good many persuasive points that I might make to you as a question. I think that if you could give us an assurance and make a statement, then we haven't had the troops go in to interfere in a high school operation that brought 56, and we thought that was very bad at that time as you remember. I have had FBI in Mississippi and Georgia and in Harlem, but I have them go and report to the governor. He turns them over, he works with the state police, and they all work together just like they want to outfit. I don't like to be sending these troops. I think if you could just assure us or tell me that you don't want any federal troops in there, and it's not necessary from the state and local authorities that you guarantee adequate personnel, then I think that will kind of take care of us. Now, you can say to your own people there, our records here show that practically every southern state has affected integration without the need of federal troops. Alabama has, Georgia has, Florida has, Texas, South Carolina, Arkansas, Louisiana itself. Last time federal troops were necessary to do segregated high schools in Little Rock, 56. Now, if you could issue a statement saying that without regard to whether you prove the order or not, that doesn't have anything to do with it. It's going to be law and order in Louisiana along with your governor. I think that would have a powerful impact on the situation if it would serve to keep these hoodlums and terrorists from outside of the state from moving in to stir up this situation. Dick Russell made an awful good statement, and I believe Senator Eleanor, I'm not positive, but... In our situation, we don't think it has become explosive yet. It hasn't got that critical. Might be well if you talk to the sheriff up there and let him know how you feel, very confidential. We've got some of the law enforcement officers involved in this Mississippi thing with Brad, and might be you could give a little leadership to him. I don't know how he feels, but I don't want to be talking to him. The only one I want to talk to is the governor. I want to assure him of my desire and my willingness to cooperate completely with him in every aspect of the problem, as long as he can assure me that law and order will be maintained because my duty to enforce these orders, if I don't, and I want the local people to handle them, I know and believe that you can and will. We're certainly going to attempt to, Mr. President, as I see, we're just as anxious as you are to prevent any repetition of what happened with Mississippi. We just don't leave anything like that that's going to happen in our state. We don't think that we've got quite the situation here that they have in Mississippi. And we're doing everything we can, as I see, to keep our boiling point hopefully high. And we just don't anticipate anything like that. Well, now, would you mind, would you feel liberty to kind of talk to those local folks up there and be prepared? Well, I talked to our attorney general earlier this morning. He called me and gave me the details of the order. And he thought that it was, frankly, about his thoughts that we could possibly expect out of the federal court. And he really felt like we had gained some kind of a victory by the type of order that was issued. And he told me that the people in St. Helena, the school people felt the same way. So we really don't expect any explosive situation there of that St. Helena. And you know the way the order is written. I think the early great thing would be what would really cause us serious trouble here if we started that immediately. As you're prepared and well-handling. Yes, sir, we're prepared to serve law and order even if it's called me and called out our guards. We're not going to have anything to happen here where it just gets out of here. I'm going home for the weekend, and I'll just leave it that way. And if anything develops, it changes it in any way. You just pick up the phone and call me, and we'll just treat these things confidentially and work closely together and anything I can do to make your life any easier. I won't do it because I know you've got enough problems. It's really a hard job. I know it. I know it, I know it, but I'm not going to do any more than I have to to make. Do you propose that I keep this as a fact that you call me more or less to ourselves? Yeah, that's what I would do. I don't think there's anything to begin on the other hand. On the other hand, I wouldn't object. I'm not going to say anything about it, but I want you to know as long as... I just go up and unless someone asks me directly if they do, of course I'll have to kill myself. Well, I won't say... I won't say a word about it and know if anything did come. If you were concerned about violence up there and of course as you of course have a duty to be, and I'd show you that we felt like we could take care of it, and we would get the fact just to prevent violence as you were. That's right. We just wanted to see that the best we could, that we felt we could, that our state police, that's to our guards, keep down violence. I think we can prevent it. That's fine. I don't know anything about it. You don't either, and if anybody should raise a question with both just agree that I ask you to just issue a statement that you're going to be... this court's done this and that you're going to be able to look after yourself and we won't do anything. We're here from you. If it is anything in the world that you know that we can do what you can do, now that this order has been issued, keep those core representatives out of that match, you wouldn't make the situation better. I think you're aware of that. Yeah, I sure do. They would stay out of that, and from now on, since they've accomplished their food segregation order, they would need that thing long enough that it sure would be a lot easier for them. But I don't fear, really, for any real harm to the local Negroes. The harm I'm afraid of, the most likely things should occur would be to the outsiders coming in there now. I just pass it on to you and I'm sure you perhaps know where others are. I sure am, Governor, and I'll work with you and we'll just leave it this way unless something develops that gets out of hand and you let me know. Thank you. Bye.