Letter from Barry Goldwater to Lyndon Johnson

Signed “Barry,” Senator Barry Goldwater wrote Senator Lyndon Johnson bluntly expressing his opinion of Johnson’s acceptance of the Democratic candidacy for Vice President. He wrote, “you were intended for great things, but I don’t think you are going to achieve them now.” Goldwater’s prediction did not quite come true, as four years later Johnson defeated Goldwater in the 1964 Presidential election by one of the largest landslides in history.

Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives