Responder in Chief | The '60s
Whistlestop: Presidential History and Trivia
Slate Podcasts
4.8 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 4 October 2017
⏱️ 38 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Whistlestop is Slate's podcast about presidential history. Hosted by political correspondent and Political Gabfest panelist John Dickerson, each installment will revisit memorable (or even forgotten) moments from America's Presidential carnival.
Join Slate Plus for full, ad-free access to Whistlestop and your other favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Whistlestop show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whistlestopplus to get access wherever you listen.
Podcast production and edit by Jocelyn Frank. Research by Brian Rosenwald.
Email: whistlestop@slate.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello and |
| 0:02.0 | Wistlestop a podcast of the presidency. |
| 0:04.0 | I'm John Dickerson of Face the Nation. |
| 0:09.0 | When Linden Johnson asked his motorcade to stop and walked into Washington High School on St. |
| 0:14.0 | Claude's Avenue in New Orleans, there were no lights on. |
| 0:18.1 | No lights on anywhere in the ninth ward, three days after Hurricane Betsy had devastated the poorest pocket of New Orleans. |
| 0:25.0 | A few flashlights prepared the way for the President as he walked. |
| 0:29.0 | A shifting mass of bodies and half illuminated anguished faces greeted him. |
| 0:34.0 | They had sought shelter in the high school. |
| 0:36.0 | Almost all of the people there were African American. |
| 0:39.0 | Water! |
| 0:40.0 | Water! came the cries. |
| 0:42.0 | I am your president said Johnson and I am here to help. |
| 0:46.0 | When Donald Trump stood at the edge of a similar crowd in Puerto Rico on October 2nd, 2017 and distributed rolls of toilet paper like he was |
| 0:56.5 | shooting three pointers from downtown. He was participating in a tradition |
| 1:01.6 | that Lyndon Johnson started that desperate evening 52 years earlier. |
| 1:07.0 | On September 10, 1965, Johnson gave birth to a modern phenomenon at Washington High School. the president as first responder and consoler in chief. |
| 1:16.9 | The role has elevated presidents and crippled some presidents, but it wasn't always a part of the |
| 1:22.1 | American presidency. |
| 1:23.0 | Our whistle stop today, well you know what it is, it's September 7, 1965, please do try to keep up. |
| 1:29.0 | But our pre-whistle stop framing device is in the fall of 1955. |
| 1:34.9 | President Dwight Eisenhower is enjoying some peace and quiet with his son David at his |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Slate Podcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Slate Podcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.