STANFORD UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
STANFORD MEDICAL CENTER
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA 94304

DEPARTMENT OF GENETICS June 18, 1968 Area Code 415
32!-1200

The Hon. Fred Harris
United States Senator
Senate Office Building
Washington, D. C.

Dear Fred:

I know you must be the busiest man in the country right now, but I hope you will
have time to read a few observations on the campaign from what is perhaps a
slightly different source than most of the ones you are exposed to.

I believe that Humphrey could make a great President. But first he has to be
elected, and second, the breadth of his statesmanship will inevitably be shaped
by the cadre of staff that he attracts to his leadership. I am taking it for
granted that he will win the nomination and, may I add, nothing would give me
greater confidence than to see you accept the place as his running mate. But

I do not see how he is going to be able to win the election without sparking

the enthusiasm of the liberal and of the have-not groups who impelled the
Kennedy candidacy. He is just not doing that, and indeed, I am surprised by
how many of my own friends and contacts profess that they will probably vote for
Nixon rather than Humphrey if the battle is drawn that way!

Whether they will remain so disaffected through the campaign can of course be
doubted, but Humphrey will need not only their votes, but their energetic sup-
port, and there is not that much time to lose in trying to win it.

I am perhaps more sympathetic than most of them about the dilemma that faces

an incumbent Vice President. I also realize that the campaign will probably

take a very different course after the conventions. I have therefore been trying
to think of steps that may be politically possible at just this moment that may

help set the campaign in a more decisive direction. May I offer just these
observations:

I do not think that attempts to recruit scientists and engineers and the like
for Humphrey is. “going to be very successful at this stage of the game. Why
should "we" make a public commitment on behalf of a candidate who has refused
to make his own public commitments during his incumbancy! He was an admirable
Senator, and, as I stated before, I think I could see the makings of a great
President, but he certainly has not shown himself to be the great leader and
educator on public issues that I would expect of that office. On the other -
hand, there must be a great many academic people who would not stint in offer-
ing their services as a brains trust like the one that served both Kennedys
during their respective campaigns. Seek that advice and give any sign that

it is occasionally listened to, and the support will naturally come thereafter!

LT. J. P. KENNEDY, JR. LABORATORIES FOR MOLECULAR MEDICINE, DEDICATED TO RESEARCH IN MENTAL RETARDATION
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY HEREDITY NEUROBIOLOGY DEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE

 
The Hon. Fred Harris June 18, 1968
Page 2

There are a great many of Senator Kennedy's former supporters,and others who have
contributed to the McCarthy campaign,who feel they have no place to go at the
present time. Don't let them flounder! Seek them out and pump their brains!

These steps would probably generate their own solutions to the other problems.
There are any number of creative suggestions that can be made about urban
affairs, and while it might be better to wait until after the conventions to
spell them out in greater detail, it is obvious that a great deal of imagination
and staff work ought to precede the public statements.

Meanwhile there are still large areas of foreign policy, some of them represent-
ing the very best that the Johnson administration has been able to develop, that
Humphrey should be quite free to expand upon, and which will clearly set his
liberal thinking apart from those of the conservative camp. I allude to one of
these issues, the ABM program, that I think may be a paradigm of this area of
policy. This is a matter of the utmost importance about which the public needs
to be more deeply educated if Congress is to cooperate wisely with a liberal
administration. Humphrey could do a great deal to establish his own intellectual
credentials by expanding on just these issues. The development of this theme is
also likely to capture the interest and support of a great many scientists and
engineers who at the moment remain on the sidelines.

‘With all best wishes,

Sincerely yours,
WL 7 .
OO Prag ee tn es
Joshua Lederberg
“ Professor of Genetics