Interesting......
Was JFK told to have LBJ as his running mate or did he freely choose him?
JFK was told to take on Johnson as VP so that it would be assured he would win the Southern vote. This move obviously worked.
I read an interesting theory that, though they probably hated each other, Kennedy chose LBJ as a convention maneuver, expecting that he would turn the job down, and LBJ accepted, expecting that Kennedy would lose and LBJ would be reelected to the Senate (The Texas legislature passed a special law permitting him to run for both offices in the 1960 election). At that time, Texas ballots were cast by scratching out the unwanted candidate’s name. There was a slogan “Don’t be half safe: Scratch Lyndon twice.
Prolly just a political necessity, JFK needed the South. Though back then it was solidly Dem, the South had been gettin’ frisky. LBJ’s influence within the party was substantial as well.
JFK took LBJ as a running mate in order to carry some Southern states in a very close election.